Golden Age

1800-1910

The Golden Age of cocktails was a creative era for cocktail making in America and many of the cocktails that we know and love today were contemporized in this era (Whitehead). The concept of the cocktail was fairly new at this point, evolving from communal punch bowls. There were several factors that really spurred this change in how Americans viewed and enjoyed cocktails. The first is that a large amount of Europeans immigrated to America during this time and brought their love for communal drinking with them (“Golden Age”). This reshaped the bar scene into an area where people can gather and individually drink to their own preference. Also, America was in the midst of the Industrial Revolution which drastically increased city populations, causing the price of manufacturing alcohol to go down. Jerry Thomas’s book The Bartenders Guide: How to Mix Drinks is what really helped start the creative period of cocktail making and presentation. Thomas is credited with turning the act of mixing drinks into entertainment artistry open to the masses. However, he is also blamed for America’s overdrinking habits which eventually led to American Prohibition.

Sazerac

The Sazerac is considered the first branded cocktail to ever be served in American history. In 1838, Antoine Peychaud, a Creole apothecary who emigarated to New Orleans, invented the concoction in his practice (“Sazerac: America’s First Cocktail”). He used a coquetier, a decorative cup that is commonly used to hold eggs, to present his drink. It is said that the word “coquetier” was the backbone for the term that would later become “cocktail.” The Sazerac got its name from the original French Brandi Peychaud used called Sazerac-de-Forge et fils. As the cocktail increased in popularity throughout America, the cognac was replaced with rye whiskey, which was very popular at the time and this recipe stuck. In 1850, the Sazerac Coffee House opened and is still standing today! By 1873, Leon Lamothe, an American bartender, started adding a dash of absinthe to the concoction and would shortly be called the “Green Fairy” or “Black Death.” Absinthe would later get banned in 1912 for allegedly causing hallucinations and would be replaced by Peychaud’s special bitters. The Sazerac has been declared the official cocktail of New Orleans in 2008.

Recipe

Glass: Low Ball Tools: Mixing Glass, Muddler, Strainer 1 Sugar Cube 1/2 tsp. Cold Water 3 Dashes Peychauds Bitters 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters 1 1/4 oz. Rye Whiskey 1 1/4 oz. Cognac 1 Lemon Peel

1. In a mixing glass muddle the sugar cube, water, Peychauds and Angostura bitters together 2. Stir in the the rye whiskey and cognac into the mixing glass with ice 3. Strain into a glass 4. Garnish with a lemon peel

Old-Fashion Tip:

When garnishing your Sazerac with a lemon peel, make sure to twist it over the drink’s surface. This will release the oils and flavors from the peel into the drink adding a subtle citrus taste and aroma to your Sazerac.

Old Fashioned

The Old Fashioned cocktail is from the very early days of cocktail drinking. There were many different variations of this cocktail all the way through the 19th century, but the Pendennis Gentlemen’s Club in Louisville, Kentucky claims to have invented the drink that we know in 1881 (Difford and Simonson). Ice was not readily available back then, so it was common to add sugar cubes because it dissolved into the drink a lot easier. The Old Fashioned originally was referred to as a Whiskey Cocktail, but later got its name from people ordering a drink the “old-fashioned way.” In the early days, the Old Fashioned was considered a ‘matutinal’ drink, so it was commonly drunk in the morning like coffee. The cocktail was not served with fruit until the 1930s following the repeal of Prohibition to help make the drink taste better. When the TV show Mad Men premiered in 2007, a spike in popularity was seen and the Old Fashioned was brought back to light. In 2015, Louisville named the Old Fashioned the official cocktail of the city.

Recipe

Glass: Low Ball Tools: Stirrer

2 tsp. Simple Syrup 1 tsp. Water 2 Dashes Bitters 1 1/2 oz. Bourbon Whiskey 1 Slice Orange 1 Maraschino Cherry

1. Pour simple syrup, water, and bitters into a glass and stir 2. Place ice into the glass and pour your choice of whiskey 3. Garnish with an orange slice and maraschino cherry

Old-Fashion Tip:

Make your Old Fashioned the ‘‘old-fashioned way’’ by replacing the simple syrup with sugar cubes. Just absorb a sugar cube with bitters and stir. Use a rye whiskey to truly drink it the way they did in the 1800s.

Clover Club

The drink was originally popularized in Philadelphia by a men’s group called the ‘‘Clover Club’’ in the 1880s (Eva). The Clover Club was a group of men collectively in legal, literary, or business professions and met regularly at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, exclusively drinking their selfnamed cocktail. The cocktail made its way to New York when the owner of the Bellevue-Stratford became proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, a historically significant and luxurious hotel, spreading its popularity significantly. The cocktail became a symbol of status, typically being drunk by wealthy pre-prohibition gentlemen. By the 1950s, the Clover Club cocktail lost its luxurious status and was derogatorily labeled as a ‘‘ladies drink.’’ This resulted in a drastic decline in popularity and the martini became the replacement. The drink would come back to light, but not until 2007 when Dave Wondrich would feature it in his Esquire column. In 2009, Famous bartender Julie Reiner named her Brooklyn bar after the drink and gave it a modern makeover.

Recipe

Glass: Coupe Tools: Shaker, Strainer, Pick

2 oz. Gin 1/2 oz. Lemon Juice 1/2 oz. Raspberry Syrup 1 Egg White 3 Raspberries

1. Add gin, lemon juice, raspberry syrup, and egg white into a shaker and dry shake vigorously 2. Add ice into shaker and shake vigorously again 3. Double strain into a glass 4. Garnish with 3 raspberries on a cocktail pick

Manhattan

The history of the Manhattan cocktail is a bit lost in time, but adds a touch of mystery to the drink. The theorized origin of the cocktail is that Dr. Lain Marshall invented the concoction for a party at the Manhattan Club for Lady Randolph Churchill, the mother of Winston Churchill, around the 1880s (“The Manhattan”). Like many pre-prohibition drinks, the cocktail has gone through many changes. During prohibition, it was common to use Canadian Whiskey because of its accessibility and has still stuck around as a common ingredient today. In the 1880s, it was the most popular cocktail in the world, but fell out of touch during prohibition. However, it has seen a revival in the twenty-first century being picked up as a cocktail renaissance essential. The cocktail renaissance took off in the 1990s and featured a rediscovery of several classic cocktails and brought them back to relevancy in modern drinking.

Recipe

Glass: Coupe Tools: Mixing Glass, Stirrer, Strainer 2 oz. Rye Whiskey 1 oz. Sweet Vermouth 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters 1 Dash Orange Bitters Brandied Cherries 1 Lemon Twist

1. Add whiskey, sweet vermouth, and both bitters into a mixing glass with ice and stir 2. Strain into a glass 3. Garnish with brandied cherries and a lemon twist

Old-Fashion Tip:

There are different names for Manhattan to suggest how to mix it. Splitting the vermouth between sweet and dry is a Perfect Manhattan. Switching the ratios to make vermouth the main ingredient is a Reverse Manhattan.

Singapore Sling

The Singapore Sling was cleverly invented by Singapore bartender Ngiam Tong Boon (“Singapore Sling”). Back in colonial Singapore, the Long Bar in Raffles was the epicenter for gathering and drinking. It was a common sight to see gentlemen holding glasses filled with whiskey or gin. Unfortunately back then, it was considered unladylike for women to drink in a public setting, so they were condemned to drinking tea or fruit juice. Ngiam saw an opportunity to cater a drink to women that would appear as fruit juice, but was actually infused with alcohol. He deliberately gave the drink its rosy color to give it some feminine flair. This drink would later ease people to socially accept women consuming alcohol in a public setting. The original drink was complex and ingredients heavy, relying on herbal liqueurs and fresh citrus flavors, but by the 1980s that was all left behind. The Singapore Sling was heavily simplified and became a sugary mixture of gin, bottled sweet-and-sour, and grenadine (Liquor.com). Even the Long Bar today serves two different versions of the cocktail; one that is a premade punch and the other is made by hand using fresh fruit juices.

Recipe

Glass: Highball Tools: Shaker

3/4 oz. Gin 1/4 oz. Benedictine Liqueur 1/4 oz. Grand Marnier 1/4 oz. Cherry Liqueur 1 oz. Pineapple Juice 1/2 oz. Lime Juice 1 Dash Angostura Bitters Club Soda 1 Lemon Slice Maraschino Cherries

1. Add gin, Benedictine, Grand

Marnier, cherry liqueur, pineapple juice, lime juice, and bitters into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well 2. Strain into a glass over ice 3. Top with club soda 4. Garnish with a lemon slice and maraschino cherries