A russian immigrant restauranteur in 1970 introduced
a group of us college kids to Moskovskaya, and demonstrated
"the proper way" to drink it, called a Cossack Nikolai:
a small glass, like a liqueur glass, rather like a
shot glass on a stem, filled right to the brim with
Moskovskaya, the top of the glass covered with a disc
slice of lemon, the lemon covered with liquid honey.
The glass is lifted in one motion, the honey side
of the lemon placed down on the tongue as the whole
glass is drained in one gulp. You would have to do
a lot of practice to do it without getting vodka
and honey down your front and/or up your nose, but
he could do it. Naturally, being a russian tradition,
you are supposed to imbibe liberally of these. I'm
afraid I can't remember what food the restaurant served.
