If only this were a Wednesday with Bob Cesca...but an anniversary is an anniversary! So today’s DOTD - Drink Of The Day - is the Kanar Sazerac, to commemorate the debut of the TV series “Star Trek” on September 8, 1966.
Gene Roddenberry originally drafted a story line for a sort of science fiction western set in the 23rd century. He presented drafts to Desilu Productions, a leading independent TV production company led by Lucille Ball. She was more than just a legendary comedic actress. She was also a savvy businesswoman, the first woman to head a Hollywood studio.
Desilu Productions had a first-look deal with CBS and took the concept there, but CBS refused to purchase the show because they already had Lost in Space in development. After the CBS rejection Desilu took the show to NBC, which commissioned a pilot - which NBC actually turned down, after it was produced.
NBC turned down that initial pilot episode in the belief that it was “too cerebral.” However, they liked the concept and made the unusual decision to pay for a second pilot. The second pilot retained only Leonard Nimoy as Spock, and was ultimately given the green light. That second pilot introduced the world to Captain Kirk, Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, Helmsman, Lt. Sulu, Communications Officer Uhura, and Dr. Piper, with Dr. McCoy taking over the role when the actual season filming began. (You’re probably thinking we forgot about Chekov, but he didn’t show up until Season 2.)
While many Trek fans are familiar with the Next Generations’ bar Ten Forward, the drinking actually started with the first pilot episode, titled, The Cage. In that episode Captain Christopher Pike of the Starship Enterprise was captured while investigating a distress call from a survey mission that crashed on the planet Talos IV.
At one point in the episode, Captain Pike was dubious about heading as far as Talos IV to look for survivors. He summoned the chief medical officer Dr. Boyce to his quarters. That led to Boyce offering Pike a Martini and noting “Sometimes a man’ll tell his bartender things he’ll never tell his doctor.” Soon enough Spock communicated from the bridge and the mission was back on.
To find a Start Trek cocktail as Drink of the Day we tread that fine line between the familiar and the bizarre. We’re only using ingredients readily available on this planet. Today it’s the Kanar Sazerac, created by bartender and cocktail writer John deBary.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’re going to need for this drink:
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