Well OK, if you insist

Don't usually meme much, but Tim posted this intriguing one:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Which I couldn't resist, especially since the book nearest to me was AJ Rathbun's Good Spirits (yes, that fact says it all).

And wouldn't you know it? On page 123, one of my very favorite drinks, the Negroni. I give you sentences 5-7:

"Add the gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. Stir thrice. Garnish with the orange twist."

Now that is literature.

Missing here is AJ's intro to the drink, which describes it as the "the Wonder Woman" of cocktails (Superman being the Martini; Batman the Manhattan). Therein lies another debate. But not just now — I have an orange to twist.

Oh yes, nearly forgot — consider yourself tagged.