Meet the Bala Cynwyd man making plague-themed cocktails for Passover, from blood to locusts

Passover had always been David Kedson’s least favorite holiday.

As a person born in the spring, the eight-day Jewish holiday often fell over Kedson’s birthday. The problem with that? On Passover, Jewish custom bars the consumption of any leavened bread, pasta, cookies, and, unfortunately for Kedson, birthday cake.

“So you can imagine my dismay when I got married, and my wife told me that we were going to be the hosts for Passover for, you know, our foreseeable lifetimes,” said Kedson, standing in his Bala Cynwyd kitchen on a recent afternoon.

Yet as Kedson juiced a pineapple and shook up Curaçao and coconut rum in a cocktail shaker, it became clear how Passover went from dreaded to beloved for the 65-year-old writer.

Kedson is a longtime Bala Cynwyd resident and the author of The Ten Plagues of Cocktails, a self-published cookbook of alcoholic drinks inspired by each of the 10 plagues, or divine punishments bestowed upon Egypt by God, sent to convince Pharaoh to free the Israelites from slavery, according to the Old Testament.

The plagues — blood, frogs, lice/vermin, flies/wild animals, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn — don’t exactly have the trappings of enticing cocktail themes. Yet over the last few years, Kedson has fine-tuned a menu that takes inspiration from the punishments (the classic Grasshopper cocktail for locusts, for example), while adding a twist of fun for his Seder guests.

Kedson has been a hobbyist bartender for decades (he has fond memories of teaching a noncredit bartending class as an undergraduate at Duke University).

He was on a trip to Ireland with his extended family a few years ago, sitting in a bar drinking Guinness and Smithwick’s, when his niece remarked that a drink on the menu reminded her of the 10 plagues.

Inspiration struck.

“I said, ‘That’s it. We’re gonna make the 10 plagues of cocktails,’” Kedson recalled.

Kedson’s book has 21 recipes (some plagues have several cocktail and mocktail options). The recipes are a combination of classics, like the minty and chocolatey Grasshopper, and Kedson originals, like the bright blue Covid Ninetini, for pestilence. The book also shares the story of The Ten Plagues of Cocktails and includes tips for making top-tier drinks (always use fresh juice, shake don’t stir).

Recipes range from the Amphibian, a fresh, cucumber-forward gin drink inspired by frogs, to the Pink Squirrel, a sweet mid-century crème de cacao drink that represents vermin.

The Passover cocktail program has changed over the years at the Kedson household. When he started making Passover drinks, Kedson thought it uncouth to make a cocktail inspired by the slaying of the firstborn, God’s final plague. But, when he found a drink called “Pharaoh’s Lament,” which used absinthe, he thought it was too perfect to pass up.

“I was very excited about it,” Kedson said. But, “it was awful.”

So he went back to the lab and came out with the Deadly Montego Slay, a drink inspired by a New York City bartender’s Montego Slay, with darker hints of hot pepper.

Kedson doesn’t endorse serving each of your Passover guests 10 full-sized cocktails. He pours the drinks into shot glass-sized cups so everyone can sample them all. The small tastes come out to around two full cocktails, which Kedson describes as “within the realm of civility, I suppose.”

An important disclaimer for The Ten Plagues of Cocktails — those who follow strict Kosher for Passover guidelines may not be able to enjoy all of the drinks. Spirits derived from grain are a no-go on Passover, depending on one’s level of observance, and other alcohols need to be specially certified for the holiday. Kedson includes a “Kosher Warning Scale” in the book that ranges from “Kosher style” to “Don’t tell the rabbi.” Substitutions can be made.Another important disclaimer for The Ten Plagues of Cocktails is that those who follow strict kosher guidelines for Passover may not be able to enjoy all of the drinks. Spirits derived from grain are a no-go on Passover, depending on one’s level of observance, and other alcohols need to be specially certified for the holiday. Kedson includes a “kosher warning scale” in the book that ranges from “kosher style” to “Don’t tell the rabbi.” Substitutions can be made.

The most important tip for bartenders?

“Staying out of the way of whoever is making the dinner,” Kedson said. “The first year when I told my wife I was doing this, she said, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

(Kedson now preps the drinks in his basement — away from the kitchen.)

Though a rabbi told Kedson he could serve the cocktails during the Seder in place of the wine (Passover Seders customarily include drinking four glasses of wine), Kedson’s family drinks them beforehand, which, he said, warms up the crowd and “actually makes the Seder more fun.”

“The Ten Plagues of Cocktails” is for sale at the Narberth Bookshop, at the Har Zion Temple gift shop, and on Amazon.

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