Gimme some red-eye

This is a little article I posted on Authors Den, nearly 4 years ago. It's a strange topic for me, as a lifelong teetotaler, but I have this innate curiosity.
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It's hard to see a Western film without a saloon scene. And It's tough to see a saloon scene where at least one character doesn't swagger up to the bar and demand "Red Eye" as his drink of choice.

When I was a kid, I always thought it was a brand name, like Coca Cola or Dr. Pepper. Nope.

Red Eye was an uniquely Western concoction, generally brewed by the saloon keeper in keeping with general guidelines, but with their own twist and flair.

Yes, brewed, or rather, steeped. Think of it like making tea. Or nitroglycerin.

The base recipe went something like this: Take the cheapest, purest form of alcohol you can lay your hands on, "not for human consumption grade" grain alcohol will do fine. Dump it in a tub or vat.

Throw in any or all of the following:

- Coffee Grounds (used is okay)
- Cigarette Butts (ick!)
- Chewing Tobacco (a few blocks)
- Tea Bags or Loose Tea (rare, but when short on coffee...)

Let it soak overnight. Strain into bottles. Charge a buck a shot.

The usual ingredients ensured you would get grain + tobacco + caffeine for a potent kick that would either wake you up or lay you out. No statistics were ever kept on how many cowpokes downed a couple and then needed an escort for the trip to Boot Hill.

Think about it: You now have several armed men, all wired on nicotine, caffeine and alcohol, standing around with a desperate need for money and women. You could've made a fortune as a town doctor back then, just patching the guys from the bar fights.

Considering the market out there, I'm sort of amazed no one is making and bottling it today...Gee, I wonder how the FDA would feel about it?

Me, I'm sticking to Diet Dr. Pepper.