Paul Harrington cocktail recipes online

[Wilfrid]

After drinking Manhattans all winter, I just went back to working through untried recipes from Paul Harrington and Laure Moorhead's excellent book. The recipes work, and the historical accounts of each drink's development are interesting. It was one of the books Dale Groff recommended in his Q&A here.

I particularly liked the Petit Zinc and the Nicky Finn, which I've been imbibing recently. I despaired of discussing them here, because giving the recipes would infringe copyright, but I had nothing to suggest in the way of changes or criticism. Happily , I see Harrington has a web-site which has the recipes (and full editorial content) from the cocktail book for these drinks and - as far as I can see - a lot of the others too. Just put the names in the search engine.

When it comes to the Nicky Finn, make sure you add only a faint splash of Pernod (or Ricard), as if you were adding the vermouth to a very dry martini - otherwise its pungence will take over the drink.

Enjoy.

[nightscotsman]

I Love this book and have been trying to promote it to friends for several years - including several links and posts to threads like this one. It's really a shame the book went out of print. Very hard to find now, although it looks like you can buy it direct from the author through Amazon.

I agree the Nicky Finn and Petit Zinc are both worthy beverages. Do be sure to try the Champs Elysees as well, and the French 75 is as good a reason as any to always keep a bottle of champagne in the fridge.

[bigbear]

After drinking Manhattans all winter, .....

I know what you mean. I'm down to my last 132 dashes of bitters.

[Wilfrid]

A Bronx last night, from the same source. Think of a gin martini, made me sweet rather than dry vermouth, but then add orange juice equal to the gin. You may want to vary the proportions if it's too sweet for you.

[JAZ]

My favorite cocktail book by far. Auspicious discoveries for me include the Aviation and the Jasmine.

[nightscotsman]

My favorite cocktail book by far. Auspicious discoveries for me include the Aviation and the Jasmine.

The Aviation is my favorite cocktail since I discovered it in the book. Though I have yet to find a bar or restaurant that stocks maraschino, so I've given up trying to order it out. The few times I did ask for one I got a blank look and had to recite the recipe, and even then what I got back was pink and super sweet.

Oh, another good one to try is the Floridita.

[Wilfrid]

I'm finding all of these at the site I linked to above. Haven't tried the Aviation - I had trouble finding Maraschino last time I went shopping for ingredients, but must have been unlucky. The Floridita sounds like it might need a little practice.

I also enjoy the Rob Roy occasionally, which is essentially a Manhattan made with Scotch instead of Bourbon or Rye.

[JAZ]

My favorite cocktail book by far. Auspicious discoveries for me include the Aviation and the Jasmine.

The Aviation is my favorite cocktail since I discovered it in the book. Though I have yet to find a bar or restaurant that stocks maraschino, so I've given up trying to order it out. The few times I did ask for one I got a blank look and had to recite the recipe, and even then what I got back was pink and super sweet.

Oh, another good one to try is the Floridita.

If you can find Amarena Fabbri (imported wild Italian cherries in heavy syrup), add one or two to your Aviation and you will be in heaven. I hate the usual maraschino cherries served as garnishes, but these things are wonderful.

PS Have not tried the Floridita yet; the creme de cacao puts me off. Isn't it awfully sweet?

[nightscotsman]

PS Have not tried the Floridita yet; the creme de cacao puts me off. Isn't it awfully sweet?

It really isn't. You only use a tiny bit of creme de cacao so it just adds a very subtle aftertaste. In fact, I like to add a bit more than the recipe calls for because I find it a little too subtle. I've featured the Floridita as a "Mystery Cocktail" at a couple parties and nobody guessed more than two of the ingredients.

[Sandra Levine]

I see that the cocktail of the week is Fish House Punch. Absinthe is supposed to be dangerous, but it was Fish House Punch that was responsible for a marriage proposal that prompted my leaving a job at a New York newspaper of record and moving to California for a number of months in the late 60s, thus changing my life forever. (The wedding, BTW, never came off.)

[cdh]

I'm in compete agreement that Paul Harrington is a great source for revived classic cocktails. He really understands the principles behind the drinks, and the few new creations he suggests are worthy successors to the classics. He set me off on many wonderful hunts for rare and forgotten ingredients... Even inspired me to create a cocktail of my own that has been a staple amongst my circle of friends for a half dozen years now... my only gripe with him is that he really didn't take into account the unavailablity of some of his ingredients, namely Amer Picon. The Picon Punch and Picon Limon seemed so wonderful from the write-ups, yet I had to wait 4 years until somebody thought to bring a bottle of the stuff back from France for me, after hearing that I had given up on my hunt for it in the USA.

[Wilfrid]

cdh, you have at least saved me looking. I had it on my list.

Not even in New York???

[cdh]

I spent two years of the hunt living in New York checking every liquor store for dusty bottles... to no avail... called Remy Amerique who I'd found to be the last importer... stopped importing it the early 1990s... Called Young's Something-or-other in california who Harrington indicated to be a source of the stuff... to no avail...

I did see reference to the rumor that the Torani syrup company in California makes one alcoholic product, a clone of Picon... but it gets no distribution... I've never felt like pressing my luck with mail ordering booze, given the jail time the guy in virginia got for buying wine over the net a few years ago... I'm not one for putting myself in the sites of a DA who wants to score points with MADD...

So, a friend of mine who does a lot of transatlantic hopping thought to bring a bottle of the stuff along from Paris for my birthday a couple of years ago...

[Wilfrid]

Now I'm having trouble finding maraschino in New York. Any hints would be very welcome.

[Priscilla]

Mmmm we drank Rusty Nails from Harrington's recipe over the week-end -- so good! Magical combination, really. Good cocktails are the surest manifestation of alchemy on earth.

[nightscotsman]

Now I'm having trouble finding maraschino in New York.  Any hints would be very welcome.

You can order the Italian version from Sam's Wine and Spirits here.

[Wilfrid]

Thanks. I suppose a crate of maraschino might be a little cloying, right?

[bigbear]

Now I'm having trouble finding maraschino in New York.  Any hints would be very welcome.

A search of Pop's Wines & Spirits turns up the Stock brand. They are located in and deliver in the NY area.

[cdh]

What you're looking for is Luxardo maraschino... much more complex than Stock, though no less sweet. I recall a friend telling me that Luxardo had changed their bottles from the old-school wicker wrapped ones to something more modern and less distinctive... If I rightly recall, he told me he had observed the new bottles at a liquor store somewhere in his 'hood, around the intersection of W 4th st and W 12ths st in the ever-confusing warren of the West Village. I'm recalling the store being called something castle-y sounding, but wouldn't swear to it. I'd pull a phone book, look up liquor stores, and call all the ones from 14th st to Perry St, between 7th ave and Hudson. I'll bet you'll have luck. FWIW, I bought my first bottle luxardo from Mr. Wrights on 2nd Ave in the high 80's/low 90's.

[JAZ]

What you're looking for is Luxardo maraschino... much more complex than Stock, though no less sweet.  I recall a friend telling me that Luxardo had changed their bottles from the old-school wicker wrapped ones to something more modern and less distinctive...

I bought a bottle of Luxardo around Christmas (in San Francisco) and it was wrapped in the straw/wicker stuff.

And I suppose there are advantages to living in California, where I see Picon virtually everywhere. Far more common than maraschino.

[cdh]

JAZ, is it the real Amer Picon you're inundated with there on the Left Coast, or is it the Torani clone? If it is the real stuff, then somebody is obviously shipping it into this country again... In the 90s, my research indicated, Picon got dropped by its importer. If it is back out there, then a friendly chat with a liquor store owner might be all it takes for Wilfred to get it in NYC... It is most definitely not on the inventory of the Pennsylvania liquor monopoly.

[trillium]

Have you seen Amer Picon in the Bay Area recently? Last year I found out that it had stopped being distributed in the US. Before that I had been buying it at Sam's in Chicago. At the time Paul wrote the book it was available, I was getting it regularly, and you could drink it as Picon punch even in grungy bars in SF. When I moved to Portland I couldn't find it (along with almost anything else...sigh) so I did a big order through Sam's, but they told me it had just recently been dropped (this was late 2002). I even called Coit Liquour in North Beach because I didn't believe the guy at Sam's who told me it wasn't being distributed any more. They told me the same thing.

Cinzano makes an orange bitters that is available in Canada, but I haven't been able to get my hands on any yet, so I don't know how it compares. I'll console myself with all the amari I brought back from Sicily.

regards,

trillium

[trillium]

I just received an email from Tony Giovanzana, the head dude at Coit. He says there still is no US distributor for Amer Picon.

regards,

trillium

[cdh]

Trillium,

The rumormongers who indicate that the Torani clone is a good replacement are to be found over at http://groups.msn.com/DrinkBoy ... they're a reasonably astute bunch, so if you're on the left coast, I'd see about getting my hands on some of the stuff and taste-testing it against the real thing. The DrinkBoys seem to like it pretty well. I wish they distributed it on the East Coast.

As to availability from importers, who was the last importer of record? Did somebody after Remy Amerique pick it up? Did they do business on the east coast? I'd hate to have missed the opportunity to get some due to incomplete research.

Edited March 28, 2003 by cdh (log)

[trillium]

Thanks for the line, that's great news! I'm going to email both Sam's and Coit, to let them know there is a substitute. I know the guy at Sam's was willing to order anything if I could find it distributed in the US.

It's funny about Amer Picon, like I mentioned before, it was everywhere in San Francisco, in the grungiest dive bar you could usually order a Picon Punch and they even knew to ask about the brandy floater. I was really surprised when the distribution got cut off, but the guy at Coit told me he thought that most all of it in the US was consumed in the bay area alone and it wasn't a big enough market for the big distributors.

I wish I could remember who the last importer was. I seem to remember it was a NJ importer, but I'm not sure. I gave my friend a half of a bottle when I moved last year, thinking it could be replaced very easily. I'll email him and find out if he still has it, but knowing him, I doubt it. I don't know if it was distributed on the East Coast, but I know you could get it as far east as Chicago up to last year.

regards,

trillium