Last summer, after riding the rails to New Orleans for the annual Tales Of The Cocktail festival, the Bum was minding his own lack of business in the Carousel Bar when a stranger approached and inquired if he was Beachbum Berry. Before answering, the Bum searched what’s left of his memory: Did he owe anybody in New Orleans money? (Naturally.) Did the IRS send agents into bars to hound deadbeats? (Possibly.) Was this the imaginary guy who always shows up after the Bum’s sixth drink, yells insulting things at him, then punches him in the face? (No resemblance.)
The stranger then introduced himself as Paul Clarke. What a relief: Not only is Mr. Clarke an accomplished cocktailian (he even makes his own bar syrups), he’s also an accomplished raconteur (as evidenced by his website, cocktailchronicles.com). Our Sazerac-soaked Carousel conversation formed the basis for a Beachbum Berry profile that Paul has written for the current issue of Imbibe magazine. We highly recommend it … even though it suggests that the Bum actually puts real work into his books. Calumny! If it wasn’t so much effort, we’d sue.