Celebrating the Anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition

[andiesenji]

Rock & Rye and Sazeracs ?

My uncles (at least the ones born in Kentucky) all favored rye whiskey instead of bourbon, which now I think was rather odd. But then, my family were all rather odd in one way or another.

a bit of info on American rye whiskey.

The mint julep is probably one of the most iconic bourbon drinks in Kentucky but somewhere there is a story about a drink that originated in Cincinatti that draws heavily on bourbon lore. I'll have to look it up - I think it is actually an Ohio river boat story.

Check this site for a bourbon slushy there is also a hot-buttered bourbon recipe that I have seen on another website but a Google search doesn't pick it up. I think that might be popular on a chilly December evening.

Edited November 29, 2007 by andiesenji (log)

[eje]

The Jack Rose and Ward 8 are both pretty quintessential rustic American drinks.

From Wondrich's new book, "Imbibe!" the Prince of Wales, with its combination of Champagne and Rye Whiskey sounds awfully tasty, and downright celebratory. It would be pretty easy to make the rye and bitters portion of the drink, chill it, and then just pour and top up with champagne.

[TBoner]

Prince of Wales sounds a bit like a Seelbach: bourbon, Cointreau, champagne, and 7 dashes each of Peychaud's and Angostura. I don't have the book to see ratios on PoW, but the basic formula sounds similar. The Seelbach has become a favorite of mine lately, though I don't know that the Cointreau and Champagne are particularly appropriate for Repeal Day. It's just a damn good drink.

I agree that rye is a fantastic choice for Repeal Day, in just about any context. Personally, I plan to sip at a bit of straight unaged corn whiskey, too.

Those of you in New York are fortunate to have access to Hudson Baby Bourbon and Rye, which at their young ages (and from pot stills) may give some indication of what much whiskey tasted like before and during the first few years after Prohibition (discounting those distilleries that set aside whiskey for aging throughout the decade). Young whiskey can be a wonderful thing, and is at the very least a taste of history, given that at one time 10 or 12 year old American whiskey was unheard of, and much whiskey was bottled as soon as it was legal and/or drinkable. My friends on whiskey forums have had encouraging things to say about these bottlings. I am very jealous.

Edited December 2, 2007 by TBoner (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Happy Repeal Day everyone! I'm looking forward to mixing a lot of drinks tonight....

[lancastermike]

Happy Repeal Day everyone!  I'm looking forward to mixing a lot of drinks tonight....

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I will enjoy my repeal day rye at home. Don't sell all the liquor tonight, Katie. We will be in Saturday night

Happy Repeal Day to all. Hooray for the state of Utah

[jsmeeker]

Happy Repeal Day!

(got my Wild Turkey Manhattan here)

[300rwhp]

so i made a point of introducing people to the scofflaw cocktail this evening even though i am in canada. That said I have found differing recipes. Drink boy calls for grenadine and cocktail db calls for chartruese. This is a big difference. Does anyone have any idea which is more accurate?

[thirtyoneknots]

so i made a point of introducing people to the scofflaw cocktail this evening even though i am in canada. That said I have found differing recipes. Drink boy calls for grenadine and cocktail db calls for chartruese. This is a big difference. Does anyone have any idea which is more accurate?

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Though CocktailDB is his project, in Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, Dr. Cocktail indicates that the grenadine recipe is the way to go "unless you need an emetic."

-Andy

[eje]

It's important to remember that the only criteria for a recipe to be in cocktaildb is that the recipe has to have been published in one of the books they have sucked into it.

There has been no attempt to editorialize or say that one or the other versions is the "definitive" recipe.

Anyway, made a version of the Prince of Wales cocktail last night for myself to celebrate Repeal Day. Didn't have pineapple, so cheated and used pineapple juice.

1 1/2 Wild Turkey rye, 1/2 oz pineapple juice, dash maraschino, healthy dash Angostura Bitters, 1/2 tsp sugar, lemon peel, stir and strain into cocktail glass. Topped up with some Piper-Heidsieck Brut I had leftover from the other day. Yummy!

What did you make?

edit - oops, forgot the recipe had bitters.

Edited December 6, 2007 by eje (log)

[Mayur]

Vermouth. An attempt at approximating the Noilly Prat Ambre...

(I know, hardly Repeal Day-ish. I went and had lots of drinks at Death & Co in order to compensate, though most of them were made with tequila...)

[Scotttos]

Those of you in New York are fortunate to have access to Hudson Baby Bourbon and Rye, which at their young ages (and from pot stills) may give some indication of what much whiskey tasted like before and during the first few years after Prohibition (discounting those distilleries that set aside whiskey for aging throughout the decade). Young whiskey can be a wonderful thing, and is at the very least a taste of history, given that at one time 10 or 12 year old American whiskey was unheard of, and much whiskey was bottled as soon as it was legal and/or drinkable. My friends on whiskey forums have had encouraging things to say about these bottlings. I am very jealous.

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In addition to the Baby Bourbon and the Rye they have a really interesting Corn Whiskey, which is the unaged base for the bourbon. It's not particularily tasty or anything and I'm not sure what use it would have in a cocktail, lol, but it's really interesting.

This along with the baby bourbon and the bottle of rye I have from Tuthilltown taste very unique compared to even the youngest whiskey's I own. It's really very cool, but does take some getting used to.

I hope they keep it going, I've also heard good things about the rum they're putting out there....

Edited December 7, 2007 by Scotttos (log)

[jneu]

Hey EGers,

I'm curious how other cocktail aficionados, bartenders and spirit geeks will be spending the holiday. As for me I will be helping a local distillery celebrate with an open house, and later on in the evening I'm trying to put together a prohibition era cocktail demo at a near by hotel bar. I'm in Milwaukee where there is not much talk about Repeal Day. How big of a deal is it in some of the bigger spirit/cocktail cities e.g. NY, SF, Chicago?

I think it's important for everyone in the industry to recognize the importance of Repeal Day. Kudos to Jeffery Morganthaler it seems he has done quite a bit to promote the cause.

http://www.repealday.org/

[Wild Bill Turkey]

Here in SF, one of my favorite local bars, Elixir is having a theme party with a special drink that I'll have to stop by and try. Later in the evening I'll have a little low-key cocktail party of my own with a little more attention paid to absinthe and absinthe cocktails, paying tribute to the most maligned of the spirits that was shown no love on the original repeal day.

[Ktepi]

The New Hampshire liquor stores just started carrying the 18-year Sazerac and the Thomas Handy Saz. If either of them have filtered down to my local store in time, that's my Repeal Day celebration right there.

[TMFIII]

I'm going to be partying like it's 1933 in DC with the DC Craft Bartenders Guild. Should be an absolute blast!

[ShadowedOne]

I'm going to throw a small get together. Probably offer my usual assortment of classic cocktails.

[tikibars]

http://chicagoist.com/2008/11/20/lupec_coc..._the_ladies.php

The Chicago chapter of LUPEC is doing a benefit with a rather reasonably priced prixe fixe meal and cocktails.

Men are welcome (usually not the case with LUPEC events!).

I thought about entertaining at my place, but somehow the repeal of prohibition seems to imply NOT drinking at home ("in secret"), and gleefully celebrating our right to get plastered in public.

Therefore: if I don't hit the LUPEC event, Weegee's or Violet Hour will see me darkening their doors next Friday night.

Edited November 25, 2008 by tikibars (log)

[TAPrice]

While researching an article on Prohibition in New Orleans for the Times-Picayune, I ran across this quote from November, 1933 issue of the paper:

Musty old recipes are being hunted in attics and bureau drawers as skilled bartenders, casting off the derogatory prohibition titles of bootleggers, are preparing for a return of the days when correct drinking will again be among the fine arts and mixing drinks an abstruse science.

Already many of the old favorite cocktails are creeping in and while thousands of of New Orleanians are wondering “just when the repeal of prohibition will become effective,” other thousands are tickling their palates with famous drinks of the pre-Volstead era.

The straight liquor days of prohibition are waning in the opinion of most New Orleans restaurant owners and operators of more elaborate speakeasies.

The Sazerac, the Ramos fizz, the delicious Chicago cooler, the Sarninga bracer and the Widow’s Kiss were somewhat out of place when dry officials were lurking in the shadows and certified credentials were necessary for admission to most speakeasies--when a man didn’t have time to sip and enjoy a forbidden drink. But those days are no more.

Happy Repeal Day!

[P.S. The microfilm was a little blurry. Is the Sarninga bracer actually the name of a drink? I can't find it anywhere. Perhaps I mis-transcribed it.]

[vice]

Well, Repeal Day came and went last Friday. What were people tippling?

I had a little gathering of 10 or so and served up the following:

Hoffman House

Golden Ermine

Martinez

Manhattan (2:1)

Sazerac

Scofflaw

Needless to say, a good time was had by all. I was pleasantly surprised to end up pouring way more rye than gin. I guess I don't pay as close attention as I thought to what my friends order in bars, but I seem to recall most of them favoring clear spirits (perhaps the case only with simple mixed drinks).

[KatieLoeb]

At my bar I was serving the following drink specials:

Sazerac

Scofflaw

Ward Eight

Jack Rose

We were pretty busy. A lot of booze went over the bar that night. A good time had by all.

[organicmatter]

Well, Repeal Day came and went last Friday. What were people tippling?

I had some friends over and made up a little menu with some beverage alcohol history, the text of the 18th and 21st amendments, and a short drink menu for the night. Most of them had no idea about Repeal Day, or much knowledge about cocktails beyond the typical fratboy-sweat-infused vodka and Redbull, so I tried to keep things simple, interesting, and as steeped in American history as possible, while serving winter-appropriate cocktails. The menu was as follows:

Jack Rose

Corpse Reviver No. 2

Hoskins

Rye Flip

I was a little worried that my philistine friends would balk at the use of egg in a cocktail, but I easily made as many flips as I did other drinks combined. Good times had by all, and I think that a number of my guests are now primed to be a little more discriminating about their drink choices when they dine out.

[edited for grammar]

Edited December 9, 2008 by organicmatter (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

I was a little worried that my philistine friends would balk at the use of egg in a cocktail, but I easily made as many flips as I did other drinks combined. 

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I'm beginning to get the impression that the drinking public isn't being given enough credit for it's willingness to experiment with eggs.

[Alcuin]

I had a small party too and this is what we had

Bee's Knees

Scofflaw

Martinez

Martini

Manhattan

Imperial

Old Fashioned

Ward Eight

I shied away from eggwhite drinks, though now I'm thinking I should have offered one to see what would happen. I've served them to several people and they've always liked them (it helps when the drink is a Riviera, universally loveable as it is). Oh well, there's always next year.

[newbie21]

I celebrated Repeal Day at The Violet Hour. Started off the evening with a Coin Toss made with Old Forrester, followed by a splendid Sazerac and a wicked Widow's Kiss. Ah, and then there was, of course, Absinthe and Chartreuse to boot. It was a fine evening!!

[Kent Wang]

Went with a more fall-oriented menu:

Maple Old Fashioned

Eggnog (fresh)

Mulled Cider

Buona Noce (cognac infused with walnut, chartreuse, Averna)

Fish House Punch

Celine (a Celine Fizz (gin, St. Germain, lemon, grapefruit, orange bitters, egg) minus the egg)

Hors d'oeuvres:

Cured salmon and cheese on crackers

Mini pumpkin pies