Stomping Through the "Savoy" (2006–2007)

[eje]

whoops.  eggs were significantly smaller 50 years ago, let alone 75 years ago.

try the smallest egg you can buy or only use half of an XL.  that should balance out any egg drink a great deal.

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Fair enough.

I have to admit, though, that I don't quite get what they are trying to accomplish by adding an egg yolk to a cold shaken cocktail.

I get the lovely foam and texture an egg white brings.

In fact, I'd probably have enjoyed the Cecil Pick-Me-Up quite a bit more if it had used egg white instead of a yolk. Though, it would just be something like a "Booster Royale Cocktail".

But, egg yolks just cloud up the cocktail and make a mess of the shaker. Richness? Mouthfeel? Protein? What should I be appreciating here?

Looking back, I guess the Broken Spur and Bosom Caresser were pretty OK.

[Nathan]

as far as I can tell...they're there primarily for visual effect (see the Los Angeles Cocktail).

[drcocktail]

No way. A well-envisioned whole egg or egg yolk cold cocktail will be a lovely thing, and it ought to be the emulsification that makes it so. The viscosity changes, the sense of "richness" is enhanced, the "warmth" or "comfort" character of the drink is extended. Depending on the other ingredients, in a way magnified over egg white. If you are (more than a little) TASTING egg yolk, that was not a very well envisioned cocktail from the git go. Try a Coffee Cocktail. There egg yolk is used to good effect, IMHO. Part of the trick is to forget what you just put in the shaker. Americans tend to shrink from egg. The first step to dominating this fear is egg white. The second is egg yolk. Eventually you have an egg.

Not too long ago I had an Absinthe Suisesse down in New Orleans. I ordered it, the bartender paused for a pregnant moment and then set about her duties. She served me the drink with the whole egg instead of just the egg white. It was STILL utterly delightful (and palatable).

--Doc.

[eje]

One of the nicer egg cocktails I've done was the Bass Wyatt, which did contain a whole egg.

Unctuous, I suppose is one of the words I should have used, when talking about some of the benefits of egg yolks in cocktails. Eluded me this AM.

Probably with the Cecil one the XL egg yolk and flaccid champagne were at fault. It did seem like the flavor skeleton of a good cocktail was in there. Still, seemed a bit odd to top up with champagne and destroy the delicate emulsion formed by shaking the egg yolk.

And, yes, the Coffee Cocktail is coming up in a couple pages!

[eas]

I'm told he no longer makes it. Any truth to this?

And definitely not distributed in the States, right?

Thanks!  --Doc.

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Oh, rats, I suppose that means I shouldn't use the last bit of it in cocktails, so I can attempt to replicate it later.

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No, not distributed in the USA. There are a few Swedish websites that have the Facile Punsch on offer.

When making your own Swedish Punsch, what type of rum do you prefer to use?

[eje]

No, not distributed in the USA.  There are a few Swedish websites that have the Facile Punsch on offer. 

When making your own Swedish Punsch, what type of rum do you prefer to use?

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Well, Batavia Arrack, obviously!

For substitution, the problem is the pickings in overproof white rum are pretty slim.

Basically, the only one with flavor approaching the funk of Batavia Arrack is the Wray & Nephew White Overproof.

In thinking about your question, I think if I really had to try to reproduce the flavor of Batavia Arrack, I might try a blend of 3/4 Wray & Nephew White Overproof and 1/4 La Favorite Rhum Blanc.

Is Batavia Arrack made from sugar cane or molasses? Given the drier nature of the spirit, my guess is sugar cane.

[Friend of the Farmer]

Batavia Arrack is made from sugarcane and java red rice.

Most every commercial production of Swedish Punsch is a blend of Batavia Arrack and a rum. It's largely an economic decision, as the Arrack is expensive. Nonetheless it's fun to experiment to further the complexity of taste in the Punsch. Even better when I have more then a mini of the Arrack.

Edited June 25, 2007 by Friend of the Farmer (log)

[eje]

Skipping the Champs Elysees and Chanticle(e)r for reasons which will become clear (I hope!) shortly.

Charles Cocktail

1/2 Italian Vermouth (1 1/2 oz Carpano Antica Vermouth)

1/2 Brandy (1 1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac)

1 Dash Angostura Bitters

Shake (stir - eje) well and strain into cocktail glass.

This is the only known authentic Jacobite Cocktail.

Interesting! This seems to indicate that this cocktail was named for Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Silvester Maria Stuart (or Bonny Prince Charles.) I would expect whisky; but, maybe he was a brandy fancier.

I was a little trepidatious about formulating this one, being afraid the Antica would overpower the Cognac, so was going to use the Cinzano Rosso. At the last minute I decided to go with the Antica. Glad I did.

The Carpano Vermouth and Cognac do really interesting things together. It has some nice bitter elements; but, there are some cool almost flowery flavors that are brought out in both the brandy and the vermouth. Nice.

[eje]

Charleston Cocktail

1/6 Dry Gin (1/2 oz Boodles Gin)

1/6 Kirsch (1/2 oz Trimbach Kirsch)

1/6 Maraschino (1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino)

1/6 Curacao (1/2 oz Senior Curacao of Curacao)

1/6 Italian Vermouth (1/2 oz Cinzano Vermouth)

1/6 French Vermouth (1/2 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth)

Shake (stir - eje) well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon peel on top.

6 ingredients and a garnish! What is this a tiki drink!? Figured I might as well add a cherry!

This one I tried with both Cinzano and Carpano Antica, and preferred the Cinzano.

It is a pretty sweet drink; but, really grew on me. It definitely has a nice, complex flavor. Quite enjoyable. Could see it as an after dinner vice.

[thirtyoneknots]

Charleston Cocktail

1/6 Dry Gin (1/2 oz Boodles Gin)

1/6 Kirsch (1/2 oz Trimbach Kirsch)

1/6 Maraschino (1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino)

1/6 Curacao (1/2 oz Senior Curacao of Curacao)

1/6 Italian Vermouth (1/2 oz Cinzano Vermouth)

1/6 French Vermouth (1/2 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth)

Shake (stir - eje) well and strain into cocktail glass.  Squeeze lemon peel on top.

6 ingredients and a garnish!  What is this a tiki drink!?  Figured I might as well add a cherry!

This one I tried with both Cinzano and Carpano Antica, and preferred the Cinzano.

It is a pretty sweet drink; but, really grew on me.  It definitely has a nice, complex flavor.  Quite enjoyable.  Could see it as an after dinner vice.

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Cocktail down by 10 am! My hero!

Edit to add: That looks like it might could use a dash of bitters or so.

Edited July 3, 2007 by thirtyoneknots (log)

[eje]

Cocktail down by 10 am! My hero! 

Edit to add: That looks like it might could use a dash of bitters or so.

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Yes, well, this was taken a couple nights ago.

I was talking to a friend who takes cocktail pictures for her blog. She insists on natural light for her photos, so makes her cocktails in the AM before going to work, then places them in the fridge, and enjoys them when she comes home.

I am not such a photography stickler and probably couldn't resist tasting the fresh cocktail. Not sure how my boss would feel about cocktails on my breath at 9:00 AM.

re: Bitters, the drink is pretty complex already, so I'm not sure I would add anything. Using Carpano Antica does give it more of a bitter character; but, I thought it took away from the interplay between the kirsch and maraschino.

edit - Maybe if you had the Cherry Bitters from the "Art of the Bar"!

Edited July 3, 2007 by eje (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

re: Bitters, the drink is pretty complex already, so I'm not sure I would add anything.  Using Carpano Antica does give it more of a bitter character; but, I thought it took away from the interplay between the kirsch and maraschino.

edit - Maybe if you had the Cherry Bitters from the "Art of the Bar"!

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I was just thinking (without trying the drink of course) that a dash of mild bitters or short dash of a heavier one might help mitigate the sweetness you noted. Though when I look at the recipe again I think it probably wouldn't be too much sweeter than a Negroni or Bijou. I'd still like to try it sometime with and without a bit of Regans' though.

-Andy

[eje]

Cherry Blossom (6 people)

To a glass half full of cracked ice add a tablespoon of dry Curacao (dash senior Curacao of Curacao), one of Lemon Juice (1 TBSP fresh), one of Grenadine (Fee's American Beauty), 2 1/2 glasses of Cherry Brandy (1 oz Cherry Brandy) and 2 of brandy (1 oz Pierre Ferrand Ambre).

Shake thoroughly and serve very cold.

I'll admit I increased the ratio of lemon here and decreased the Curacao, when re-doing the cocktail for 1 person.

It just seemed like it was going to be waaay too sweet if I left the ratio as is.

As made, it tastes pretty much like drinking a glass of cold cherry juice.

That's not bad; but, it really doesn't seem much like a cocktail. More like the missing link between the Sidecar and the Shirley Temple.

[bostonapothecary]

As made, it tastes pretty much like drinking a glass of cold cherry juice.

That's not bad; but, it really doesn't seem much like a cocktail.  More like the missing link between the Sidecar and the Shirley Temple.

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alot of comparative depth but no contrast....

i would kick out the cognac and sub in a black tea barbados rum.... for subtle contrasting depth.

only a couple cocktails based on subtle fruit comparision are cool.... like the jack rose. i don't know how pomegranite and cherry fall in the mouth when compared but i used to make a shot comparing blackberry shrub to a stiff ratafia of pomegranite seeds. i bridged the gap with some B&B i needed to get rid of so i could switch to straight benedictine....the fruits though very similar were very distant in the mouth seperated by a burst of cigar box....

i never liked the cherry flavor. i never play with cherry heering or maraschino. i'm trying to get my ratafia so good i can sub it in place of cherry but i'm not quite there.

[eje]

Part of the problem might be my use of the Fee's instead of homemade Grenadine.

I was too lazy to pull the homemade out of the freezer and thaw it. Plus, I've had this bottle of the Fee's grenadine in my cupboard for what seems like forever.

But, Fee's American Beauty has a pretty strong cherry/vanilla flavor, so there isn't much of a contrast between the pomegranate and cherry.

In any case, the booze flavor in the Cherry Blossom is so buried, it seems like it is a cocktail targeted at people who don't think they like cocktails.

[eje]

Cherry Mixture Cocktail

1 Dash Angostura Bitters

1 Dash Maraschino (Luxardo)

1/2 French Vermouth (2 oz Noilly Prat Dry)

1/2 Italian Vermouth (2 oz Carpano Antica)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass (Build over cracked ice in a double old fashioned glass, stir briefly to chill. - eje). Serve with cherry (3 Amarena Toschi Cherries).

A bit of a radical departure from the method.

I just find I enjoy these vermouth type "cocktails" more over ice than up, so there you go.

Quite enjoyed this formulation. A bit on the sweet side. A slightly less bitter Americano ? Maybe most appropriate as a digestiv?

[eje]

Chicago Cocktail

1 Dash Angostura Bitters

1 Dash Curacao (Senior Curacao of Curacao)

2/3 Brandy (1 1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Frost edge of glass with castor sugar and fill with Champagne (Cremant de Limoux, J. Laurens Brut).

Probably easier to frost the glass with castor sugar before you strain the cocktail in to it!

A nice variation on the champagne cocktail. I'm not normally a fan of the sugar rim, as most cocktails are usually plenty sweet without the extra sugar. Plus, it tends to make drinking the cocktail a sticky and goopy proposition.

However, in this cocktail, it is interesting to have the sugar on the rim, instead of in the glass. Makes the sweet and dry aspect of the cocktail more serendipitous.

[bostonapothecary]

to get a name as cool as "chicago cocktail" it makes you wonder how popular that drink was at any point in time....

i would find it drinkable but was any bartender like "this is the chronic; i must make you one...."

were any of these drinks made simply to fill a book??

[eje]

I think Martin Doudoroff summarized the Savoy Cocktail book best on about page 2 of this topic (and almost a year ago!):

Shovelware

The Savoy is one of the most prominent, early examples of "shovelware" cocktail books. These recipes are seldom fine-tuned or refined. It's quantity, not quality. The point was to produce a big cocktail recipe book for the English market, and the bulk of the book is recipes copied wholesale (accurately or not--for example, the Aviation recipe in Craddock omits the violet liqueur that made the original drink both more interesting and also gave it a hue that was more pertinent to its name) from an assortment of other sources Craddock had from his pre-prohibition days in the USA. Bottom line:

- many recipes are essentially identical except for name or some trivial detail

- many of these recipes will be terrible if you make them verbatim

- many will be terrible no matter what you try

- many can become sublime if carefully balanced; experiment

While I actually haven't found as many terrible recipes as I first feared, yep, The Savoy Cocktail Book is that period's Mr. Boston.

[bostonapothecary]

life is short and the art is long

[eje]

Well, sometimes, after a couple so-so drinks I do wonder why I am doing this.

"Life is too short for bad cocktails," sort of thing.

On the other hand, if I didn't force myself to make new or different cocktails, I'd probably just make Manhattans, Brooklyns, or Old-Fashioneds every night.

And the odds of the cocktails from the Savoy being any good, seem about equal to cocktails from any other source.

Chinese Cocktail

1 Dash Angostura Bitters

3 Dashes Maraschino (1/2 bar spoon Luxardo Maraschino)

3 Dashes Curacao (1/2 bar spoon Senior Curacao of Curacao)

1/3 Grenadine (1, well 3/4, oz Home Made Grenadine)

2/3 Jamaica Rum (2 oz Appleton Estate V/X Rum)

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

No idea why this is called the "Chinese Cocktail". From the ingredients, it seems like the recipe must be old. Say, pre-1900. I know there was a "Japanese" cocktail in one of the versions of Jerry Thomas' cocktail book.

The flavors combination is actually very good; but, the cocktail is rather too sweet, even with home made grenadine. I think changing it to 3/4 rum, 1/4 grenadine, and being a bit more generous with the bitters, would be closer to my taste.

[bostonapothecary]

Chinese Cocktail

1 Dash Angostura Bitters

3 Dashes Maraschino (1/2 bar spoon Luxardo Maraschino)

3 Dashes Curacao (1/2 bar spoon Senior Curacao of Curacao)

1/3 Grenadine (1, well 3/4, oz Home Made Grenadine)

2/3 Jamaica Rum (2 oz Appleton Estate V/X Rum)

if a mahatten is your maximum level of desired sweetness and you make it 2 to 1 you might want to scale their recipes to achieve the brix of one ounce of sweet vermouth. which is like 25 i think. homemade grenadine might have a slight contrasting tartness but it is much sweeter than 25 brix so you just killed it all right there...

the drink could be pretty cool if properly proportioned as the fruit flavors would creep across your tongue. i've found that cocktails that lean forward on sweetness are pretty cool if you can keep them under the limit. unfortunately there is not much of an arsenal to use to make them.... to many liqueurs blow past sweet vermouth in brix. which is why most of the liqueurs i make in sugar content i peg to sweet vermouth. it takes me just a spoon of simple to get the stuff back to a 1:1 ratio for use in a sour....

the seelbach leaned forward on sweetness which is maybe why it could handle all those bitters. the sugar may suppress any intense sharpness of the bitter leaving you to taste whats under it.... i haven't drank one in a while so i think i'm gonna have to test my theory.... i may use it as a template for something new as i am a couple days away from my wild cherry bark bitters being done.... = )

[thirtyoneknots]

Yeah, that one sounds like 1-1.5 tsp of grenadine would have been plenty. Nice list of ingredients though.

[eje]

Yeah, that one sounds like 1-1.5 tsp of grenadine would have been plenty. Nice list of ingredients though.

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Of course, at that point, it really just turns into a Fancy Rum Cock-Tail with grenadine instead of Gomme!

Hey, wait! That sounds good!

[thirtyoneknots]

Yeah, that one sounds like 1-1.5 tsp of grenadine would have been plenty. Nice list of ingredients though.

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Of course, at that point, it really just turns into a Fancy Rum Cock-Tail with grenadine instead of Gomme!

Hey, wait! That sounds good!

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Exactly