Esquire

JUST BEFORE 9:00 a.m. ON A SATURDAY, WE LOADED TWO SMALL boats with light beer and sunscreen and piled in, four men to a boat, all of us forty-something guys slightly hungover from the previous evening, bound for a sandbar twenty miles due east of Key West. Our guide, a gray-haired man named Ron, told us the water would be choppy and sea sickness was possible. He said nothing about sharks. Within twenty minutes, we lost sight of land. And nearly an hour later, we reached our destination without anyone getting sick. About a hundred yards from where we dropped anchor, a small, wooded island poked out of the sea. Captain Ron cautioned us to avoid it because of the large population of raccoons. I thought he was at least half…

IN MISSOURI, THE STATE WHERE I GREW UP, lawmakers are debating a bill that would prevent any “nurse, counselor, teacher, principal, contracted personnel, or other administrative official at a public or charter school” from discussing “gender identity or sexual orientation” with a student unless they’re a licensed mental-health provider and they have the permission of the student’s parent or guardian. Missouri is one of 32 states to have introduced this kind of legislation, because I guess that’s how you fight inflation. I’m just going to say it, cancel me if you must: I am in full support of my home state’s Don’t Say Gay bill and the dozens of others like it. Don’t Say Gay? I say, “Yay.” Because I must assume these bills will increase penalties for kids who say “faggot”…

BLASPHEMY, I THOUGHT. THERE IT WAS, A prepackaged mojito in a grocery store. This was about a decade ago. Still, I was curious to try it, because a canned cocktail that was actually good? That could be a gateway to converting pedestrian drinkers into cocktail nerds. Sadly, there was no craft in that canned mojito. No love. It confirmed my conviction that quality drinks must be mixed, not mass-produced. Recently, however, I popped open a daiquiri from Tip Top, an Atlanta-based company specializing in classic cocktails served in Lilliputian cans. It was, shockingly, sublime. The simple yet difficult-to-balance daiquiri is often considered a litmus test to separate ordinary bartenders from great ones. The fact that a version that stellar came from a can was revelatory. Ready-to-drink cocktails—or RTDs, as the industry calls…

THE OXTAILS TAKE FOREVER. FOUR DAYS, REALLY, but the process of preparing and cooking them has so many steps that you lose track when chef Kwame Onwuachi tries to explain it. Better to go down into the basement kitchen beneath Tatiana, Onwuachi’s new Afro-Caribbean restaurant in New York City’s beloved hub of the performing arts, Lincoln Center, and see for yourself. Over here, cook Jamal Lewis mixes up a Caribbean-inflected marinade—fresh bay leaves and cinnamon and allspice and a ginger-garlic paste and some of Onwuachi’s grandfather’s hot sauce. Over there, Onwuachi dips a spoon into a cauldron in which vegetables and roasted chickens and hundreds of chicken feet boil and bob for hours as they’re rendered into gelatinous, deeply flavored stock. The oxtails soak in the marinade for 24 hours. They’re…

THERE ARE SEVERAL TRAITS OF A PRO FLIER. YOU WANT TO maximize your miles, always bring a beanie that doubles as both a source of warmth and an impromptu eye mask, and master the timing of your first cup of coffee to help beat jet lag. But none of that matters if you don’t have your luggage game down. It can take a while to find the perfect bag—one that you can carry onto any plane, holds everything you need, and matches your vibe. Save yourself some time and go with one of our tried-and-true picks. 01 _ MISSION WORKSHOP RHAKE BACKPACK I’ve always carried a backpack when traveling. From my first plane ride as a kid to my first European adventure as a precocious teenager, it put me into an exploration…

AS ONE OF THE FIRST JACKETS BUILT FOR MOTORCYCLE riding, the Belstaff Trialmaster is tough and tactical—proof that when form follows function, good things happen. That’s why the design has persisted for three quarters of a century. Of course, with such a long history, the Trialmaster has evolved, slimming down in recent years to match contemporary tastes. That’s nice and all, but for purists—and us—it’s difficult to top the original. Which makes the arrival of a 75th-anniversary edition, dubbed the Tribute, especially welcome. Gently weathered, and complete with period-accurate details like a pop-out wool liner, it’s like scoring a vintage gem without all the hassle—or the mud stains. Speaking of: In the cloying, sucking earth of the northern UK, the “oomska” is legendary. Particularly if you muck about on Trials bikes.…