#64: Old School

The Bar

Old School. 401 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 3/29/17 @ 9pm.

UPDATE: Old School has closed.

The Drink

Ginger special. Deep Eddy lemon vodka and blueberry vodka, ginger beer, soda. $5.50.

Originally this drink had no name. When I was giving my spiel about wanting the drink that best showed off this bar, our bartender suggested a cocktail, and after we assented, he thought about what would be best for us to make and whipped up this simple refreshing drink in no time at all. Deep Eddy makes such great vodkas that even an oddball pairing like lemon and blueberry ends up tasting delicious, even over the ginger beer. I didn't grow up drinking ginger beer, so it has always tasted like a cocktail ingredient to me rather than something to drink on its own, but like with many things, it tastes better when you add vodka to it. After we all finished off our drinks, I went up to the bartender and asked him what he called it. He was stumped until his coworker suggested naming it after his bright red hair: the Ginger Special. My mother is a redhead (I have dark hair, though not due to any kind of climate change factor), so I've always found the whole "wow, a ginger!" thing to be kind of weird, but you don't pass up a marketing opportunity like that.

The Crew

Vince, Davis, Bobby, Aaron.

Notes

I'm pretty sure this place isn't named after the hit film from 2003, but it really seems like the kind of place that Will Ferrell would have gotten into. Right after we wandered in, fresh from having seen Blade Runner: The Final Cut and still having a heated nerd argument over whether Deckard being a replicant makes any sense at all (the correct answer is no, it destroys all narrative tension and logic in the movie), the bar staff started setting up for a beer pong tournament. Dear friends and loyal readers know that I have a real weakness for beer pong, the king of bar sports, and we were sorely tempted. Old School has a weekly tournament with free entry and cash prizes, and if only there had been another team for us to play against we might have stayed. However, the fact that it was a Wednesday night, and that we are old, meant that we decided to leave. Old School just looks like a fun place to spend an evening watching your opponents drain their cups, maybe with some streaking towards the end of the night. It has the same owners as Night Owl, a newish bar on Burnet that I still haven't been to. If they're as fun as Old School, I'll have to check them out soon.