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now bearing his name is open to violent debate. We think
he did not,'but we often meditate on the possible change
in Louisiana history had he done so. Drink enough Jean
Laffites and you'll be all set to jump into a pirogue and
paddle up the bayou all by yourself.
Legend tells us that the favorite tipple of the Laffites
and others of their ilk was a noggin or two, or three, of a
distinctive and potent beverage called le petit goyave,
brewed from the fermented juice of the fruit of the
aguava or century plant and toting the kick of an army
mule. In Mexico the same liquor is called pulque. It was
served at the CafS des RifugUs in Saint Philippe street,
a tavern where was ever assembled a motley crew of
swiggers—colons de Saint-Domingue, West Indian sea
men, rSvolutionnaires, filibusters, and Kentucky flatboat-
men.
Host Jean Baptiste Thiot mixed another curious drink
which he called "The Pig and Whistle." Years later, in
1835, when Thiot deserted the St. Philip street location
and opened a new eating and drinking tavern in Old
Levee (Decatur) street opposite the French Market, he
called the new tavern after his famed mixed drink—"The
Pig &Whistle."
Sixty-eight
•tri."
yli'tif
;1W