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“Old Pal” Cocktail 1/3 Canadian Club Whisky. (1 oz Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey) 1/3 French Vermouth. (1 oz Noilly Prat Original Formula Dry) 1/3 Campari. (1 oz Campari) Shake (I stirred) well and strain into cocktail glass. This “Old Pal” comes from the 1922 edition of “Harry’s ABC of Cocktails”. As far as I can tell, it appears to be one of the earliest recipes in print, at least in English, calling for Campari. It doesn’t quite make sense to me, however, with the French Vermouth and Rye. Really you just end up with very little else balancing out the flavors of the Campari and Rye Whiskey. By McElhone’s 1927 “Barflies and Cocktails“, the “Old Pal” had disappeared in favor of the Boulevardier*, aka the Bourbon Negroni. A much more sensible beverage, if you ask me. *If you can’t find the Boulevardier initially, it’s no wonder. Check the “Cocktails Round Town” section at the back of the book. “Now is the time for all good Barflies to come to the aid of the party, since Erskinne Gwynne crashed in with his Boulevardier Cocktail: 1/3 Campari, 1/3 Italian Vermouth, 1/3 Bourbon Whisky.”

The Savoy Cocktail Book uses the spelling "whisky" for all types of whisky in all cocktails. However, in what we suspect is the source for this recipe, Judge Jr.'s prohibition era book, "Here's How!" he specifies Scotch for the OH Henry!.

Old Fashioned Cocktail. 1 Lump Sugar. 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters. 1 Glass Rye or Canadian Club Whisky. Crush sugar and bitters together, add lump of ice, decorate with twist of lemon peel and slice of orange using medium size glass, and stir well. This Cocktail can be made with Brandy, Gin, Rum, etc., instead of Rye Whisky. Is there anything really left to say about Old-Fashioneds? Well, one thing I have noticed is that graduates of the American Bartending School are often a bit (youtube link) about which end of the muddler goes into the cocktail and which end they should be holding.Let’s be clear, in the photo above, grasp the top rounded end. The flat end of the muddler goes into the cocktail to crush your sugar, bitters and what have you. Also, if you buy a varnished muddler, it’s best to sand the varnish off and soak it in mineral oil. If you don’t, flakes of varnish will eventually end up in the cocktails. Varnish is never an appropriate garnish. Now the above muddler is OK for things like Juleps and Old-Fashioned which are built in normal size glassware. For those drinks which are muddled in pint glasses, and the like, you might want to think of something with a bit more heft. For example you might talk to Chris Gallagher and get yourself one of his extremely attractive PUG! Muddlers. The one above is made from Mexican Rosewood. Also, the slanted top end of pug muddlers makes them nearly impossible to hold the wrong way. Or drop a note to David Nepove, aka Mister Mojito, who also sells quite an assortment of muddlers and other bar equipment. Which version did I make this time, with all those options, “Brandy, Gin, Rum, etc.”? Well, I’m supporting the home team, of course! Genevieve Old-Fashioned. 1 lump Demerara Sugar. 2 dashes Angostura Bitters. 2 oz Anchor Genevieve Genever Style Gin. In a medium size heavy bottomed glass, with a muddler, crush sugar and bitters together with a splash of water. Add Genevieve and stir to combine. Add ice and stir well. Decorate with twist of lemon peel, a slice of orange, and serve.

I do kind of dread the Judge Jr. drinks. Almost none of them are any good without serious interpolation. Doesn't help that many of them seem to have gained typos when transcribed for the Savoy Cocktail Book. Many of them do contain the tasty kernel of a drink, however. The Applejack Rabbit for example and maybe even the Oh Henry! above. I don't even mind the Barbary Coast, weird prohibition Mai Tai that it is. It does seem to indicate, however, that the cocktails folks were drinking in the US during prohibition were seriously not that tasty.

Old Etonian Cocktail 2 Dashes Orange Bitters. (Angostura Bitters) 2 Dashes Crème de Noyau. (2/3 barspoon Rowley Noyau) 1/2 London Gin. (1 1/2 oz North Shore Distiller’s No. 11) 1/2 Kina Lillet. (1 1/2 oz Homemade Lillet Clone) Shake will and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel on top. Lot of homemade shit in this one, eh? Now you know when you get liqueur in a bottle as confidence inspiring as the above, you are in for a treat. Matt Rowley, being the fearless man that he is, made a batch of Noyau earlier this year: If I Had a Hammer. The minute after I read his post, I had an email out to Rowley asking if he was interested in a trade of Noyau for Nocino. He was amenable and soon a bottle of Noyau appeared in the mail. Zyklon B or no, it is tasty stuff. If you don’t have an enterprising friend like Rowley, the usual substitution of Amaretto will likely be fine. The cocktail is one of the more pleasing in recent memory. The bitter almond and cherry-like flavor of the Noyau combines quite well with the slightly sweet oranginess of the Kina Lillet Clone. I can only imagine it would be tastier with Cocchi Americano.

Oh Henry! Cocktail 1/3 Benedictine. (1 oz Benedictine) 1/3 Whisky. (3/4 oz Famous Grouse, 1/4 oz Jon Mark and Robbo Smokey Peaty One) 1/3 Ginger Ale. (1 oz Bundaberg Ginger Beer) Stir well and serve. This cocktail comes from Judge Jr.’s Prohibition era tome, “Here’s How.” In that book the recipe is given as: “1 jigger of Benedictine; 1 jigger of Scotch; 2 jiggers of ginger ale,” which seems a bit more sensible. Judge Jr. also notes this cocktail was, “Originated by Henry Oretel and believe us Henry knows his liquids!” I can dig up no information on Mr. Oretel. While tasty, this is way too sweet for me. I think even with 2 parts ginger beer to 1 part Scotch and Benedictine. If I had to do it over, I would go with: 1/2 oz Benedictine, 1 1/2 oz Scotch. Build over ice and top up with Ginger Beer.

Along with dissolving the sugar, I wanted to get better expression of the spices. Many of these, I have found, especially cinnamon, do not express themselves particularly well through simple infusion. To be honest, I don't really find I have as much of a feel for aromatizing wine, as I do for liqueur and syrup making. I feel like I'm still making crayon drawings or caricatures of the commercial products. I'm kind of getting to the point where I almost don't see much benefit of even trying to do it, as the commercial products are so much superior.

Oops, that should be: 1/4 Glass Lemon Juice. (3/4 oz Lemon Juice) 1/4 Glass Kina Lillet. (3/4 oz Underhill Kina Clone) 1/4 Glass Cointreau. (3/4 oz Cointreau) 1/4 Glass Brandy. (3/4 oz Dudongon Cognac)

Odd McIntyre Cocktail. 1/4 Glass Lemon Juice. (3/4 oz Lemon Juice) 1/4 Glass Kina Lillet. (3/4 oz Underhill Kina Clone) 1/4 Glass Cointreau. (3/4 oz Cognac) 1/4 Glass Brandy. (3/4 oz Dudongon Cognac) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Third time we’ve made this exact cocktail. Previously we’ve known it as the “Frank Sullivan” and “Hoop La!“. It still is a Corpse Reviver No. 2, with Brandy instead of Gin, and no Absinthe. It is also still an enjoyable, if not amazing, cocktail. To quote from the Wikipedia: As regards cocktails, Mr. McIntyre was one of the founding members, along with Harry McElhone, of the I.B.F. or International Bar Flies, an organization reputedly started as a press stunt at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris some time around Christmas of 1924. See the Mud Puddle books edition of Harry and Wynn’s “Barflies and Cocktails” for more information regarding that institution.

Nose-Dive Cocktail Take one hooker of Gin (Beefeater’s), place in it an olive (Picholine Olive), then deposit the glass carefully in the bottom of an ordinary tumbler. Fill the said tumbler with Water, Ginger Ale, or What Have You (Fever Tree Bitter Lemon), until almost to the top of the small glass, then down the whole thing quickly. That is, everything but the small glass. Judge Junior tells us the cocktail was, “Contributed by “Billy” from Wheeler field, Hawaii. This is the aviator’s favorite—let’s go.” A “hooker”, as far as I can tell, refers more to a type of glass than an actual measure. My guess is it is probably the type of small shot glass that is so common in antique and second hand stores. In any case, it has to fit inside an “ordinary tumbler”. Every once in a while you hear some joker banging on about “The Golden Age of Cocktails” or some such. Some mythic time when everyone drank civilly and comported themselves with dignity for the entire course of the evening. The fact of the matter is, drinking, for various reasons, is sometimes about getting drunk, whether it is Vodka and Red Bull in 2009, a tequila slammer in 1990, or a Nose Dive Cocktail in 1930. Really enjoying this Fever Tree Bitter Lemon, by the way. Gin and Bitter Lemon is a great combo.

...and maybe I'm a slut, but to be honest, when I'm bar-tending I don't view "spirits evangelist" as near the top of my list of priorities. The two things I see as my primary tasks are ensuring the guest has an enjoyable experience at our bar and, if they order a cocktail, that I make as good a cocktail for them as I can. If it's a lemon drop, I like to hope it's the best damn lemon drop that they've ever had. Plus, 9 times out of 10, I get these "vodka citrus" orders from the dining room or lounge, so have absolutely no ability to steer the guest away from vodka. If they are at the bar, I might try, as we have many drinks that appeal to those patrons who enjoy citrus heavy drinks. But to be frank, usually, at the bar, our cocktails sell themselves. People see the person next to them enjoying a cool looking drink and ask me or their neighbors what it is and want to try it. Even if they don't order cocktails, people who have a good experience at our bar are people who are likely to come back. If I give them attitude about their choice of spirit or drink without properly assessing the dynamic of the interaction, those might be customers we lose.

It was Zeitgeist, in San Francisco (nuff said)--and it was a regular Bud. I didn't actually witness this; a former bartender was telling me about it. But knowing Zeitgeist, I believe it. ← I'd try it, but wouldn't really want to drink either possible result, bud light or cosmo. Not to mention dealing with making a zeitgeist bartender cranky. They barely tolerate my tatoo-free yuppie ass there as it is.

Nineteen-Twenty Pick-Me-Up Cocktail 2/3 Pernod Absinthe. (1 1/2 oz Henri Bardouin Pastis) 1/3 Gin. (3/4 oz Beefeater’s Gin) 1 Dash Angostura Bitters. 1 Dash Orange Bitters. (1 dash Angostura Orange Bitters) 1 Dash Gomme Syrup. (1/3 tsp. Rich Simple Syrup) Shake well, strain into medium size wine-glass, and fill balance with soda water. We’ve discussed “Absinthe” quite a bit previously, most recently on the Nine Pick and Monkey Gland Cocktails. The question here is, “What would this cocktail have been made with? True Absinthe or a Wormwood free substitute like Pernod or Ricard?” As we noted before, Absinthe was banned in most countries between 1910 and 1915. Therefore, in pretty much any cocktail recipe calling for “Absinthe” and dating from 1920 through to 2006, the author really means Pernod or Ricard. Fortunately, in the case of this cocktail it is an easy call. The name suggests it is from 1920 and it uses the term “Pernod Absinthe” in the recipe. 1920 was the year France once again allowed anise flavored liqueurs to be manufactured and sold. Pernod et fils was one of the first out of the gate with a wormwood-free reformulation of its Absinthe. So, yeah, this recipe should be made with a Wormwood-free anise flavored liqueur. I’m using Henri Bardouin Pastis, which is one of my favorite Wormwood-free Anise flavored beverages. It’s a bit less sweet and more complex than Pernod, Herbsaint, or Ricard. The only downside to using Bardouin Pastis in cocktails is that some of the flavoring oils have a tendency to drop out of solution when it is shaken with ice and chilled rapidly. It’s still tasty, but the oils float to the top and form an ugly white film. The big difference between Absinthe and most of the Wormwood-free substitutes, aside from the lack of Artemesia absinthium in the botanicals, is the presence of sugar in the product. When making an Absinthe drip, most people add at least some sugar. When Pernod et fils developed their new products post-ban, it seems like they made a conscious decision to make the Absinthe ritual simpler. They added sugar to the products in the bottle. So instead of the whole dripping water over sugar into the Absinthe, all you had to do was add water. You can make this cocktail with Absinthe or with a Wormwood-free substitute. Simply take into consideration the lack of sugar in the Absinthe and go a bit heavier on the Sugar Syrup. For some reason, maybe it’s the large portion of Absinthe, someone inevitably orders one of these every time we do Savoy Cocktail Book night at Alembic Bar. It’s hard to mind too much, as the soda sort of mitigates the large portion of spirits. Anyway, if you like Absinthe, it’s actually quite a pleasant drink to sip on a hot day.

I am sooooo sick of restaurants making their ice tea with flavored tea or herbal infusions. Ice tea is not complicated and I do not want a mouth full of fruit ir flowers. When I order a glass of Ice Tea, I would like a nice, quality, black tea poured over ice. Period.

Nineteen-Twenty Cocktail 1 Teaspoonful Groseille Syrup. (1 teaspoon Brizard Creme de Cassis) 1/6 Pernod Kirsch. (1/2 oz Clear Creek Kirsch) 1/6 Crystal Gin. (1/2 oz North Shore Distiller’s No. 11) 2/3 French Vermouth. (2 oz Noilly Original Dry Vermouth) 1 Dash Absinthe. (Verte de Fougerolles) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. (Luxardo Cherry.) Obviously very similar to the preceding “Nineteen Cocktail”. The only real difference being using the Groseille (aka Red Currant) Syrup as a sweetener instead of plain syrup. I’m substituting the Brizard Cassis for the Groseille. If you didn’t have that around, Grenadine would likely be your next best choice. I enjoyed both of these light, low alcohol cocktails, but to be honest I kind of preferred the cleaner flavor of the Nineteen to the the Nineteen-Twenty.

In regards pushed or over-extracted cocktails, they also are not really a new or necessarily modern thing. Two fine examples of Savoy Cocktails that could be considered "over-extracted" are the Millionaire No. 1 and the Oriental. Both well balanced, but to my taste could use a bit of a toning down of the sweetness and sourness to be truly enjoyable. And maybe a bit more booze.

Nineteen Cocktail. 1 Dash Absinthe. (Verte de Fougerolles) 1/6 Dry Gin. (1/2 oz North Shore Distiller’s No. 11) 1/6 Kirsch. (1/2 oz Clear Creek Kirsch) 2/3 French Vermouth. (2 oz Noilly Original Dry*) 4 Dashes Syrup. (1 tsp. Rich Simple Syrup) Shake (I stirred) well and strain into cocktail glass. (Lemon Peel.) Noilly Prat recently redesigned the bottles for their Sweet and Dry Vermouths. Along with the redesign of the bottles, they discontinued a formula of their Dry Vermouth which they had only been selling in America, standardizing on the “Original French Dry” which has been sold in the rest of the world for all this time. To explain, some time in the 1960s, as Martinis were getting drier and drier, Noilly Prat launched a new forumula of their Dry Vermouth exclusively for the US. This is the text of an ad from 1964, turned up by Mr. David Wondrich: Well, as you can see from the picture of the drink above, Noilly Dry is invisible no longer! Most Martinis with more than a splash of vermouth, will now take on a distinct amber hue from the darker color of the Noilly Dry Vermouth. The difference in the two versions that were sold was primarily a larger percentage of aged wine in the “Original French Dry”. As far as taste goes, doing a side by side of the two Noilly, there is a stronger sherry like character in the “new” formula and slightly more pronounced herbal/floral flavor. A lot of people have gotten up in arms about this, Feeling Noilly has ruined their Martinis forever. From my perspective, however, we’re probably getting something closer to what Noilly Prat Vermouth would have tasted like in the early part of the 20th Century. In addition we’re getting extra vermouth flavor. How could that be a bad thing? For example, I tried making this cocktail with the lighter American Noilly and again with Dolin Dry. I found that I preferred the Original French Dry in this cocktail to either of the other two Dry Vermouths. While there are other cocktails where I prefer the Dolin Dry, Dry Martinis for example, in more complex or vermouth forward cocktails, the Noilly Prat can bring a bit more interest to the drink. In regards, the Nineteen Cocktail, it is a light cocktail along the lines of the Chrysanthemum. A good before dinner drink which might even complement an appetizer without getting you totally blitzed on an empty stomach. Or a nice civilized drink to get you back on an even keel after a few more potent potables. *Noilly Original Dry was received from a marketing firm promoting its launch.

I too agree with mr. apothecary's notions of "over extracted" cocktails. Though, I usually describe it as "pushed". Where on one hand you have Embury's drinks with 2 oz of booze, 1 teaspoon of lemon, and 1 teaspoon of syrup and on the other you have modern drinks where the amounts of both the sour and sweet are pushed so far out as to obscure the base spirit. I know, at least for myself, the lessons of Italian cooking were really hard to learn. Sometimes another ingredient or taste in a dish detracts. Simplicity is often best. And yes, many of us come from childhoods of drinking over flavored candy, soda, and fast food. Weaning yourself from those flavor profiles can be a life long endeavor.

I don't know if you saw this topic over at The Chanticleer Society, but I thought it brought up some interesting points: What we can learn from spaghetti sauce? The linked video is of a talk by Malcolm Gladwell, where he discusses how the idea of a "socratic ideal" for the taste of a dish is flawed in many ways, and the advances of a particular flavor scientist. Malcolm Gladwell: What we can learn from spaghetti sauce Much of the idea being, there is no "perfect dish", there are clusters of preferred preparations which align with the preferences of statistically significant groups of people. And another fair point, is that people seldom actually ask for or will admit their exact preferences.

Nine-Pick Cocktail. 2/3 Absinthe. (1 1/2 oz Sirene Absinthe Verte) 1/3 Gin. (3/4 oz Hayman’s Old Tom Gin) 1 Dash Angostura Bitters. 1 Dash Orange Bitters. (Angostura) 1 Dash Syrup. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. This name doesn’t really make sense until you scan the next page… So the “Nine-Pick” is a shortened version of the “Nineteen-Twenty Pick-Me-Up”! I can just imagine some business man saying, “You know I’d like that Nineteen-Twenty Pick-Me-Up, but I don’t have time for a long drink. Can you leave out the soda?” Then some smart aleck bartender handing him the cocktail and telling him that without the soda, it’s only a “Nine-Pick”. With a generous dash of syrup and a nice long, vigorous shake, this is actually not bad. Well, if you like Absinthe, obviously. I chose to use the Hayman’s because it was handy and seemed like it would be interesting, especially since the other 2/3 of the drink was already high test. Turned out to be a good choice with the citrus flavors of the Sirene and Hayman’s complementing each other nicely. I am kind of cheating here using actual Absinthe. By 1920 Absinthe was banned in most countries, so it is far more likely that this cocktail would be made with Pernod’s newly available Wormwood free product*. *From this Coctkailtimes article: Absinthe was banned in 1910 in the Switzerland, 1912 in the US, and 1914 in France. In 1920, France again allowed the production of anise flavored drinks. Pernod’s new Wormwood free formulation was one of the first out of the gate.

Interesting idea, Sam, especially considering the name. Tell me more.

Night Cap Cocktail The Yolk of 1 Egg. 1/3 Anisette. (3/4 oz Gantous and Abou Rad Arak) 1/3 Curacao. (3/4 oz Cointreau) 1/3 Brandy. (3/4 oz Dudognon Cognac) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. I’ve written about “Arak” before in the blog post “Ar®a©k Disambiguation“. This "Arak" is the Anise flavored grape based spirit from Lebanon. Because there are various degrees of sweetness in Anisette and Anise flavored liqueurs and this drink is already 1/3 orange liqueur, I figured it would be fun to pretend it called for a dry style anise liqueur and use Arak instead of Anisette. The Night Cap is also a fine example of me not being able to follow a recipe even though I try hard to read them and execute. I knew I was running low on Cointreau, so stopped to buy some on the way home. Then I looked at the recipe. Checked for the Orange Curacao in the kitchen cupboard. Headed down to the basement to find the Arak. Came back upstairs and made the recipe with Cointreau. Why, I do not know. Sometimes my hands just don’t tell my brain what they are doing. So, even though I didn’t really quite make the recipe accurately, ooops, this was quite tasty. Anise and orange are a proven great combination and the brandy brings some sort of other mediation to the party. Definitely an enjoyable cocktail, so I can’t see going back and doing it the “right” way.

Oh, I didn't mean to single out the Old Fascist specifically, Katie. Sounds like it should be a popular drink, and glad to see Brandy Old-Fashioneds on the menu in places other than Wisconsin, muddling or no. It's a good cocktail. I meant more historically and geographically. It does seem like the muddled old-fashionds are more popular in the Southern part of Wisconsin than in the Central and Northern parts of the state. Heh, someone should start a photo blog about Wisconsin Old-Fashioneds and the taverns, restaurants, and bars they are served in.

I still don't understand where the muddling the fruit comes into the Old-Fashioned. I get them all the time at bars and restaurants in Wausau, WI and points North. They look exactly like this: "Rye Old Fashioned, Water", at Norwood Pines Supper Club, Minocqua, Wisconsin. Is it a Southern Wisconsin thing?

Nicolaski Cocktail 2/3 Brandy. (1 1/2 oz Dudognon Cognac) 1 Slice Lemon with a little castor sugar spread over it. Drink Brandy through the prepared lemon. I have to admit the method here has puzzled me for a long time. But during one of the opening parties for Heaven's Dog one of the waiters came up and asked me if I knew what a Nicol-something Cocktail was. He described it a bit and told me the customer said it was a traditional cocktail. I said, well yes, as a matter of fact I did know the cocktail, but I’d never made one, so I’d do my best. I dredged a lemon in sugar, put it on the plate with a shot of Armagnac and sent it out. The server came back, the patron wanted instead, a slice of lemon, a pile of sugar, and a shot of brandy. So there you go. I’m still unclear on the exact method of imbibing the Nicolaski. Do you take a sip of brandy and then suck on the lemon, like old school Vodka Lemon Drops? Put the sugar coated lemon in your mouth and then suck the brandy through it? Dredge the lemon in sugar, float it in the brandy and drink it through the lemon? I tried all three and the first seemed the most sensible to me.