Today’s post is contributed by Kristina Sutter, a Scotch Whisky Expert and cocktail enthusiast.
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When creating a delightful cocktail, I take the same approach as choosing friends, clothes and décor. I want character, flavor and integrity. I love spirits that spend time resting and relaxing in a delicious oak barrel. However, in the summer time, when in need of a refresher, I will easily forgive those that lean towards clear spirits. But rather than reach for vodka, go for the original flavored vodka: Gin.
Gin was originally created to mask the harsh flavor of 17th century spirits. Gin and Tonic was recognized as a medicinal drink to settle the tummy.
There are a handful of recognized types of gin, but the common theme is the final distillation (usually in a pot still): distilled with juniper berries, coriander, orange peel, lemon peel, other herbs and roots. Gin was the base spirit in the classic cocktails, NOT vodka. The true cocktail connoisseur will always reach for Gin.
My favorite gin-based, summer-time cocktail is quite simple. It has many things in common with the original recipes for many other patio style drinks: A base spirit, sour (FRESH lemon/lime juice) and sweet (sugar, simple syrup). Margaritas, Mojotos, Caipirinhas, Caipiroskas, and even the original daiquiri all have this flavor profile in common.
My friends, Meet Mr. Tom Collins! This drink goes back to the 19th century and has variations made with Vodka and whisky as well.
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Tom Collins First appeared in How to Mix Drinks by Jerry Thomas, 1876 ed.
1.5 oz your favorite Gin
1 oz simple syrup
¾ oz FRESH squeezed lemon juice (it’s not that hard)
Club soda to top
Shake first three ingredients with ice, and strain into an ice filled Collins glass (tall, skinny), then fill with soda and garnish with a cherry and orange slice, or frankly whatever you want.
You may have also heard of a gin fizz, which is the same recipe, but in a shorter glass. A gimlet simply leaves out the simple syrup.
The Cherry Smash is a modern take on an anitquated classic: the smash. Jerry Thomas says of them “This beverage is simply a julep on a small plan.” Ouch. It is julep-like, but has the addition of fresh fruits, and can be made with gin, brandy, or whiskey.
Although the Cherry Smash appears in cocktail historian David Wondrich’s book Imbibe!, the version comes fromFood & Wine magazine. It’s simple, delicious, and worth purchasing a few special ingredients.
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Cherry Smash
From Food & Wine magazine online
Recipe by Nick Fauchald
8 sour cherries, pitted
Ice
2 ounces bourbon
3/4 ounce Cherry Heering
Club soda
In a rocks glass, gently muddle the cherries to release some of their juices. Fill the glass with ice, add the bourbon and Cherry Heering and stir well. Top with club soda, stir again and serve.
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I had to make some major substitutions when creating this drink. I had Maraschino liqour, not Cherry Heering. I couldn’t find sour cherries at my local grocery store, despite having seen them all over Manhattan. And the bodega was out of club soda, so I used seltzer water. All things considered, the drink still came out pretty good, but I would give it another go with the proper ingredients. My roommate pointed out that the cherries look kinda gross by the time you get to the bottom of the drink — all bloated like a corpse — but they taste magnificent.
UPDATE: I have it on good authority that this drink is best with Cherry Heering.
This hard cider cocktail is another from Jerry Thomas’ bartending guide. It’s easy and icey and perfect for hot days. Made with a dash of bitters, it tastes like a summer version of mulled cider.
Fill a tumbler with crushed ice. Add simple syrup and bitters, then fill glass with hard cider. Stir until the glass becomes very cold and condensation appears. Serve, garnished with a twist of lemon peel.
This week: summer cocktails to help you beat the heat of the particularly sultry summer. Today, a refreshing glass of Roman Punch.
You can pick up a hard copy of this recipe in Edible Queens this month, but I also wanted to make it available on this blog because I really cannot endorse this drink enough.
This recipe is adapted from the first cocktail guide, Jerry Thomas’ How to Mix Drinks published in 1862. My friends, who were my guinea pigs the first time I mixed this cocktail, demanded round after round with enthusiastic chants of “Roman Punch, Roman Punch!”
This recipe calls for a dash of Curacao; but don’t use the bright-blue version, which will turn the cocktail an unappealing shade of army green. If you can’t find clear Curacao, Cointreau is an appropriate substitute. You can buy commercially available raspberry syrup, or you can make it from scratch according to the recipe below.
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Roman Punch
1 tablespoon simple syrup
1 tablespoon raspberry syrup (commercially available, or made from scratch using the recipe below.)
1 teaspoon Cointreau
2 ounces dark rum
2 ounces brandy
Juice of half a lemon
Dash of port wine
Fresh raspberries or strawberries
Fill a rocks glass with crushed or shaved ice; add the first six ingredients. Stir until the ingredients are combined. Finish drink with a dash of port wine, and garnish with fresh raspberries or strawberry slices.
Raspberry Syrup
1 pint raspberries
1 cup superfine sugar
1 cup water
Line a small saucepan with a double layer of cheesecloth; place raspberries inside and mash with the bottom of a glass. Sprinkle with ¼ cup of sugar and set aside for 30 minutes. Lift cheesecloth, wrapping the raspberry mash; squeeze the mash in the cloth, allowing the juice to drain into the saucepan. Add remaining sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring until all the sugar is dissolved. To store, keep in the refrigerator in a sealed container.
Whiskey is my drink of choice, so I admit I love the unintentional whiskey theme of this week.
The Whiskey Sour was invented sometime in the middle of the 19th century; Jerry Thomas describes a brandy and a gin variation in his 1862 book. Other variations: a dash of egg white makes it into the Boston Sour, and Boston also gave birth to the Ward 8 in 1898, which adds orange juice and grenadine.
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The Whiskey Sour
From The Cocktail Book: A Sideboard Manual for Gentlemen, 1926
2 teaspoons simple syrup (or super fine sugar)
2-3 dashes lemon juice
1 tablespoon seltzer
2 ounces whiskey
1. In a rocks glass, add simple syrup, lemon juice and seltzer. Stir to combine (or until sugar is dissolved).
2. Fill glass with ice, and add whiskey. Stir until the outside of the glass is cold. Garnish with a cherry and orange wedge, or seasonal fruits.
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And if you like a Whiskey Sour, try the Ward III at the 19th C. Pub Crawl’s last stop, Ward III: “Made with bourbon, strawberries, egg whites and nutmeg, it’s actually ‘a derivation of the classic Sour,’ explains (owner) Neff. A historical classic, viewed through rose-colored glasses—and given a healthy dose of red berries, too.” (Metromix New York)
For a full list of Ward III’s “exquisite libations”, go here.
David Wondrich, cocktail historian and Jerry Thomas expert, says the Manhattan “…Probably dates to the Manhattan Club, which was a social club for rich Democrats at Fifth Avenue and 15th Street in the 1870s.” Accustomed to the maraschino cherry standards of a modern-day Manhattan, I was pleasantly surprised when I was recently served a variation from Wondrich’s book Imbibe! Remarkably smooth and even a touch sweet, this has been my favorite drink I’ve quaffed in a long time.
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The Manhattan
From Imbibe! By David Wondrich, 2007.
Based on a recipe by Jerry Thomas.
1. Fill a tumbler with ice; add all ingredients and stir until the outside of the glass is cold.
2. Strain into a martini (cocktail) glass, and garnish with a cherry or a twist of lemon peel.
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Ready for another variation of this classic drink? Try Madame X‘s Dirty Cherry Manhattan. The second stop on the 19th C. Pub Crawl, Madam X serves up a Manhattan made with Basil Hayden’s 8-year-old bourbon, sour cherry syrup and sweet vermouth. For a full list of Madame X’s cocktails, go here.
When Absinthe became legal in the states, the first drink cocktail enthusiasts began mixing up was the Sazerac. Invented in New Orleans circa 1870, it’s based on an even older Cognas drink invented by Antoine Amédée Peychaud; his bitters are indispensable in creating this cocktail.
four dashes absinthe
2 ounces rye whiskey
3 dashed Peychaud bitters
1 teaspoon simple syrup
Mint
1. Pour absinthe into a rocks glass, and swirl it around until the bottom and the sides of the glass are coated. Pour out absinthe.
2. Add ice, then whiskey, bitters, and simple syrup. Still until the outside of the glass is cold. Garnish with a sprig of mint and enjoy.
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For an updated version of this recipe, order the 17th Street Sazerac at Rye House, the first stop on the 19th Century Pub Crawl on Saturday. Metromix New York, who inspired this post, had this to say about the modernized cocktail: “Made from Rittenhouse Rye, Hine Cognac, demerara syrup, Peychaud and Angostura bitters and Marteau Absinthe, the drink has all the anise zip of the original, but a deeper tone as well. Not a traditional 1835 pour by any means.”
Sounds ok to me, but I may be more tempted by the Rye House Punch, a combination of chai infused Rittenhouse rye, Batavia Arrack, lemon, grapefruit, Angostura bitters, and soda. Not only do I love a good chai tea, but I am fascinated with Batavia Arrack, a popular 19th century spirit only recently re-introduced to the market. I’m going to pick up a bottle to experiment with some 19th-century recipes, but I can’t wait to try it in a Victorian-inspired cocktail on Saturday.
When the weather gets all warm and luscious like this, all I want to do is drink. I want to sit under a tree and sip a frosty cocktail. So, to lead up to Saturday’s 19th C. Pub Crawl, I’m declaring it Cocktail Week. Everyday, I’ll be posting the recipe for an iconic 19th-century cocktail and featuring a pub crawl bar that serves up their own version of a classic concoction.
It is the KENTUCKY DERBY today, and you know what that means!! Mint Julep season is kicking off, and in my mind, that means summer has arrived! Oh, how I love a mint julep!!
The below quotation is from a Captain Marryatt, a “gallant” English seaman with a penchant for the “nectareous drink” we Americans call a julep. The Captain’s adulation of this cocktail was reprinted inHow to Mix Drinks by Jerry Thomas (1862),
“I must descant a little upon the mint julep, as it is with the thermometer at 100 one of the most delightful and insinuating potations that ever was invented and may be drunk with equal satisfaction when the thermometer is as low as 70… I learned how to make them and succeeded pretty well: Put into a tumbler about a dozen sprigs of the tender shoots of mint upon them put a spoonful of white sugar and equal proportions of peach and common brandy so as to fill it up one third or perhaps a little less. Then take rasped or pounded ice and fill up the tumbler… As the ice melts, you drink. I once overheard two ladies talking in the next room to me, and one of them said ‘Well if I have a weakness for any one thing it is for a mint julep!’– a very amiable weakness and proving her good sense and good taste. They are in fact, like the American ladies, irresistible “
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Captain Marryatt’s American Mint Julep
Adapted from How to Mix Drinks by Jerry Thomas (1862)
1 heaping teaspoon superfine sugar
1 teaspoon water
5-6 sprigs of mint
1.5 ounces Cognac (whiskey can be substituted here with equally pleasing results)
1.5 ounces Peach Brandy
Place mint, sugar and water in the bottom of a julep cup or rocks glass. Muddle until the flavor of the mint has been released. Fill up glass with crushed or shaved ice, then add alcohol. Stir vigorously until the outside of the glass is foggy with condensation and cold to the touch. Enjoy.
This julep is my Derby standby. Allow yourself the pleasure of the addition of Peach Brandy (or a teaspoon of peach bitters) to your everyday Julep routine. You won’t regret it.
This is Thomas’s rather decadent first entry in the “Julep” chapter of his book.
1 heaping teaspoon superfine sugar
1 teaspoon water
10-12 sprigs of mint
1 ounce Cognac
1/5 ounce Dark Rum
Orange slices and berries
Place half the mint mint, sugar and water in the bottom of a julep cup or rocks glass. Muddle until the flavor of the mint has been released. Fill up glass with crushed or shaved ice, then add Cognac. Stir vigorously until the outside of the glass is foggy with condensation and cold to the touch. Use you stir or spoon to pull out the mint springs; insert fresh sprigs into the ice with their stems downward. Arrange berries and orange slices within this mint bouquet, pour the rum over top, and sprinkle with sugar.
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This was the first time I’ve tried Thomas’s julep recipe: Drunk through a straw, the cocktail is actually pretty amazing, albeit a little over the top. The straw is necessary, so you don’t whack yourself in the face with mint every time you take a sip. The liquor is sweet and very, very minty. I think I’ve been skimping on the mint in my juleps: one should pack that glass full for the best flavor. The fruit on top, drizzled in rum and sprinkled with sugar, is also special treat.
But one needn’t be so extravagant in their julep enjoyment. Don’t just savor a Julep this Saturday, but sip them all season long. Remember: the Mint Julep is the drink of the summer!
A Gentleman strolls through Boston on the 19th Century Pub Crawl.
Over the weekend, the 19th Century Pub Crawl went on the road for one wild night in Boston, home to some of America’s oldest bars and most notorious dens of vice.
The crawl met at Eastern Standard, a new bar that focuses on the revival of classic cocktails. The capable bartenders put together a custom drink list featuring authentic 19th century imbibements. I had myself the “19th Century,” a drink previously known as the Old-Fashioned, and originally known at the Cock-tail. A mix of rye, bitters, and a twist of lemon, this delightful and refreshing drink was the first cocktail, and is the origin point from whence all other cocktails were birthed. I also had the Japanese Cocktail, invented by Jerry Thomas–surprisingly delicious, and perhaps my favorite drink of the evening.
The custom 19th Century cocktail list at Eastern Standard.
If you are ever in Boston, I highly recommend dinner and a drink at Eastern Standard; their hospitality was touching, their bar-craft unparalleled.
The “19th Century” at Eastern Standard.
The crawl participants met and mingled; and, lubricated with a few fine cocktails, became fast friends. By the time we left Eastern Standard, we had 40 crawlers in tow.
An admittedly blurry photo of the crawl making its way to the Red Hat.
We traveled via subway to the Red Hat, a bar founded in 1906 in Boston’s old Theater district (later a neighborhood known for its burlesque shows). We settled in upstairs, next to the antique bar, and surrounded by a charming mural of old Boston. The ambiance was lovely.
I was won over by a small advertisement on my table and ordered a Kraken and Coke. Kraken is a new brand of “Black Spiced Rum,” which comes in an amazing jug-like bottle adorned with an angry sea monster. Ever since spotting it at Astor Wine & Spirits last month, I’ve been meaning to try it out. I was very pleasantly surprised–Kraken is sweet and spicy, and an incredibly pleasant companion to Coke. I recommend it.
Kraken & Coke. Release the Kraken!
Next, we trotted down the street to Union Bar at the Union Oyster House. The UOH is the oldest continually operating restaurant in the U.S., having been founded in 1826. It was the first bar to pass out wooden toothpicks in the 1860s. Despite my track record at previous pub crawls, I did not slurp up any oysters. Instead, I was bought a whiskey on the rocks by a woman in a dashing hat. Perfect.
We ended up skipping the Bell in Hand Tavern after sizing up the line in front of the door that extended around the block, and discovering there was a $10 cover. Boo. The next time I’m in Boston, I’m going to stop in for a burger and a beer; it is one of the oldest bars in America, after all.
Left: The discreet, nondescript hallway that leads to Drink.
Instead, we headed across the river to Drink, another new establishment known for exploring the history of cocktails. After six hours of drinking, I still had a party of twelve ready for more. When we got to Drink’s front stair, we were met by the doorman who (to quote a fellow pub crawler) had “the most amazing Chester A. Arthur mutton chops.” He sized us up, nodded and said: “I heard you guys might be headed our way. Let me see what I can do.” He disappeared inside, and I addressed my loyal troupe of 19th century gentleman and ladies: “He says there’s at least a 45 minutes wait; last call is in 90 minutes. I’m read to wait them out; who’s with me?” Everyone agreed we were in it to win it.
Ten minutes later, the door opened. Chester A. smiled: “Welcome to Drink,” and he swept us inside.
Drink is a magical place; if you can get in, go. There is no menu, which at first strikes you as annoying. But in fact, it allows you the opportunity to chat with your adorable server/bartender who will say things like “I’ve got the perfect drink for you!” He started me off with another Cock-Tail, then an updated old-fashioned. Some of my companions asked for egg drinks, which are unrivaled at Drink. I think that’s what opened the gates for what happened next.
We were suddenly presented with a “special cocktail,” I didn’t catch it’s name. It has specific instructions for consumption: first, you smelled it. A big long whiff. Second, you sipped off the meringue-like egg white that sat on the drink’s surface. Last, you threw the drink back like a shot, imbibing the alcohol and the egg yolk which sits at the bottom of the glass. The egg yolk bursts in your mouth. As mine ruptured, I thought to myself: did I really just eat that raw egg?
Althought we all commented how sober we were on the walk to Drink, by the time we piled in cabs around 1:30 am, we were 3-5 sheets to the wind. Total Eclipse of the Heart came on the radio, and I sang it all the way back to my brother’s apartment in Cambridge, where I met a few friends for just one more drink.
They’re pointing to the “Gentlemen’s Room.”
I’m now safely entrenched back in New York city, still basking from the warm glow of a night of fine drinks, and even finer friends. I met such lovely people. And if you missed the Boston 19th Century Pub Crawl this year, worry not. There’s already plans for a repeat performance next spring. And for those of you in New York, and those of you willing to hop a Fung Wah to get here, the New York 19th Century Pub Crawl is right around the corner on May 15th. Check out our proposed route, and I hope to see you there!
This week: summer cocktails to help you beat the heat of the particularly sultry summer. Today, a refreshing glass of Roman Punch.
, 1926
