Retiring a drink is like asking a bartender to retire. We don't! We are "Barrel and Bottle Aged." Reading about layback shots brought back this memory. Back in the 70s and through the 80s, I called them "Upside-downs."

This time in bar history was a time of excess in everything, and alcohol was leading the charge, fueling the fire, as always.

I had purchased a still-thriving speakeasy turned biker bar in 1976. The lead bartender, Stephanie, 68 years old, ran this barroom with a booming voice and an oversized oak nightstick. As a bartender during Prohibition at Wilson's Saloon, she knew cocktails. Although we were slinging Buds by the armload—and shots of SoCo, George Dickel, and Sauza were flying fast and furious—Stephanie could mix an elegant cocktail. It was in the midst of all this alcoholic mayhem that I first enjoyed the original Margarita mixed by Stevie, as the bikers called her.

That is a story for a later day. However, that beautiful cocktail, of simple ingredients, was the inspiration for my Upside-down Margaritas.

It was a weekly event. With the Friday night band rockin' the house as a soundtrack, I yelled, " Upside-down Margaritas!" and everyone at the bar either spun around and laid their heads on the bar or vacated their stools for fellow "Ritaheads." I would start at one end of the bar pouring triple sec down the line and head back with the Rose's lime juice, then pour Cuervo into the gaping maws until eyes bugged out and hands were waving, and finished with "close your eyes!" as I salted their faces. As I salted each one, they jumped up and shook the ingredients in their mouths as instructed. The bar howled.