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.

and where are we going?

So, I am a little late to the game in summing up the Aughts, but I thought I’d throw my two cents in anyway. A lot of people are looking at the past decade as the resurgence of the cocktail. To be honest it probably had it’s impetus fifteen years ago and didn’t really crossover till about five years ago (if you remember the decade started with Red Bull and Vodka, which was quickly followed by a wave of flavored Martini’s).  What has happened over the past five years has been nothing short of tremendous. I’ll try to illustrate what I mean by using David Wondrich’s book, “Imbibe,” as an example: It was published in 2007 and some things are all ready out of date. When Mr. Wondrich was writing it he refers to real Holland Gin as virtually impossible to find and now it is everywhere; along with a slew of other ingredients brought back by the popular demand of Artisanal Barkeeps and their ever more discerning clientele. Just think only a few years ago Absinthe was illegal and know we are distilling the stuff.

Absinthe, I kind of feel it has become the last touchstone of the aughts. It was supposed to be the next big thing and, while it has an immeasurable importance in recreating old recipes, it has not succeeded in becoming the ‘it’ Spirit. Unlike Gin and Whiskey which have clearly beaten vodka back for the role of dominate cocktail base.

So, if not Absinthe then what? Personally I think that the Speakeasy fad has run it’s course and we are going to see more singularly focused bars; led by the likes of Rum & Tequila. All ready established bars like Mayahuel and Roneria Caracas are leading the pack and the former Eastside Company will soon become a Tiki bar. In the long run, dare I say it, Vodka may even make a come back.

The following recipe is the only serviceable one I found that features Rum & Tequila. One expects most efforts to mix these two would occur at Frat Parties. But this one comes from the 1937 “Cafe Royal Cocktail Book.”  Published by the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild it is fairly useful  in that an encompasses everything civilized people were drinking during US Prohibition.

The Mexican Eagle:

-1/4 Jamaica rum
-1/4 French vermouth
-1/2 Tequila

Combine in a shaker over ice and serve in a chilled cocktail glass.

Summer officially ends after labor, but Fall doesn’t begin until the Autumnal Equinox which is not until next week. So, what season is it now; Sall or Fummer?

At any rate Fall in the Northeast means fresh Apples. Since they are on my mind, but not available quite yet I’m going to replace them with Calvados all week.

Atlas Cocktail:

-1 oz Calvados
-1 oz Dark Rum
-1/2 oz Cointreau
-1 Dash Angostura Bitters

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

Angostura, the people that make the bitters, also make Rum. Many of you probably know this all ready, but for those of you who don’t they are the largest Rum producer in Trinidad. They make a Rum called 10 Cane which is only for export, so you can get it here but not there. It is on the sweeter side, which means they are probably targeting the US market; I think it’s great. I also thought that it and the Vermouth Bianco might go nicely together. This recipe also requires Basil Syrup; which is made the same way as the Mint Syrup, but with about 30 Basil Leaves instead of Mint.

The Ten Cane’er:

-2 3/4 oz. 10 Cane Rum
-1 Barspoon Dolin Blanc
-1/2 Barspoon Luxardo Maraschino
-1 Barspoon Lemon Juice
-1 Barspoon Basil Syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Rub the rim of the glass with a lemon twist and garnish with the twist.

After realizing that Simple Syrup was an easy way to add sugar to a drink Bartenders found a way around mashing up all those fruits for flavor; Fruit Syrups. These are actually pretty easy to make. Start with a richer version of Simple Syrup: combine 2 pounds of Demerara Sugar with one pint of water over medium heat until dissolved. Pick your fruit and, if large, cube it, if small, just wash and pat dry. Place the fruit in a bowl and press it lightly. Cover with the Syrup and allow it to macerate overnight. Strain out the solids and transfer to a squeeze bottle.

The Knickerbocker:

-2 oz. Light Brown Rum (that is not spiced)
-1 oz. Curacao
-2 Teaspoons Raspberry Syrup

Squeeze the Lime Juice into an ice filled shaker and set aside the Rind. Add the remaining ingredients and shake well. Strain into an ice filled highball glass and garnish with the Lime Rind

About a week-and-a-half ago the NY Times published a story  about the Dark ‘n’ Stormy. The interesting think about the drink is that, in a rare exception, the US Patent Office has granted Gosling a patent on the recipe. This, in and of itself, is interesting and I am sure there is a big debate amongst Rum lovers over whether or not you can make it with a substitute. But the article got me thinking for another reason; I wondered if there were any other drinks that had been granted similar legal distinctions.

I did some research on the US Patent Office website and came up empty handed. This does not mean that there aren’t any out there, but the website is so arcane that I threw my hands up in frustration. Put it this way; I wanted this to be my topic last week, but I was so mired in an attempt to make sense of the thing that I had to push it back. Based on this it makes sense that there are no other patented cocktails; if it is this difficult to look up patents I can only imagine what it is like to get one. So, in deference  to the US Government, I’ll start with the Dark ‘n’ Stormy today and follow-up with some other drink related patents that are interesting, important but most of all easier to find.

Dark ‘n’ Stormy
As officially decreed by the US Patent Office

-2 oz. Gosling’s Black Seal Rum
-4 oz. Ginger Beer

Pour Rum over ice in a Highball glass and top with Ginger Beer. Garnish with a Lime wedge.

As mentioned; yesterday the blender was invented in the 1920’s and we’re not sure who the first person to put ice & booze in it was, but we do know who made it popular. In the 1930’s and 40’s Constante Ribalagua, head barman at the Floridita in Havana, adopted the Blender as almost a high powered cocktail shaker. Unlike today’s concoctions Ribalagau would strain as much of the crushed ice out of the drinks as he could using a mesh sieve,  in effect just chilling the drinks with the machine.

Constante is purported to have made more than 10 million daiquiris in 5 variations including the non-blender Hemingway Daiquiri  (for more info checkout NYT), but below is a nice blender variation:

Daiquiri No. 2

Apdapted from El Floridita, Havana

-2 ounces White Rum
-1/2 Teaspoon Curaçao Liqueur
-1 Tablespoon lime juice
-1 Teaspoon orange juice
-1 Teaspoon sugar

Place all ingredients in a blender with 1/2 cup ice, preferably in small cubes. Blend about 5 seconds. Pour into a chilled cocktail glass, straining out ice with blender’s lid (or for a particularly refined daiquiri, a sieve). Garnish with a lime wedge or wheel balanced on the glass’s rim.

Today I am offering the future of the Tiki Drink courteous of the modern cocktail master Jamie Boudreau. Jamie has gone ahead and applied a little Molecular Mixology to deconstruct Vic’s original recipe. This recipe maybe a little complex for the home bar, but it is Friday, so get ambitious. The drink recipe is on top and below are the recipes required to make the ingredients… that’s what I meant by complex!

Mai Tai 3000

-1 Lime Chip
-1 Rum Square
-1 Dollop Orgeat Foam
-1 Pinch Fine Orange Zest

Build in the order given.
To “drink”: place all in mouth at once and chew.

Lime Chip: Freeze one lime. Slice thinly and soak in simple syrup. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 100˚ F until sugar has slightly caramelized. Let cool.

Rum Square: This is kind of like a rum jell-o.
-3 oz Water
-1 Teaspoon Agar
-3 oz Appleton V/X rum
-1 oz Lemonhart 151 rum

Heat water and agar in a pot for 15 minutes until agar is dissolved. Add rums and stir well. Pour carefully into a shallow tray and refrigerate. Cut into squares when solid (Jamie doesn’t give a time frame for refrigeration, but I would guess 3-4 hours). 

Orgeat Foam:
-4 oz Orgeat 
-2 oz water
-2 dashes Angostura bitters
-3 egg whites

Place all ingredients into an ISI charger and charge.

Everyone has probably heard of Trader Vic’s. Whether they have been to one, seen one or heard the song Werewolves of London. However, Don the Beachcomber is a little more elusive. All though most look to him as the originator of the Tiki Fad he was not the same entrepreneur as our friend Vic. Don didn’t expand Internationally like Vic did and he didn’t have a  slew of cocktail books  and merchandise that maintain his name today. As I mentioned earlier Don kept his recipes a secret; which makes his drinks vastly more interesting from a historical standpoint, but they have not had the staying power of drinks like the Mai Tai. Because Vic’s recipes were readily available the quality could be maintained by imitators. For Don, on the other hand, imitators would need to try to recreate them often with horrendous results. Not only were the recipes secret but if you ever did get your hands on one they were coded with secret ingredients, so you still might not be able to make the drink. This was an effective short term strategy, but in the long run all these bad imitators led to the Tiki demise. And while you often have a Mai Tai on a cruise you rarely see a Zombie. So here is the recipe for Zombie Punch adapted from Jeff  ”Beachbum” Berry:

Mr. Berry is a Tiki enthusiast who has done a vast amount of work in the field. He has procured a number of notebooks from former bartenders of  Don the Beachcomber and used these to reverse engineer and decode Don’s drinks. Jeff believes that this recipe, found in a waiter’s notebook, is the original Zombie introduced at Don the Beachcomber’s in 1934. 

Zombie Punch:

Put everything into a blender. Blend at high speed for 5 seconds. Pour into a highball glass and add ice cubes to fill. Decorate with sliced fruit or berries and a mint sprig.

I have all ready posted a Mai Tai recipe, but last time I gave no history, so I am updating that here. This is paraphrased from the Trader Vic site and, all though, others have claimed ownership of the drink this seems to be pretty accepted.

In 1944 Trader Vic was looking to create a new drink that would be based on all of the classic cocktails like Martini’s & Manhattans. He mixed 17-year-old J. Wray Nephew Rum from Jamaica with orange curacao from Holland, Rock Candy Syrup, and French Orgeat; aiming for a Tiki that did not overpower the Rum taste with fruit. He served it to a friend from Tahiti, Carrie Guild, who took one sip and said, “Mai Tai – Roa Ae”. In Tahitian this means “Out of This World – The Best”. 

The Mai Tai:

-2 oz. Jamaican Rum
-1/2 oz. Curacao
-1 oz. Lime Juice
-1/2 oz. Orgeat
-1/4 oz. Simple Syrup

Combine in a shaker over ice and strain into an ice filled rocks glass. Garnish with a sprig of mint.