The drunken, rumored history of Beirut’s famed doudou shot

BEIRUT — A splash of lemon, a dash of Tabasco, chilled vodka, and an olive to top it off.

Though mixed in different proportions depending on the bar, these are the long-established ingredients of Beirut’s famed doudou shot.

Unique to Beirut and virtually unheard of beyond Lebanon, the doudou shot has been adopted as a cornerstone of the local bar scene. Despite its cult status, there’s no consensus on when or where the shot was first poured.

L’Orient Today set out to solve this local mystery and began at the only logical starting point: the bar that’s stood resolute for decades, where time seems to cease.

The liquor shelf at Captain's Cabin, a bar established in Hamra in 1964. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)

Beirut’s most legendary dive

At 10 p.m. on a Saturday, only three patrons sit at the bar of Captain’s Cabin in Hamra. Fleetwood Mac plays over the speaker, but not loud enough to cover the crack of pool balls at the billiards table.

The shelves are filled with dusty liquor bottles, assorted figurines and a handful of faded suede pilot caps — a nod to the airline captains who used to frequent the bar, thus the name...
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