By Daniel Yaffe

Article from Issue Six

Somewhere between the thirty-foot shopping cart and the flaming dendrite, a unicorn made me a pickle-tini.  Although the annual arts festival of Burningman is often a fertile training ground for artistic expression, sexual exploration and [sometimes drug induced] visual stimulation, it also happens to be a test tube for all forms of drinking.

Started on Baker Beach in San Francisco in 1986, and later moved to the Black Rock Desert north of Reno, Nevada, Burningman has been a week-long haven for a free and alternative lifestyle for thousands of revelers worldwide.  The entire city, which becomes the second largest in Nevada for the last week of August, is comprised of thousands of camps – many with themes from kitchy to the completely absurd.   Most of the bars play up their pun-chy names like “Zanzibar,” “Hoppy Hour,” (where you have to be dressed like a bunny to get in), “Garden of Heden,” and “Cocktails at the Casbahr.” Many camps also develop an alcohol menu inspired by their theme.  “The Elders” serve boxed wine and brie appetizers, “Burning Mary” served up spicy Bloody Marys and “Abstininthe” poured home made absinthes.  A gang from a camp called “ ’Lil Crack Whores” gifted us several cans of Budweiser to drink on our way back to our camp.

Did I mention that everything is free?

After the entrance fee is paid, the gifting economy lets presents (and booze) flow freely.  The forty-thousand-person city becomes a week-long, twenty-four-hour open bar.  There’s only one rule: BYOC… Bring Your Own Cup.  I don’t mean to convey that the entire week is all about alcohol. But it could be.

One of the first things anyone learns about the event is that ice is one of the only goods sold on site at Burningman. The extreme heat lends itself well to trying anything on the rocks.  When the scorching 105-degree weather mixes with the blinding dust storms, an icy pineapple, vodka, wine, and coca cola concoction starts to sound pretty tasty. The extreme nature of the event lends itself well to creative concoctions. When our 15-liter box of wine got too hot in the sun, we poured in cinnamon and cloves and handed out the best spiced wine on the playa. When you are two hours from nearest liquor store, you’ll use what you can find and what your neighbors spontaneously donate to you.  Why wouldn’t you try mixing homemade schnapps with soju and that fresh starfruit that the naked clown (wearing only one sock  – not on his foot) gave you?

That’s not to say that people don’t bring out all the right ingredients to the most remote party on the planet. Wandering around the clock-shaped city, you can easily find refreshing Mimosas and Bloody Marys in the morning, creative cocktails and home-brews throughout the day, and warm, Hot Toddy-inspired drinks to get you through the night (or at least until you need extra shots of tequila and Red Bull to hold you over until the featured DJ comes on at 5 a.m.).  There are potluck-style single malt tastings, fresh Margaritas and buckets full of fruit-infused sangria. Ashram Galactica, the self-named “finest luxury resort in Black Rock City” hosts “the Gilded Lily Bar,” a full bar in a beautiful Moroccan tent with nightly cocktail specials that compliment their five-star restaurant (which is a lottery giveaway and also completely free).

The alkali nature of the ground and inevitable “playa” dust make acidic drinks advantageous to optimal health.  Just as vinegar on your feet promotes healthy skin at Burningman, citrus-y, acidic cocktails and juices are the best relief for a dry throat.  One camp took the acidic cocktails to a new level with their incredible pickle-tini.  Basically using the acidic vinegar brine from fresh pickles, they created one of my most memorable cocktails of the year.  It was spicy, vinegary, extremely smooth and tasty, and a great cocktail to kick off the day at 9 a.m.

Burningman is not exactly the lawless, crazed party that many think it is. On the contrary, it is patrolled by several law agencies – and in both state and local laws, it is illegal for minors to possess alcohol.  Rumor has it that 2009 was the first year on record that agents actually busted a few Burningman bars for not carding undercover decoys.  Although Burningman needs to remain a safe and legitimate community, many fear that this is unfairly punishing participants. Legally, all camps that serve alcohol are supposed to card drinkers.  Good luck getting that naked clown to stick his ID down his sock.