The Happy Hooligan

I've invented quite a few cocktails, some worth remembering, others just improvisations of the moment. I do have a few though that I'm happy enough with to want to share. One of those is the Happy Hooligan, named in honor of Frederick Burr Opper's wonderfully iconic tramp character from the Sunday papers (when is someone going to gather and reprint that stuff? It's past due!). I tried to come up with something that might have existed at the turn of the last century, so gin was the obvious choice for the base liquor (and in any case it's always the bottle I reach for first!). I tried to keep it simple and classic: some lemon juice, sugar, and a few dashes of Angostura Bitters to finish it off. I liked the cocktail so much I made a comic out of the recipe (click to enlarge for a legible version):


Feel free to print this out and take it to your local drinking establishment!