The Daily Tippler

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.

Reiterating for the 3rd time; Vermouth Bianco does not work in your typical Martini; it over powers vodka and does nothing for straight Gin. Another thing that doesn’t work in a typical Martini is Holland Gin. So, I thought, based on the floral sweetness of the Bianco it might be a good way to cut the edge on the Holland Gin; it worked.

The Un-Martini:

-2 1/2 oz. Bols Genever
-1/4 oz. Dolin Blanc

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass over ice and stir. Strain into chilled Cocktail Glass and garnish with a Lemon Twist.

I’m offering five cocktails this week that feature Holland Gin as the main ingredient. Today’s is again courtesy of David Wondrich and I promise I’m not getting lazy and niether is he. But I guess what you can take away from the name of this one is that you can mix and match a lot of drinks using the flavors you like; just grab the correspondding liqueur.  Again, he recommends a two parts sugar to one part water proportion on your Simple Syrup.

The Improved  Holland Gin Cocktail (#2): 

-2 oz Holland Gin
-2 dashes teaspoon simple syrup
-1 dash Orange Curacao
-2 dashes Orange Bitters
 

Combine all ingredients over ice and stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist a lemon peel over the drink and rim the glass with it before dropping in.

Some of you may have recently noticed a new addition to the Gin aisle at your local liquor store; Holland Gin or Genever Gin. Gin as we know it, in the dry London style, was introduced in this country around 1890. Before that it was made in a sweetened Holland style not at all reminiscent of London dry. Holland Gin never really went away; but it did fall out of popularity in the U.S., in favor of the dry style, causing imports to cease. The Gin has made a recent return to the U.S. market because the current cocktail revival has demanded it.  I’ve personally tasted a couple of brands and it reminds me of un-aged corn whiskey on the sweeter side.  

I’m offering five cocktails this week that feature Holland Gin as the main ingredient. Today’s is courtesy of David Wondrich and he recommends the brand Zudiam; I’ve only made it with Bols. He also recommends a two parts sugar to one part water proportion on your Simple Syrup.

The Improved  Holland Gin Cocktail: 

-2 oz Holland Gin
-1 scant teaspoon simple syrup
-1/2 tsp. Maraschino
-1 dash Absinthe
-2 dashes Angostura Bitters
 

Combine all ingredients over ice and stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist a lemon peel over the drink and rim the glass with it before dropping in.

Some of you may have recently noticed a new addition to the Gin aisle at your local liquor store; Holland Gin or Genever Gin. Gin as we know it, in the dry London style, was introduced in this country around 1890. Before that it was made in a sweetened Holland style not at all reminiscent of London dry. Holland Gin never really went away; but it did fall out of popularity in the U.S., in favor of the dry style, causing imports to cease. The Gin has made a recent return to the U.S. market because the current cocktail revival has demanded it.  I’ve personally tasted a couple of brands and it reminds me of un-aged corn whiskey on the sweeter side.  

I’m offering five cocktails this week that feature Holland Gin as the main ingredient. Today’s is The Holland House which is kind of like a cross between an Aviation and a Martini.

The Holland House: 

-1 oz Holland Gin
-1 oz Dry Vermouth
-3/4 oz Lemon Juice
-Splash Maraschino
 

Combine all ingredients over ice and stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist. 

Some of you may have recently noticed a new addition to the Gin aisle at your local liquor store; Holland Gin or Genever Gin. Gin as we know it, in the dry London style, was introduced in this country around 1890. Before that it was made in a sweetened Holland style not at all reminiscent of London dry. Holland Gin never really went away; but it did fall out of popularity in the U.S., in favor of the dry style, causing imports to cease. The Gin has made a recent return to the U.S. market because the current cocktail revival has demanded it.  I’ve personally tasted a couple of brands and it reminds me of un-aged corn whiskey on the sweeter side.