H.D. (Alcoholic Coffee / Tea Beer mug)

The H.D. is what happens when someone looks at their morning coffee and their evening nightcap and says, "Why not both?" This is the drink for the person who has given up on the artificial boundary between day and night, the one who believes that coffee hours and cocktail hours are merely suggestions from a more restrictive era. It starts with a hearty pour of amber grain spirit that has been aging in oak and developing opinions, then introduces a rich, creamy liqueur that tastes like someone turned a dessert into a liquid and then decided to make it even better. These two unlikely companions take up residence in a beer mug — not a delicate cocktail glass, not a sophisticated coupe, but a beer mug, because this drink has no time for pretense and even less time for small portions. Then the whole vessel gets filled with freshly brewed coffee, because apparently this cocktail believes in going big or going home, and it has no intention of going home. The H.D. is the kind of drink that makes you feel like you are getting away with something. It is warm, it is boozy, it is caffeinated, and it is wearing a cream sweater of Irish liqueur that makes everything feel like a hug from a very tipsy relative who thinks you are not eating enough. One sip and you are ready to take on the world. Two sips and you are ready to take on the world and then take a nap, possibly simultaneously. It is the perfect storm of energy and relaxation, a walking contradiction that somehow works, like a person who runs marathons and also binges television for twelve hours straight. The H.D. does not apologize for being too much. It was designed to be too much, and it succeeds magnificently.