The Daily Tippler

I did a lot on BBQ drinks last year, so this year I thought I would offer something more of an honorarium. I, unfortunatley, could not find much on the provenance of this one, but I have a few ideas. It’s called Army Navy and the first receipe I had is from 1948, so it could be in honor of the armed forces and it wasn’t long after the end of WWII. On the other hand it may just have been created at the Army & Navy club in Washington DC. At any rate it’s pretty good and if you like Bols Genever feel free to replace the gin with that. And if you still have a hankering for some of those BBQ drinks, Jump.

Army Navy (1948):

-2 oz Gin or Bols Genever
-1/2 oz lemon juice
-1/2 oz orgeat

Shake with ice till well chilled and strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon twist.

a complete waste of time.

Part 2 of the ascent of the label cocktail involves one of the worst times in the history of the United Sates: Prohibition. The Volstead  act went into effect in January of 1920 and was not repealed until December of 1933 plunging the United States into 13 long dry years of temperance.

A lot of stories fly around about how tippling was a lot more fun during prohibition; sure anything forbidden has a romantic allure. But, the bottom line is the reality of prohibition was a lot less romantic. During prohibition people drank a lot of pretty unsavory things. Bathtub Gin; that meant people were making Gin in bathtubs, I can’t imagine that being very sanitary. This type of booze killed people, often. Along with people this contraband killed off a lot of the tipple names once common, like the Sling and Cobbler. Since booze was hard to come by you drank whatever was available and ordering drinks by name actually fell by the wayside. All though these drinks and, to a lesser extent, names are still around when the country came out on the other side of this dark period it seems that everything was now going by cocktail.

Prohibition:

-1 oz Gin
-1 oz Lillet Blanc
-1/4 oz Apricot Brandy
-1/4 oz Orange Juice

Combine in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

It is, I’m totally serious…

No I’m not. Nobody really knows where the name came from and there are a lot of stories floating around. Here’s one that at least involves fowl:

A tavern near Elmsford, New York was popular with the officers of the Revolutionary soldiers of Washington and Lafayette. The American troops preferred whiskey or gin, the French preferred wine or vermouth. All enjoyed a bit of brandy or rum. Sometimes late in the evenings, in a spirit of camaraderie, the spirits were mixed from one cup to another during toasts. A soldier stole a rooster from the tavern owner’s neighbor, who was believed to be a Tory supporter of George III of the United Kingdom. The rooster was promptly cooked and served to the customers, with the tail feathers used to adorn the accompanying drinks. The toasts accompanying this meal were “vive le cocktail” and the mixed drinks were so called ever after. (Wikipedia)

Westbrook Cocktail:
Savoy Cocktail Book, 1930
Serves 6.

-5 1/4 oz gin
-2 1/4 oz sweet vermouth
-1 1/2 oz whisky
-2 bar spoons sugar

Shake with ice and strain into 6 cocktail glasses

World Cocktail Week Starts Today!

In honor of world cocktail week 2010; I’m going to try to distill (pun intended) the history of the drink into seven posts. Because this will be brief at best, and because I make no effort to hide my plagiarism, for anyone who wants more info I highly recommend “Imbibe” by David Wondrich.

One supposes that I would start with the inventor of the cocktail, but trying to figure that out is like trying to figure out who decided to drink water first. Cocktails by today’s definition have been around as long as distilled beverages; since they consist of mixing any distilled beverage with something else. As early as 1880 there was scholarly, albeit inconclusive, research about the invention of the cocktail. Therefore, from a purely organizational standpoint, I offer the following incomplete time line:

-Wine Punch: wine being the earliest of spirits and made by every know civilization mixed with something

-Punch: wine gives way to other stronger spirits as the base for punch

-Collins, Fizz, Sour: the punch bowl behind the bar gives way to the single drink mixed on the bar

-Slings, Juleps, Toddies: Enter Sugar

-Cocktails: Enter Bitters

The word cocktail starts to appear in print at the very beginning of the 1800s; one can assume it had been around for a decent time before that. In the beginning and for awhile it is used to refer to drinks with Spirit, Sugar & Bitters; all though that is no longer really the definition I’ll leave it at that for today.

Plain Cocktail:
Jerry Thomas 1862

-3 or 4 dashes Simple Syrup
-2 Dashes Bitters
-1 Wine Glass (2 oz.) Spirits
-2 Dashes Curacoa

Squeeze Lemon Peel in a glass; fill 1/3 with ice and stir.

Part of the reason there has been no update of this space since September 25th of last year is because, when you go away it is hard to know what to say when you comeback. Do you just carry on like nothing ever happened? Or do you offer some long drawn out explanation/apology for your absence? In my case I don’t think either makes sense. It’s not as though I have some massive fan base that has been missing me. On the other hand I do feel some responsibility to provide Tippling ideas for seasonal changes and major events/holidays; of which I have now missed many. 

So instead of apologizing I will offer something I found to be more instersing:

While I was out for over 3 months, from September 26th to January 6th, The Tippler had 164 unique visitors from 24 countries including first timers: Estonia, Namibia and Japan, to name a few.

While I am sure 164 visitors is equivalent to a speck on the head of a pin in Internet terms I take some pride in it. I do almost no promotion for the Blog  and I only know people in about 5 of the 24 countries. This means that someones, somwhweres were searching for somethings I am offering. It’s amazing what the Internet does when you’re not looking…

Round the World:

-1/2 oz. Gin,
-1/2 oz. Dry Vermouth
-1/2 oz. Sweet Vermouth
-1/2 oz. Brandy
-1/2 oz. Orange Juice
-1 dash of absinthe.

Combine ingredients in a shaker over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

This is by Duggan McDonnell of Cantina in San Fransisco, California

Californiafied Ramos Gin Fizz:

-2 oz. Gin (a low proof Gin like Plymouth)
-3 oz. Two Percent Milk
-1 Small Egg White
-1 Teaspoon bitter Orange Marmalade
-1/2 oz. Lemon Juice
-3/4 oz. Agave Nectar Syrup (1 part water to 1 part nectar)
-Seltzer to top

Combine all the ingredients except Seltzer in a shaker without ice. Remove the spring from a Hawthorne strainer and add it to the shaker. Cover and shake vigorously for at least 2 minutes. (Shaking without ice will emulsify and aerate the drink). Remove the spring add ice and shake vigorously again, for a minute this time. Strain into a champagne flute and top with Seltzer.

A once forgotten cocktail from an underrated borough; The Bronx was ranked number three in “The World’s 10 Most Famous Cocktails” in 1934. What happened? It was a rival to the Martini and it appears as though the Martini won, but The Bronx is making a comeback.

The Bronx Cocktail:

-2 oz. Gin
-1/4 oz. Sweet Vermouth
-1/4 oz. Dry vermouth
-1 oz. Orange Juice
-Dash Orange Bitters

Combine ingredients in a shaker over ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail class and Garnish with an Orange Twist.

Lots of apple based cocktails are heavy and plenty of them are served hot; Hot Toddies, Eggnogs. But since I’m focusing on Sall or Fummer I wanted to stay away from those more wintry drinks. So, the Normandy is a great choice for a couple reasons; one because it has Cider and two because it gives me a chance to talk about the origins a little.

Calvados is a region in Normandy, France where they grow apples, so they make cider and they make Apple Brandy. While cider can be made from any old apples real Calvados is treated like a French wine.  The region has a designation from the government, so to label Apple Brandy Calvados it must be from selected orchards in the region. Distillation first appears in print in the 1550’s and the distillation guild was formed in 1606. Calvados experienced it’s “Golden Age” in the late 1800’s when the Phylloxera outbreak devastated European vineyards. Calvados, like most fruit based Brandies, is flexible and works as an aperitif, a digestif, in cocktails and in Normandy it is customary to drink it between courses in a long meal.

Normandy Cocktail

-3/4 oz Brandy
-1/2 oz Calvados
-1/4 oz Gin
-1 oz Apple Cider

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass over ice and stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Today’s drink features three things I have featured a lot: Cucumbers, Hendricks Gin and Dale Degroff. With the season we have had I can’t avoid Cucumbers and no spirit goes better with Cucumbers then Hendricks Gin; and ,let’s face it, Degroff is nonpareil.

Mayfair Cocktail:

-2 oz. Hendrick’s Gin
-¾ oz. simple syrup
-½ oz. fresh lemon juice
-2 slices English cucumber

Prepare a martini glass by wetting the outside of the rim with lime, then dab it carefully in the mixture of kosher salt and dried thyme to “frost” the rim of the glass with the flavour. Assemble the first four ingredients and one slice of cucumber in a mixing glass with ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a thin slice of English Cucumber.

I’m beginning to sound like a broken record with these summer drinks, but the floral character of Bianco just pushes itself that way. The Northeast has had an exceptionally good summer for cucumbers with all of the rain we had in June. And, when cucumbers make it into cocktails they can be pretty refreshing on a hot day. This drink requires Mint Syrup, so I will give you that recipe first.

Mint Syrup:
Makes roughly 14 oz.

Muddle about 30 mint leaves in a cup of sugar. Boil a cup of water and let it cool slightly. Pour the hot water over the mix and stir it lightly. Let cool and strain through cheesecloth.

The Bumper Cucumber:

-3 oz. Hendrick’s Gin
-Splash Dolin Blanc
-2 Barspoons Mint Syrup
-4 Slices of Cucumber
-Soda Water to top

Muddle the cucumber slices in the bottom of a shaker until all are broken. Add the Mint Syrup and allow it to macerate for half a minute. Add the Gin & Vermouth, fill with ice and stir. Strain into an ice filled Highball glass, top with soda and garnish with a cucumber slice. Serve with a straw.