Huey P. Long's Famous Ramos Gin Fizz Publicity Stunt

The legendary baller, Louisiana governor/senator/presidential candidate, Huey P. Long, was known for his love of the Ramos Gin Fizz, that iconic New Orleans cocktail. The King Fish is often associated with his drinking place of choice Roosevelt Hotel, well, downstairs at the Sazerac Bar anyways, but in 1935, while staying in NYC, he pulled a huge political publicity stunt, using his beloved drink as a ploy to talk smack about FDR at the cost taxpayer's dolla dolla billz, y'all.

While staying at the New Yorker? a hotel that supposedly claimed to be the home of the Ramos Gin Fizz? Long was not impressed. He got on the phone and ordered the best gin fizzer at the Sazerac to fly up and "teach these New York sophisticates how and what to drink."

According to the Roosevelt:

The next day Sam Guarino, head bartender at The Sazerac Bar, arrived and spent the next three hours schooling his northern counterparts on the proper way to make Long's beloved libation. From then on out, Huey could enjoy 8 oz. of New Orleans even when he was thousands of miles away.

A romantic way to put it, but Huey P. Long was actually assassinated the very same year.

· The Roosevelt Hotel [Official Website]
· 1935: Ramos Gin Fizz [NYT]
· Whale Week 2013 [-ENOLA-]
[Photo: Facebook]