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Pirate Queen Coffee
Mar. 20th, 2024 08:29 amTechnically, as it is Wednesday, I should be recounting what I read last week, but that can wait. I'll make next Wednesday a double-feature.
Today, instead, I want to tell you a something I forgot to post about yesterday, which is a bit of a belated Saint Patrick's Day story.
The context for this is that, for years (and I mean literally, since I've been going to Claddagh Coffee since it opened,) I have muttered under my breath at that, at an obviously Irish coffee shop, they have a "Black & Tan" on the menu. Worse, it's my favorite drink of all time. To be fair, I'm not so political as all that most days. Even thought the Black and Tans were vicious and awful, the same can be said of the IRA, and so I only think about its history on Saint Patrick's day when there's some rebel music playing on the overhead speaker and then, I'm all, "Uh... Black and Tan, I guess? AWK-WARD..."
Well, right after Saint Patrick's day, someone wrote a VERY ANGRY letter to the owner of Claddagh complaining that, you know, for our grandparents 1920 is not that long ago and nearly within living memory. I mean, you're Captain America? But, it's not still THAT far in the past and, in fact, the letter writer's grandfather died after a beating he received at the hands of the Black and Tans. She was appalled to see a drink named after them and she wanted it changed. This letter writer had a LITTLE TOO MUCH FUN coming up with analogies, "It would be like a Jewish Deli having a 'Waffen SS' ham sandwich! It would be like a Chinese restaurant serving 'The Rape of Nanking!'" (Okay, you made you point, please stop, we GET IT.)
Anyway, Mary, the owner of Claddagh, went and checked out Wikipedia again, (I had pointed her to years ago,) and was like, "Okay, yeah, maybe it's time for a change."
She heard my voice out by the drink bar and came running out to ask me, since I drink this drink all the time, what she should name the drink instead of Black and Tan?
And, my friends?
This is it. This is the moment I have been waiting for my whole life. I was SO READY for this.
Immediately, no pause, I say, "Name it the Wolfe Tone." For one, only the most Orange Irish are going to be still pissed off about anything anyone did in the 1700s. No one's grandma remembers Theobald Tone. I mean, they should? *I* can sing the songs, but like, there is no longer a CHANCE for a living memory of Mr. Tone. It's a nice flip on Black & Tan because one of the things that name is actually invoking is the dark and light of espresso and honey. Wolfe Tone has "tone" in it, which could be used the same way. It's the right side of politics. It's perfect.
Mary liked that, but she wasn't sure. Did I know any famous Irish Republican women? I'm like, "Uh, Do you really want a drink called The Madame Markievicz? Because it doesn't sound very Irish, even though she famously fought in the Easter Uprising."
Mary's like, what? No, that's too hard for people to say (fair). She wanted to name the drink after Sinead O'Conner, which is a lovely idea, but Tim (another regular, who was standing there,) said, "Speaking of hard to say, get ready for a lot of people asking for the SIN-NEED." Which put Mary off that idea.
So, I go, "Well, okay, if you don't want anything really political you could name it after the infamous Irish pirate, Grace O'Malley." Mary had actually seen the statue to Grace in County Mayo and was sold. Hooray!!
Today I got a free Grace O'Malley (nee Black & Tan) as my "prize" for renaming their drink!
Although I did notice that the drink had not yet been renamed on the board. It may be that Mary is going to decide, once again, that Midwestern Irish aren't so political as to care. Many people put up with drinking the "Irish Car Bomb," after all. I guess we'll see if anything comes out of it.
But I have to tell you, all that reading of Irish history (my Augsburg history professors would be so proud! Dr. Nelson, this one was for you!!) finally netted me $6.50!
I think this makes me a PROFESSIONAL historian, right?
Today, instead, I want to tell you a something I forgot to post about yesterday, which is a bit of a belated Saint Patrick's Day story.
The context for this is that, for years (and I mean literally, since I've been going to Claddagh Coffee since it opened,) I have muttered under my breath at that, at an obviously Irish coffee shop, they have a "Black & Tan" on the menu. Worse, it's my favorite drink of all time. To be fair, I'm not so political as all that most days. Even thought the Black and Tans were vicious and awful, the same can be said of the IRA, and so I only think about its history on Saint Patrick's day when there's some rebel music playing on the overhead speaker and then, I'm all, "Uh... Black and Tan, I guess? AWK-WARD..."
Well, right after Saint Patrick's day, someone wrote a VERY ANGRY letter to the owner of Claddagh complaining that, you know, for our grandparents 1920 is not that long ago and nearly within living memory. I mean, you're Captain America? But, it's not still THAT far in the past and, in fact, the letter writer's grandfather died after a beating he received at the hands of the Black and Tans. She was appalled to see a drink named after them and she wanted it changed. This letter writer had a LITTLE TOO MUCH FUN coming up with analogies, "It would be like a Jewish Deli having a 'Waffen SS' ham sandwich! It would be like a Chinese restaurant serving 'The Rape of Nanking!'" (Okay, you made you point, please stop, we GET IT.)
Anyway, Mary, the owner of Claddagh, went and checked out Wikipedia again, (I had pointed her to years ago,) and was like, "Okay, yeah, maybe it's time for a change."
She heard my voice out by the drink bar and came running out to ask me, since I drink this drink all the time, what she should name the drink instead of Black and Tan?
And, my friends?
This is it. This is the moment I have been waiting for my whole life. I was SO READY for this.
Immediately, no pause, I say, "Name it the Wolfe Tone." For one, only the most Orange Irish are going to be still pissed off about anything anyone did in the 1700s. No one's grandma remembers Theobald Tone. I mean, they should? *I* can sing the songs, but like, there is no longer a CHANCE for a living memory of Mr. Tone. It's a nice flip on Black & Tan because one of the things that name is actually invoking is the dark and light of espresso and honey. Wolfe Tone has "tone" in it, which could be used the same way. It's the right side of politics. It's perfect.
Mary liked that, but she wasn't sure. Did I know any famous Irish Republican women? I'm like, "Uh, Do you really want a drink called The Madame Markievicz? Because it doesn't sound very Irish, even though she famously fought in the Easter Uprising."
Mary's like, what? No, that's too hard for people to say (fair). She wanted to name the drink after Sinead O'Conner, which is a lovely idea, but Tim (another regular, who was standing there,) said, "Speaking of hard to say, get ready for a lot of people asking for the SIN-NEED." Which put Mary off that idea.
So, I go, "Well, okay, if you don't want anything really political you could name it after the infamous Irish pirate, Grace O'Malley." Mary had actually seen the statue to Grace in County Mayo and was sold. Hooray!!
Today I got a free Grace O'Malley (nee Black & Tan) as my "prize" for renaming their drink!
Although I did notice that the drink had not yet been renamed on the board. It may be that Mary is going to decide, once again, that Midwestern Irish aren't so political as to care. Many people put up with drinking the "Irish Car Bomb," after all. I guess we'll see if anything comes out of it.
But I have to tell you, all that reading of Irish history (my Augsburg history professors would be so proud! Dr. Nelson, this one was for you!!) finally netted me $6.50!
I think this makes me a PROFESSIONAL historian, right?
