Five Classic Cocktails for a Distinguished Gentleman

While times are changing for the better, most men drink cheap beer, highballs, or sugar-filled shots. Thanks to the growing classic cocktail trends in today's large city bars, the growing number of small distilleries and breweries, and television shows like Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire, more and more are becoming interested in better quality products and more traditional drinks. The mid to late 19th century was the Golden Age of mixed drinks, led by the 'grandfather of mixology,' Jerry Thomas, who in 1862 was the first to publish an all-encompassing tome of bartending. Many great drinks and products were lost during Prohibition, and while the practice of drinking well did continue to a lesser extent from the 1930's until the 1960's, it is for the most part the great classics from the Golden Age that survive today. A distinguished gentleman appreciates these drinks for their taste and history, and cares for the manner in which they are made. This sophisticated man knows there is only one Martini, that anything called a "cocktail" must contain bitters, and that an Old-Fashioned must never contain juice or soda. Below are five classic drinks for this distinguished gentleman.

(As per the previous posts on Classic Cocktails for a Fancy Lady, drink-preference should not be gender specific, and the purpose of this post is historical. Furthermore, should any lady deem herself too dangerous to be fancy, any of the following make excellent substitutes as cocktails for a femme fatale.)

Old-Fashioned
This is the drink with the most variations, the source of so many debates, the biggest growing popularity, yet one of the most misunderstood. Thanks to Donald Draper on TV's Mad Men (who, by the way, makes a terrible Old-Fashioned), this drink is now ordered by droves of non-experienced drinkers. This is an exciting trend. The disappointing news is that practices from the dark ages of drinking (the 1970's to the 1990's) are still alive today, and the drink is often ruined or just unrecognizable. It is a finicky drink to maintain the balance of so few ingredients, and of course most everyone prefers his or hers a slightly different way. The drink’s history is a confusing one because it refers to a style and not one particular drink. In the early to mid 19th century, The Sling was a popular mixed drink that contained only spirit, sugar, water, and perhaps a grate of nutmeg. At some point bitters was added to the mix, birthing the “Bittered Sling,” which came be known as the “Cock-tail.” Faster than you can mix one up, variations were born. Fruits here and liqueurs there muddled up the original, and purists and old-farts began to request their Cock-tails the “old-fashioned way.” Over time this simply became an “Old-Fashioned.” Anything beyond the Bittered Sling recipe is not an Old-Fashioned, though very small embellishments included in Jerry Thomas’ variations (namely orange or lemon oil) are welcomed. The recipe below is from “Modern American Drinks” by George Kappeler in 1895, and is the best way to make a proper Old-Fashioned. (Note the absence of juice, muddling, soda, or any liqueur.) The type of bitters and spirit is up to the drinker and trying new combinations makes for a multitude of exciting options (try brandy and Peychaud’s, tequila and chocolate, or gin and Boker’s for example).

2oz whiskey
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1/2tsp of sugar (or one small sugar cube)
1 piece of lemon peel

Dissolve the sugar with a little water in a whiskey-glass [Old-Fashioned or rocks glass]; add bitters, a small piece ice, a piece lemon-peel, and whiskey. Mix with a small barspoon and serve.

"A small piece ice" can be substituted today with a few nice cubes (don't ruin the drink with small, watery ones), and the lemon peel can be swapped for orange if you please. Express the oil of the peel over top of the drink for best effect. A common practice is to soak the sugar in both water and bitters before adding ice and spirit.

Sazerac
Ordering this drink more than five years ago would have gotten you strange looks. Because of its history and fantastic taste, it was and is an obscure favourite among cocktail enthusiasts. Many claims are made to it being the oldest cocktail, but this is not true. We’ve tracked its inception to 1850's New Orleans in a slightly different form than we most often enjoy now. The Sazerac is the product of two smart men: one who imported the Sazerac de Forge et Fils, and the other who changed the name of his bar to "Sazerac House," where the cocktail was first made and became popular, thus naming it the "Sazerac Cocktail." Peychaud's bitters was literally made down the street, so it was the obvious choice. The first printed recipe in 1908 called for “good whiskey” (which in New Orleans means straight rye) at which point Cognac had become less abundant. The drink's flavour is dry and spicy, and the union of Peychaud's, absinthe, and rye (or Cognac for that matter) is something truly special. Again, the process of making the drink is important for both flavour and anticipation, so follow it closely. Use a good quality spirit, preferably a higher-proof and spicy rye, absinthe if you can, raw sugar, and lastly you can substitute Bitter Truth Creole Bitters for Peychaud's (but go with one fewer dash as it's more potent).

2 oz straight rye whiskey [or Cognac]
1 sugar cube
2-3 dashes Peychaud's bitters
Absinthe
Lemon peel

Fill an Old-Fashioned or Sazerac glass with cracked ice. Put the sugar in a mixing container, add the bitters and a little water and let dissolve. Add the whiskey, fill with ice, and stir. Dump the ice out of the glass and pour in a little absinthe, and roll around to coat the glass before discarding. Strain the whiskey mixture into the glass, then express the oil from the lemon peel over top and drop it into the glass.

Manhattan
This one is the probably the most famous and enduring of all classics, enjoyed by many in literature and film, particularly gentlemen, but also by bad-news ladies like Marilyn Monroe in “Some Like It Hot.” Vermouth entered the mixed drink equation sometime in the 1870's, drastically changing things for generations to come. Suddenly cocktails weren't just spirits with small additions of liqueurs, bitters, sugars, and sometimes fruits. Now spirits shared the spotlight or even had a supporting role in many popular drinks. Arguably the first of these was the Manhattan, made at the Manhattan Club in, yes, Manhattan. Its first mention was in the 1870’s, its first recipe in 1884, and the closest recipe to what we use today appeared in 1892. Early incarnations included maraschino, absinthe, gum syrup, and no whiskey specification, but the drink simplified over time. The type of whiskey and bitters are still optional, and like the Old-Fashioned make for very different drinks. A higher-proof whiskey mixes better, with rye being drier and spicier and bourbon being fuller and sweeter. Always stir, never shake, serve up and not on the rocks, and the garnish is always optional.

2oz whiskey
1oz sweet vermouth
2-3 dashes bitters

Add ingredients to a mixing glass, add ice, stir, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a real cherry, or a citrus peel (optional).

Martini
The Manhattan-style cocktail at times contained gin instead of whiskey, which became known as the Martini - the same drink save the spirit choice. The origins of the Martini are some of the most disputed of them all, numerous ones appearing around the same time, but the concept remained the same. The Turf Club is the simplest, while The Fourth Degree contained absinthe, and The Martinez contained maraschino and twice the amount of vermouth. The later and most popular incarnation, The Dry Martini, made an important change in recipe: swapping Italian vermouth for French. As time wore on after Prohibition, Martinis got drier and drier, reducing the vermouth down to smaller and smaller amounts. In the later half of the 20th century good-quality vermouths were harder to come by and the lack of knowledgeable bartenders left it sitting on shelves instead of fresh and in the fridge, and the vermouth became essentially non-existent. Furthermore, James Bond confused many by calling his Kangaroo Cocktail a "Vodka Martini" (which even confused the Bond girl). A classic gentleman does not drink a Martini with vodka, though will sometimes drink it dry. However, a Martini without dry vermouth or bitters is not a Martini. Below is the classic 1890's version, in which you can reduce the amount of vermouth and swap the orange peel for a lemon if you please. The olive is a later addition, and can mask the flavours of the drink, but to each his own. Be sure to use fresh vermouth - it is wine and should be kept in the fridge and will spoil and then ruin your drink. Choose a good gin and a great vermouth.

2oz gin (Old Tom traditionally, but London Dry works just fine)
1oz dry vermouth
1 dash orange bitters

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe. Squeeze a piece of orange peel over top.

Negroni
In 1860’s Italy, Gaspare Campari invented the most famous of amari, aptly named Campari, before settling down and opening a cafe. The signature drink there was the “Milano Torino,” combining Campari from Milan and Cinzano vermouth from Turin then topped with soda. The early 20th century brought an influx of American tourists, among whom the drink found popularity and was renamed the “Americano.” (It found popularity elsewhere too, even being the first drink James Bond ever ordered). In 1919, Count Camillo Negroni asked the bartender, Fosco Scarselli, at the Caffe Casoni for a stronger version of this drink by swapping the soda with gin. This drink subsequently became wildly popular in Europe. In 1947, iconic director/actor Orson Welles was working on his film "Cagliostro" in Rome, and spoke to reporters about his new favourite drink, The Negroni, saying "the bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you - they balance each other." It wasn't long before the drink became popular in the U.S., though in the more American style it was enjoyed up rather than on the rocks. The three ingredients balance and accent each other beautifully, and as such the Negroni structure has been used for numerous variations and new concepts. The most notable - drinks also worthy of a distinguished gentleman - are the Boulevardier, which replaces the gin with bourbon, and the Old Pal, which switches gin for straight rye and Italian vermouth for French. While Campari is very bitter and therefore an acquired taste, it's a worthwhile one, and the Negroni is a drink bound to be in your life for good.

1oz London Dry gin
1oz Italian vermouth
1oz Campari

Add ingredients together and stir with ice. Strain over rocks in an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a slice of orange a piece of lemon peel.



[Photo: Cary Grant]

Five More Classic Cocktails for a Fancy Lady

Last post (found here) we went through some of the best classic cocktails for a lady, but the list to me feels incomplete without the following runner-ups.
 
Stinger
This drink is very simple and not particularly interesting in flavour - in fact, it can be way too sweet if made according to classic recipes. However, it is an excellent digestif to end your dinner or evening, and opens the door to some very interesting experimentation. Having a half-sized cocktail of Cognac or brandy with bitters, or amaro, and some representation of the mint flavour (be it Giffard menthe de pastille or Branca Menta or an amaro like Nardini) has become a mainstay of my drinking evenings. The drink also has a long American history, dating in literature back to 1917’s “Ideal Bartender” book, which lists it simply as equal parts of brandy and white crème de menthe. It was popular amongst pilots in WWI because the young men preferred drinks not to taste of alcohol, but also because the mint oil disguised the liquor on their breath (as cocktail historian David Wondrich reasons). The Stinger was a favourite of Billie Holiday, as well as enjoyed by the lovely Grace Kelly [right] in 1956’s “High Society,” Katherine Hepburn in 1940’s “Philadelphia Story,” and Jayne Mansfield and Cary Grant in 1957’s “Kiss Them For Me” (in which Grant says “stingers - and keep them coming.”) Giffard’s menthe de pastille can be substituted for crème de menthe (to better effect in my opinion), but is more potent and should be balanced accordingly. The below recipe is Wondrich’s:

2.25oz brandy
0.75oz white crème de methe

Shake well with cracked ice, then strain into a cocktail coupe.

Pink Lady
The name is a little obvious for a lady cocktail choice, the drink is pretty-looking, tastes fruity, but it still packs a punch. It also carries a foggy history. Originally the recipes only included gin, grenadine, and egg white (Cafe Royal Cocktail Book, 1937), but later incarnations included lemon juice, applejack or apple brandy, and even cream. Esquire’s 1949 “Handbook for Hosts” (mentioned last post) also has this one in the ‘for the girls’ section. In popular culture, 1950’s sex symbol Jayne Mansfield [right] used to drink them before meals, and in the 1937 film “Topper,” Constance Bennett gives one to Cary Grant.
The most accepted recipe comes from David Embury’s “Fine Art of Mixing Drinks” in 1948:

1.5oz gin
0.5oz apple brandy (or applejack)
0.5oz lemon juice
0.25oz grenadine
egg white

Shake ingredients without ice, then add ice and shake again. Strain into a cocktail coupe.

Twentieth Century
This is an excellent introduction to gin, or an excellent trick for anyone who claims they don’t like gin. It originated in 1937’s Cafe Royal Cocktail Book, credited to C.A. Tuck, a British bartender who created the drink in honour of the Twentieth Century Limited. At the time this was a wonder of modern technology: the world’s fastest and most luxurious train that ran from Chicago to New York at 60 miles per hour from 1902 to 1967. So fancy was this train and its many dining and drinking cars, that passengers boarded and exited the train upon a red velvet carpet, which is actually the origin of the phrase “red carpet treatment.” The train was featured in several films, most prominently in Alfred Hitchcock’s very influential “North by Northwest” (1959). The drink itself is like a chocolate meringue dessert, but can still be made dry enough to enjoy. Below is the traditional recipe, but click here to see a variation using egg white and substituting a Giffard white chocolate syrup for the very flat crème de cacao, along with a more detailed history.

1.5oz Plymouth gin
0.75oz Lillet Blanc
0.75oz white crème de cacao   
0.75oz lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.
 
Jack Rose
This pink and fruity sour has several theories of inception: named after a lying gambler who had a famous run-in with the law in 1912 (and who may have invented the drink himself), named after the Jaquemot rose because of the colour (as claimed in the book “Old Waldorf Bar Days” in 1931), or as recently uncovered in print in 1905, simply invented by a bartender at Gene Sullivan’s Cafe in Jersey City. Sadly the oldest printed account is the most likely one, negating the much more interesting Jack Rose the gambler story, which also lends the parallel of the drink itself being a liar, with its pink colour and fruity flavour masking what is actually a very strong drink. It is nonetheless a clever name, having both applejack and a rose colour. To be traditional, applejack should be used, but calvados is also acceptable and will offer a softer and fruitier drink. The juice is not specified between lemon or lime in the history books, but I find lime much more interesting. There are recipes galore on how to make this, and a major factor is how you make your grenadine. The simplest way is just to make a 1:1 simple syrup with real pomegranate juice in place of water, and this will enable you to balance drinks the usual way. Below is David Wondrich’s recipe:

2oz applejack (or Calvados)
1oz lime juice
0.5oz grenadine

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.

Aviation
A favourite among cocktail enthusiasts, the Aviation dates back to the 1910’s but underwent a recipe change in by 1930 when the Savoy Cocktail Book omitted one of its ingredients: crème de violette. Throughout the next seventy-five years violette was for the most lost and forgotten as manufacture ceased, but thankfully in 2007 Rothman & Winter reproduced it and now we have several kinds available to us in North America. An Aviation without violette has none of the blueish colour for which it was likely named, and a much flatter-tasting drink altogether. Maraschino is somewhat of a challenge to the uninitiated, but with the balance of citrus and floral flavours makes this an excellent introduction. Below is Robert Hess’ adapted recipe. Click here to see a more in-depth history of the Aviation.

2oz gin
0.5oz lemon juice
0.5oz maraschino liqueur
0.24oz crème de violette

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe. 

New Year's Eve Cocktails

What better night to enjoy some Champagne or sparkling wine than New Year's? Should you be in a cocktail mood, here are some delicious drinks containing sparkling wine perfect for celebrating the arrival of 2013. We'll start with some classics and move on to more contemporary sippers.

The best choice of sparkling wine for mixing is always dry. In fact, the best wine for any use is almost always dry. Also, be aware of the acidity you're adding to the drink when you top with sparkling wine. The carbonic acid will affect the sweetness of your drink, despite the sugar content in the wine itself, which is one of the reasons to choose something dry. When mixing your other ingredients, balance things on the sweeter side, and likewise don't be surprised if you find your drink too sweet before topping with the wine as it will be dried out. French 75's, for example, should be a little sweet before you top them.

A great choice for any use is cava, as these tend to be great quality for how much you pay. Prosecco is great for the same reason, and they also tend to be dry so are excellent choices. Should you choose a North American sparkling wine or a Champagne, look for a "Brut" or "extra Brut", which means the wine is dry (i.e. not sweet). "Sec" refers to high levels of sugar, which is something you want to avoid if mixing (and in my opinion, something you should avoid altogether).

The Champagne Cocktail
1 raw sugar cube
Several dashes of Angostura or other aromatic bitters
Top with Champagne or sparkling wine

Drop the sugar cube into a Champagne flute and soak with the bitters. Top with sparkling wine. 
Garnish with a lemon twist.

This drink dates back to the 1850's and is the first recorded variation on the "cock-tail," a combination of spirit, sugar, water, and bitters. Later variations included the addition of Cognac or brandy, which is in my opinion an excellent choice and I suggest going with 1/2oz. Should you have no sugar cubes on-hand, the original recipes call for 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, or 1 teaspoon of 1:1 simple syrup. Twist as always means just the peel of the lemon with the pith cut off, which you squeeze over the top of the drink to extract the oil.

French 75
1oz gin
1/2oz lemon juice
1 teaspoon of sugar
Sparkling wine

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe or Champagne flute. Top with sparkling wine.

This drink originated at Harry's New York Bar in Paris in 1915, created by American bar owner Harry MacElhone. The drink was said to "pack a punch like the French 75mm field gun," hence the name. The above recipe is from Harry Craddock's seminal cocktail tome, "The Savoy Cocktail Book," though more modern recipes contain up to 2oz of gin (which I must be honest I prefer). In David Embury's equally as influential cocktail book, "The Art of Mixing Drinks," the recipe claims that Cognac is the true spirit of choice here, lest the drink not be called the "French" 75. However, considering that earlier recipes call for gin and that earlier accounts claim the name comes from the French rifle and not from the spirit, the general consensus is that the drink be made with gin, which in my opinion makes a better drink anyway. Dropping a real cherry into the bottom of the glass adds a nice touch.

Buck and Breck
1.5oz Cognac or brandy
Dash of absinthe
2 dashes Angostura or other aromatic bitters
Sparkling wine

Rinse a small glass or Champagne flute with water. Fill the glass with powdered sugar and throw it out, leaving the glass frosted inside. Pour in the brandy, bitters, and absinthe, then top the glass with cold sparkling wine.

This drink is supposedly created by the grandfather of the cocktail, Jerry Thomas, in the mid 1800's. It is not only a fancy-looking drink, but a more obscure one and very tasty. Should you be without absinthe, absente, pastis, Herbsaint, or pernod will suffice, but be aware of their shortcomings in flavour and complexity in comparison to actual absinthe.

Seelbach Cocktail
1oz bourbon
1/2oz Cointreau
7 dashes Angostura bitters
7 dashes Peychaud's bitters
Sparkling wine

Stir bourbon, Cointreau, and bitters with ice. Strain into a cocktail coupe or Champagne flute and top with sparkling wine. Garnish with a lemon twist.

This was a favourite of mine for a time, and one that I brought to Pourhouse in Vancouver where we included it on our fall menu this year. It comes from the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1917. During Prohibition, the cocktail was lost until the mid-1990's when it was found in the basement of the hotel during renovations. The infamous Gary Regan convinced the hotel management to share their recipe for this spicy drink and now it is available for us all to enjoy. Should you be using other bitters, be aware of their bitterness and adjust accordingly. Bitter Truth Creole Bitters, for example, is more complex and interesting than Peychaud's, but are much more bitters and only require 2-3 dashes.

Death In The Afternoon
1.5oz absinthe
Sparkling wine

Pour absinthe into a Champagne flute and top with sparkling wine (at least 4oz). 

This one was invented by Hernest Hemingway, who was by all accounts a heavy and creative drinker. It was named after his novel published in 1932. This was not the only drink he created, another one of note being the Hemingway Daquiri or Papa Doble, with rum, grapefruit, lime, and maraschino liqueur, which is by all means worth making in the summer. 

Moving on to more modern cocktails, here is a French 75 variation by Dale Degroff using bourbon instead of gin.

French 95
1oz fresh orange juice
3/4oz bourbon
3/4oz simple syrup
1/2oz fresh lemon juice
Sparkling wine. 

Shake the first four ingredients with ice and strain over rocks into a fizz glass. Top with sparkling wine. 

And here are three great original sparkling wine cocktails contributed to this site for previous series.

Jones' Bitter Aperitif (Evelyn Chick, Blue Water Cafe, Vancouver)
1/2oz Amaro Averna

1/4oz Cynar
1/4oz Taylor 10 Tawny Port
Barspoon All-Spice Syrup
Sparkling wine

Stir all ingredients with ice, strain into champagne flute & top with dry cava

All-Spice Syrup:
Boil a tablespoon of crushed allspice berries, one stick of cinnamon, and three cloves in one litre of water. Simmer for 15 minutes on low, then add two litres of sugar. Stir until dissolved, then let cool before bottling. 

The Shibuya Crusta (Shaun Layton, L'Abattoir, Vancouver)

20 ml Hennessy VS Cognac

15 ml Maraschino

30 ml fresh lemon juice

10 ml orgeat syrup

7 dashes Angostura bitters

Cava

Add all ingredients to a shaker tin minus the Cava. Shake, fine strain into sugar decked flute. Top with Cava. Garnish with a long orange peel around the inside of the flute. 

 

And a personal favourite of mine that we still serve by request at Pourhouse, The Bittercup. Two bitter amari along with fresh juices and sparkling wine combine to create a very complex cocktail tasting like bitter strawberry.

 

The Bittercup
1 oz  Campari
1/2oz Fernet Branca
1/2oz real cranberry juice (not cranberry cocktail)
3/4oz fresh grapefruit juice
1/4oz simple syrup
2 oz dry prosecco

Pour all ingredients except prosecco into a shaker. Shake. Taste and balance bitterness with simple syrup (the taste of bitter strawberries is the goal). Double strain into a cocktail glass. Finish with prosecco. 

 

Happy New Year's!

Winter Cocktails: "Cold & Delicious" from The Violet Hour in Chicago

Now that we've seen some history on eggnog, we can try some modern variations. Today's contribution is from a new bar and a new city to the site: The Violet Hour in Chicago. Touting not only a sophisticated and solid cocktail menu and program, the design of the place itself is designed to showcase a partitioned bar and the bartenders themselves. As they explain on their site, "the early 19th century English club and French salon were the beginning of the modern venue for socializing and drinking" and the space takes inspiration from this era. It uses partitions and high wing back furniture to "create places of intimacy conducive to the art of conversation."

The house rules include not only wearing proper attire, but refraining from cell-phone use and serving Jager-bombs, Grey Goose, and light beer. Drinks for the most part showcase the flavours of the spirits, while using interesting bitters (like Root Beer), amari (like Abano), and the occasional fruit syrup and preserves.

I'm excited to have such a great establishment from such a beautiful city contributing to the site this winter. Bar manager Robert Haynes has passed along The Violet Hour recipe for their "easy and fun alternative to the bad eggnog that permeates the holiday season." Sticking with a more English-style, they adopt Cognac and port but also add Christmas spices, walnut, and apple flavours to the mix.

Cold & Delicious
2oz Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac
3/4oz Dow's Ruby Port
1/2oz Spice Trader Syrup
1/4oz Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur
9 drops House-made Apple Bitters
1 whole egg

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. 
Shake vigorously to incorporate egg. 
Add ice, shake and strain into a rocks glass. 
Top with grated cinnamon. 

Spice Trader syrup: 2:1 demerara syrup. While heating the sugar/water add a small handful of blade mace, cardamom, and vanilla. Let simmer for 10 minutes, then strain and cool. 

As for the apple bitters, there are some available, but making bitters at home is not as complicated as one might think. I'm currently tweaking my own apple bitters recipe, which I plan on sharing here in the near future. The idea behind any bitters recipe is simply to steep herbs and bittering agents in a high-proof alcohol. That makes it sound a lot easier than it is, but experimentation is the fun of the process.

Thanks to Robert and The Violet Hour! Cheers!

More Holiday Drinks!
[["Yukon Cornelius" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ "The Rockefeller" from Veneto in Victoria ]]
[[ The Hot Toddy ]]
[[ Winter drinks from Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco ]]
[[ "Bear Skin" from The Refinery in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Cold & Delicious" from The Violet Hour in Chicago ]]
[[ The history of Eggnog ]]
[[ "Gold," "Frankincense," and "Myrrh" from Trevor Kallies in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Old Saint Juan" from Shea Hogan in Vancouver ]]
[[ "Hot Buttered Rhum Cider" from Slanted Door in San Francisco ]]
[[ The history of mulled wine ]]
[[ The history of The Flip ]]
[[ Hot Buttered Rum ]]

Maraschino March: "The Shibuya Crusta" from L'Abattoir

Tonight we head back to Gastown to once again visit Shaun Layton at one of my favourite places for food and drink in Vancouver, L'Abattoir. (You can check out my review here)

Shaun combined a few different cocktails to come up with this one, namely a Brandy Crusta and a Japanese. The former was originally a style of drink (much like the "Cocktail") using a spirit, lemon, Maraschino, Cointreau, bitters, and served with a large piece of lemon peel wrapped around the inside of the glass. The latter is simply brandy, orgeat, and Angostura bitters. Shaun is also adding sparkling wine to the mix and upping the amount of the bitters, like a Champagne Cocktail or Seelbach. Add all these elements together and you've got a fairly complicated, yet light, creative drink. Shaun manages to balance a lot of elements here, in particular using the orgeat to calm down the seven (as he says, "that's right, seven") dashes of Angostura - or perhaps the bitters calms down the orgeat? The Cava really ties everything together, and the Crusta-style of presentation makes this a truly enjoyable drink on all levels.

The Shibuya Crusta

20 ml Hennessy VS Cognac

15 ml Maraschino

30 ml fresh lemon juice

10 ml orgeat syrup

7 dashes Angostura bitters

Top with Cava

Add all ingredients to a shaker tin minus the Cava. Shake, fine strain into sugar decked flute. Top with Cava. Garnish with a long orange peel around the inside of the flute.

 Head down to L'Abattoir to check this one out, and do yourself a favour and stay for dinner and extra cocktails. 

Thanks to Shaun and & L'Abattoir for contributing!

[[ see "Oden's Muse" from Tavern Law here ]]
[[ see "The Hemingway Solution" from Vessel here ]]
[[ see the Maraschino March introduction here ]]
[[ see "The Division Bell" from Mayahuel here ]]
[[ see "The Unforgiven" from Russell Davis of Rickhouse here ]]
[[ see "Cherry Bob-omb" from Veneto here ]]
[[ see "Primer Beso" from The Refinery here ]]
[[ see "The Rubicon" from Jamie Boudreau at Canon here ]] 

The Sidecar Cocktail

So the first cocktail we're going to try is the Sidecar. Like a lot of older drinks, its origin is not completely confirmed. Like some other older drinks, neither is its recipe.
We're going to look at where the Sidecar came from (probably), when it came from, and then really get into the experience by learning about the culture of its time and place of origin as well.


The Sidecar

The history of the cocktail:
The myth of the Side Car is that it was invented in the 1920's in Paris for a decorated war veteran who arrived at a bar in a sidecar and asked for a drink to cure
his current case of 'feeling under the weather.'

The more likely truth is that there are two separate accounts in 1922 that give credit for the recipe to Pat MacGarry, who was the main bartender at Buck's Club in London, which opened in 1918.
So, it's likely a British-made drink, but possibly a French-made drink. Nonetheless, it is made with French ingredients, and became famous mostly in Paris at one particular bar, so we will stick with the French side of things for our theme today.
The very practical side of this drink's creation is a natural evolution from older cocktails (as is often the case), namely the Crusta - a style of libation first published in 1862 by Jerry Thomas, the grandfather of mixology himself. It includes brandy, lemon juice, curacao, simple syrup, and bitters. Cocktails containing orange liqueur, a spirit, and citrus evolved into many different cocktails we know today (see my post on The Margarita and its evolution from the Daisy Cocktail).

The bar that made The Sidecar drink famous was around for a long time in Paris, and was bought by an American in 1911, who renamed it the "New York Bar," and hired, and later sold the bar to Harry MacElhone in 1923. At this time, many American tourists, artists, musicians, and authors were moving to Paris (thanks
to Prohibition among other things), and the bar was intended to be a place where expatriates from America could feel at home.
After MacElhone took over, the bar became arguably one of the more famous in the world. George Gershwin composed "American In Paris" here, and it claims fame to creating some of the more famous classic cocktails, including the Bloody Mary, the French 75, the Monkey Gland, and, as we are discussing today, the Side Car.

The Recipe:
The earliest printed recipe has all parts equal (known as the "French" or "Paris School"), but the most famous recipe is in Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail book, which lists cognac to lemon juice and Cointreau at 2:1:1 (this is the "English" or "London School"). Like any other classic cocktail, the ratios are different depending on the bartender and, of course, how you like your drink. Embury, from "The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks" even lists the ratio 8:2:1, cognac to lime to sugar syrup (a Daquiri with brandy instead of rum).
I generally prefer my cocktails spirit-heavy, and a little on the sour side when using juice. Using a nicer cognac, rather than a cheap brandy (as is often the case unfortunately), I suggest a 4:1:1, maybe with an extra dash or two of juice.

In cocktail books in the 1930's, the recipe also included a sugar rim for glass, like a Crusta (the Cocktail's forgotten brother). If you're making the drink very strong or very sour, this can be a nice addition, but overall I quite dislike very sweet drinks and feel it's unnecessary.
Sugar rims can also be quite annoying when the condensation of the glass turns the sugar into a syrup that inevitably gives your fingers a sticky bath. Cointreau is sweet enough, and if you're using Cognac (as you should be) you don't want to mask the flavour with so much sugar! (Down with overly sweet drinks! That's another topic for another day...)

The Ingredients:
Cognac (which should be used) is a brandy made in the Cognac region of France from a grape wine (with other very strict production rules, from location and grape-type, to the double-distillation technique, to the wood from which the barrels are made in which the brandy is aged).
A brandy is wine that has been distilled, and then usually aged in wooden casks. (You can use any brandy in this cocktail, but of course, Cognac is best)
Cointreau is the original type of triple sec.
A triple sec is a liqueur made from a typically neutral (flavourless) spirit, then flavoured with orange peels.
A liqueur is a spirit that has been flavoured and then bottled with added sugar.

Cognac is unfortunately not cheap, and a 750mL bottle will run you about $55 in BC.
If you just want to try the drink with a cheap brandy, you can get a 750mL bottle for about $23, though be warned - the drink will not be as smooth. If you're not used to the taste of brandy, I suggest going French or English school with the recipe to start so you don't get turned off.
Cointreau runs about $35 per 750mL bottle, but with the amount you will use, definitely just pick up a 375mL bottle, which runs $18. I go through one of these small bottles every couple months, and that's saying a lot because I drink a LOT ;)
You can save almost 50% by getting a cheap triple sec, but these tend to be overly sweet and kind of gross. Cointreau has a much more subtle and orange-y flavour that really does make a difference to your cocktails.
As for the lemon juice - use real lemons!! Never use a sour mix or bottled lemon juice in cocktails. You will ruin your drink and waste your other ingredients.
Getting a hand-held juice is easy and cheap (I got mine for $6), or if you just want to jump right in... half of an average lemon is about 1oz of lemon juice. Measuring properly always gives more balanced drinks though!

Art and culture at the time:
Paris was an epicentre of art and literature in the 20th century, and in the 20's Art Deco was beginning, Dadaism was leading to Surrealism, and many famous artists and writers made the city their home, such as Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemmingway, James Joyce, and Gertude Stein. Art was in a revolutionary period at this point, and people were really started to think outside the box, so to speak.
Prohibition had taken hold of the US, which had a hand in increasing the number of Americans travelling to France. Racism was not nearly as much of an issue in Europe as America, which allowed talented writers and performers to really become successful in France when they could not do so in the US (people like James Baldwin and Josephine Baker).

Music:
At the time when the Side Car would have just started to boom in popularity in Paris - about 1923 - jazz was just starting to become popular in Europe. Most notably, James Reese Europe and his Hellfighters were touring Europe during and just after WWI and planting the seeds of early jazz. This music was militaristic in nature and instrumentation, but swung. It was an evolution of ragtime, and was the beginnings of big band swing to come in the following decades. Europeans had never heard anything like it before, as jazz was a completely American music. Jazz in its entirety wasn't really accepted into European culture until the 1930's, and several French jazz musicians live on in infamy today, such as Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli (both of whom you might have heard playing in bars and cafes in Paris in the 30's while you were sipping your Side Car).
Throughout the 1920s, many American musicians, artists, and writers moved to Paris. One such musician/performer was Josephine Baker, who was one of most famous performers of the 20's, despite being black (and that was a big deal back then). She was the first 'person of colour' to star in a motion picture, first to integrate a music hall, and one of the first famous black performers ever. She was an important figure in civil rights issues to come as well. Never really apprecated in America as she was in France, in part because she wasn't white, she still to this day remains a solid influence on American singers and performers. Her stage shows, which of course played upon her ethnicity, contributed to the birth of the term "jungle music," which also described at the time such artists as Duke Ellington, and was more of a racial slur than a description of the music itself.

So, to go along with your Side Car from Harry's Bar in Paris, with French Cognac or Brandy and French Cointreau, is one of the more famous performers in France at the time - despite not being French herself - Josephine Baker, performing a piece in 1927 by the American composer of the same period, Irving Berlin, entitled "Blue Skies."