When life hands you lemons, the smart thing to do is make lemonade. But what about when life hands you tar balls?

Well, you could get very upset (and rightly so). You could rage against the situation. You could find someone to sue. You could start pitching in to clean. Or you could turn a blind eye.

Or you could have a drink. Several drinks.

The tar balls that washed ashore in Galveston — identified earlier this week as having come from the BP well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico — are wicked things, ugly reminders of a still-unfolding tragedy.

But in the spirit of making lemonade, we asked a handful of local bartenders to concoct a tar-ball cocktail. Not so much as a way to drink away the oil disaster but as a social commentary on a shared public event.

Some may regard a drink called the Tar Ball (or the Slick) as an unsavory ooze of poor taste. But Bobby Heugel, the gentleman bartender of Anvil Bar & Refuge, sees it differently. People are talking about what's happened in the Gulf and about the tar balls, he said — no way around that. A drink to mark the event, however upsetting, is part of a historical cocktail tradition, he said.

"Cocktails have always been named after current events. Bars in the day were gathering places for politics and social commentary. Naturally, drinks got named after events," Heugel said. "It's pretty commonplace."

Evan Turner, managing partner/sommelier at Branch Water Tavern, said the Gulf situation continues to resonate with his customers, who are asking whether shrimp, oysters and fish are safe to eat (yes, they are). "We're all dealing with a really awful situation," he said. "It's definitely becoming an issue we experience on a daily basis."

Anthony Montz, bar manager and mixologist of Hearsay Gastro Lounge downtown, said that talk at the bar about the Gulf disaster often takes on very personal tones because the city is tied so much to seafood and the oil industry. "Customers are naturally going to be talking about it," he said.

And if they're not, a drink with a politically incorrect name always makes for "lively discussion," he said. "You have to keep things interesting."

So sip on your slicks and pound back your tar balls (all the drinks below will be served at their respective bars). Think of them as a way to reclaim your beach, save your shorelines and thumb your nose at black globs. Go ahead, savor your lemonade.

THE TAR BALL

Courtesy of Bobby Heugel, Anvil Bar & Refuge

2 ounces Cruzan Black Strap Rum

½ ounce Del Maguey Cichicapa Mezcal

½ ounce Taylor's Velvet Falernum

2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Pour ingredients in a highball glass. Stir gently. Fill with crushed ice. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Heugel's take on the Tar Ball: "It's a modern riff on a classic cocktail called Corn N' Oil," he said. The cocktail is marked by deep, dark, smoky flavors with a bit of spice courtesy of the falernum and the bitters. The "oil" is an obvious reference, and the black strap rum echoes the viscous nature of the stuff that makes a tar ball.

SLICK OF THIS

Courtesy of Evan Turner, Branch Water Tavern

1 ounce Citadel gin

1 ounce Campari

1 ounce Crism Organic Hibiscus Liqueur

½ ounce fresh lime juice

Pour into a cocktail shaker, fill with ice. Stir. And strain into a cocktail glass. Served up with a lime twist.

Turner's take on Slick of This: Reading day after day about the disaster, Turner found himself "sick of this" - hence, Slick of This. "It's bitter, cynical and tongue-in-cheek at the same time. So I thought it would be an appropriate way to give it a name and at the same time scold the situation." The drink, he said, is refreshing, "but there's a slight edge of bitterness to it, which is apropos."

THE SLICK

Courtesy of Anthony Montz, Hearsay Gastro Lounge

2 ounces Double Cross Vodka

1 black truffle mousse-stuffed olive

Pour vodka in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Stir. Pour into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with olive.

Montz's take on The Slick: Double Cross is a new Slovakian vodka that is seven times distilled and filtered (the bottle also looks as sturdy as an oil tanker). Hearsay stuffs green olives with its own black truffle mousse, and the olives are stored in an unctuous mix of olive and truffle oil. The olives create a sheen of oil on top of the martini that also provides a powerful aromatic whiff.

greg.morago@chron.com