I had this Applejack recommended to me by one of the cocktail experts at Astor Wine & Spirits, a store that is an incredible resource for all things drinkable.
Applejack is one of our nation’s oldest alcoholic beverages: Laird’s, the oldest producer of apple jack, is also the nation’s oldest legal distillery.  It received the first American distillery license issued in 1780.  George Washington was producing applejack at his homestead as early as 1760 using the Laird family recipe.  Read some more interesting historical facts about Laird’s here.
Like most things that are old and delicious, there has been an revival of applejack production, particularly in the tri-state area.  New York has always been known for its apples,  and each bottle  of Cornelius Applejack is made from over 60 lbs of apples grown in the Hudson Valley.  It’s made in small batches, and each bottle is carefully hand labled with the batch and bottle number.  It’s a beautiful product, from the shape of the bottle to the intoxicating golden color of the drink itself.
The liqour smells sweet, with a hint of vanilla. Â It’s got a hell of a kick to it, but you can taste all the complexity of the apple flavors as it washes over your tongue. Â I was told there is someone in NYC who is drinking through all of the artisinal applejacks coming on to the market (are you out there?), and apparently this one is the best. Â At Astor Wine & Spirits, they recommended drinking it neat to enjoy the full flavor of the spirit. Â But I’ve discovered having it on the rocks with a teaspoon of simple syrup doesn’t hurt a thing. Â Neither does a couple muddled mint leaves, or a dash of Angostura bitters.
This beverage is another one from my recent Pre-Prohibition birthday party. Don’t be fooled by it’s cherry-pop color; the Irish Rose is a manly dose of whiskey perfectly co-mingled with a swig of grenadine. We really don’t drink enough grenadine these days.
This has become my favorite beverage for my four-o’clock Judge Judy cocktail break. I think it will become yours, too.
*** The Irish Rose From The Ideal Bartender by Tom Bullock, 1917.
1 oz. Grenadine 1.5 oz. Whiskey Seltzer
Fill a glass with ice; a rocks glass or a tumbler will do. Add grenadine and whiskey. Fill glass with seltzer. Stir until condensation appears on the outside of the glass and the contents are thoroughly mixed. Serve and enjoy.
Simon Ford of Liqour.com adovocates the celebration of President’s Day with Classic Cocktails:
“Franklin Roosevelt guzzled Martinis, Richard Nixon drank Cuba Libres (you have to love the irony) and Gerald Ford enjoyed the odd Gin & Tonic. Woodrow Wilson, president during the enactment of Prohibition, stashed away supplies so that he could mix his favorite libations in secret while the rest of the nation settled for bathtub gin and moonshine.
I think it’s fair to say that the proper way to celebrate Presidents’ Day (and the long weekend) is with cocktails. Here are a couple of historic drinks to get you started. Cheers!”
Read the full article here, and mix up a few classic cocktails appropriate to the Presidents.
February is the coldest month in New York City. Although I know that the spring thaw is just around the corner, the bitter wind that whips off the East River makes me die a little bit inside. Every day.
To keep the frigid weather at bay, I’ve been investigating winter cocktails. Nothing beats the wintertime blues like hot water and alcohol. I’ve been eyeing up this cocktail for awhile: the Apple Toddy. It comes from my favorite cocktail book, the first cocktail book, Jerry Thomas’ How to Mix Drinks.
For my version of this recipe, I used delicate, little Lady Apples, which I found in my local grocery store. Feel free to use a large baking apple, cut into slices. Apple Brandy can be found at most liquor stores or ordered online. Laird’s has been making apple jack and apple brandy in America since 1780.
Oh that’s good. I feel warmer already.
*** Apple Toddy Inspired by a recipe from How to Mix Drinks, by Jerry Thomas 1862.
Baking Apples: three small apples or one large 1/4 cup light brown sugar 1/8 tsp mace (or cinnamon, if you prefer) 1/8 tsp nutmeg Unsalted butter 2 ounces apple brandy Hot water
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Core apples and place in a baking dish. Mix sugar and spices. Fill the center of the apples with sugar mixture and sprinkle the remainder around the edges.
2. Bake apples for 30 minutes, or until tender.
3. Scoop one apple (or apple slice) into the bottom of a rocks glass or mug. The bottom of the baking dish should be filled with sugar syrup; add one tablespoon of this syrup to your glass.
4. Add two ounces apple brandy, then fill glass to the top with hot water. Stir gently until the sugar syrup has dissolved.
The Secret Bowling Alley: “We recently purchased a building in Queens, and while clearing out the basement we discovered a two lane manual bowling alley in very good condition. We did some research and this basement was most probably a club during the Prohibition era.” Â (The Huffington Post)
Will Bitters Shortage Finally Kill Old Timey Cocktail Trend?: Â “There has been a shortage. You can’t just turn on and off supply of bitters. It’s not like producing bottled water – it’s a very delicate, intricate process.” Invented in 1824 by a German doctor and made from a secret recipe of herbs, barks, roots, spices and rum, bitters became popular in Britain as an additive for gin, partly to conceal quinine in tonic water.” (Gothamist)
It was my birthday last weekend, January 15th to be exact, which also happens to be the day before prohibition went into effect in 1920. So I decided to throw a “Drink Like Prohibition Starts Tomorrow” party.
I selected pre-prohibition cocktail recipes for gin, rum, whiskey, applejack, absinthe, champagne and beer. I provided a table full of mixers, tools, garnishes–everything my guests would need to shake up their own classic cocktails.
Most of the recipes I selected came from Tom Bolluck’s 1917 book The Ideal Bartender. But two of the more interesting recipes I pulled from Sloppy Joe’s Bar Guide. Published in 1932 (originally 1931), the book features recipes from Sloppy Joe’s, a bar located in Havana, Cuba that was freqeunted by the likes of Clark Gable and Ernest Hemmingway. I first learned about this book while researching the origins of the Mojito; the first printed recipe for a Mojito appears in this book.
An interesting note, this drink appears in the section labeled “Bacardi Drinks.” Barcardi was preferred for this drink because it was a filtered rum: it had a light flavor and was clear.
*** Mojito From Sloppy Joe’s Bar Reprint Season 1932-1933 by Jose Abeal and Ross Bolton
I served this drink in a rocks glass; should you want to make a full 8 oz. drink, I recommend doubling these proportions.
1 tsp sugar or simple syrup Juice of 1/2 a Lemon 1.5 ounces rum Seltzer Water Fresh Mint Shell of Lemon
Fill a glass with ice. Add sugar, and lemon juice. Add rum, and fill glass with seltzer water. Add 4-6 leaves of fresh mint. Stir cocktail until condenesation appears on the outside of the glass. Add the lemon shell and serve.
***
This drink was a real standout for me over the evening: I felt like it was a revelation in drinking and a vast improvement over contemporary Mojitos. The flavor is light, refreshing, and just the right amount of sweet. It reminded me of the fresh squeezed lemonade I used to get at the county fair–but boozier.
However, I read through the modern introduction to Sloppy Joe’s after the party, and found this:
“Note that in this book any mention of lemon, may actually be lime. This mess up is proven in the bilingual Bar La Florida Cocktails Guide that translates lime incorrectly from Spanish.”
So in retrospect the drink probably should have been made with lime–but the lemon juice was delicious.
It tastes like the best cup of tea you’ve ever had.
New Year’s is one of my favorite holidays, primarily because of the level of drunken debauchery it allowed in 19th century New York. According to Lights and Shadows of New York Life by James Dabney McCabe, published 1873:
“”Punch is seen in all its glory on this day, and each household strives to have the best of this article. There are regular punch-makers in the city, who reap a harvest at this time. Their services are engaged long before-hand, and they are kept busy all morning going from house to house, to make this beverage, which is no-where so palatable as in this city.”
During the course of the day, ladies remained at home to receive guests, and gentleman went from house to house visiting friends and, apparently, sampling the punch:
“Towards the close of the day, everything is in confusion–the door-bell is never silent. Crowds of young men, in various stages of intoxication, rush into the lighted parlors, leer at the hostess in a vain effort to offer their respects, call for liquor, drink it, and stagger out, to repeat the same scene at some other house…Strange as it may seem, it is no disgrace to get drunk on New Year’s Day. The next day one half of New York has a headache…”
So in the spirit of this great day, I present to you Jerry Thomas’ recipe for Green Tea Punch; a cold weather favorite that’s sure to please at your New Year’s Eve get together, or your New Year’s Day visiting hours.
“To make punch of any sort of perfection, the ambrosial essence of lemon must be extracted by rubbing lumps of sugar on the rind, which breaks the delicate little vessels that contain the essence, and at the same time absorb it. This, and making the mixture sweet and strong, using tea instead of water, and thoroughly amalgamating all the compounds….is the grand secret, only to be acquired by practice.”
1 lemon
1/2 cup super fine sugar
1 quart boiling water
1 ounce loose leaf green tea
1 pint brandy
1 pint rum
1. Add the sugar to a large punch bowl, rub the sugar on the rind of the lemon.
2. Remove the lemon, slice in half, and juice. Â Add lemon juice to the punch bowl.
3. Wrap one ounce of loose leaf green tea in cheese cloth (or other method of infusing), and brew in boiling water for at least three minutes or to taste.
3. Â Add brewed tea to the punch bowl; stir until sugar is completely dissolved.
4. Add brandy and rum, stir to combine. Â Serve hot.
This is the way that I make it; Thomas’ recipe actually calls for a bit more flair. Â Follow steps 1-3, above. Â Add alcohol, then “Set these a light, and pour in the tea gradually mixing it from time to time with a ladle; it will remain burning for some time and is to be poured in that state into the glasses.” Â I’ve never attempted this method before, but perhaps this is the year.
“This wall is over 100 years old.” Inside Cleveland’s oldest continually operating bar, the Harbor Inn.
I’m in my hometown of Cleveland for the holidays, a city I love very much. My heart breaks to see it looking so threadbare in this recession. My friends and I decided to celebrate our city via a journey into Cleveland history: a crawl of Cleveland’s oldest pubs and bars that tip their hats to a bygone era.
Our first stop was Edison’s Pub, a local bar that pays tribute to Thomas Edison.  We started there mostly because it was a convenient meeting spot for the attendees, but the $2.50 happy hour drink special wasn’t bad either.  Cleveland, you truly are the land of plenty!
Next up was the Prosperity Social Club. Â Although it resides in what was a 1938 ballroom, the atmosphere was more 1950s VFW hall. Â However, as someone pointed out, it was very traditional, old-school Cleveland. Â We dug it. Â It was easy to picture iron workers coming in from the cold for a drink, and the bar is still warmed by a vintage wood-burning stove. Â I drank a hot whiskey, a comforting combination of Jameson, honey, lemon and clove. Â Good for what ails ‘ya. Â IÂ recommend it, as well as the pierogies, the next time you’re there.
Right: Hot Whiskey at the Prosperity Social Club
We jumped in a cab and headed north, stopping at Cleveland’s new mixology sensation, the Velvet Tango Room. Â From their website:
“At the Tango Room, we believe in craft. We believe that the right combination of ingredients can take you back in time, to a porch in Key West, a beach in Bermuda, a shadowy speakeasy in New York, or a glittering bar in Paris. When you sit at our bar, we want you to connect to those places and that history, so we carefully research old cocktail recipes, lovingly resurrecting classic drinks with historically accurate ingredients.”
Sounds right up my alley, doesn’t it?  It’s pricier than most Cleveland bars, at $15 a drink, but it’s worth it.  The cocktails taste like a sip of history, respectfully revived and celebrated.  I had a pisco sour (Peru’s national drink!) and I plan on returning soon for one of their carefully crafted Manhattans.
This bar is incredibly popular in Cleveland: five years ago, when I was working on my thesis, everyone said a venue like this could never survive locally.  As it turns out, perhaps a historically innovative place like the Tango Room is exactly what Cleveland needs.
Next we walked a few blocks past the Westside Market, and into the Great Lakes Brewery.  GLB is know for its beers named after famous Clevelanders and events from the city’s history.  It’s  housed in what was once the Market Tavern, est. 1865.
“Its most famous patron was Eliot Ness, the man credited with taking down Al Capone’s gang. The Taproom retains much of the charm and mystique from the 1930s era in its grand Tiger Mahogany bar (Cleveland’s oldest) and intriguing bullet holes said to have come from Eliot Ness himself.”
The bar in the Taproom at the Great Lakes Brewery. Â There is a pen sticking out of a bullet hole put in the bar in the 1930s.
Ness’ time in Cleveland is a fascinating one, marked by his fruitless search for a serial killer known as the Torso Murderer that stalked the city streets. Â The killer would dismember his victims and leave their remains on the banks of the Cuyahoga. Â The case was never solved.
We cabbed it again, heading for the lake front and the Harbor Inn, Cleveland’s oldest continually operating bar, est. 1895.  We were apprehensive about this joint, having heard it was both a dive and a college bar.  But upon arrival, it was exactly the kind of place I’m comfortable in: a little worse for the wear, but roomy and convivial.  We had a great time playing on the vintage bowling machine and downing $2 PBR tall boys.
Last, we crossed the river and entered the Flat Iron Cafe.  Established in 1910, it’s Cleveland’s oldest Irish Bar:
“The building, which was formally a four story hotel, had a fire in the late 1800’s in which the top two floors were destroyed…The first floor was used as a blacksmith’s shop and the rooms on the second floor were used as lodging over the years by the sailors and longshoremen working on the lakes.â€
Exterior: Flat Iron Cafe
I don’t remember much at this point…someone was solving a mystery. Â I ate a gyro from a street cart. Somebody else may have gotten married. Â At any rate, a good time was had by all. Â I’m certainly thankful for my Cleveland friends who joined me on my historic antics. Â And I’m thankful to have grown up in such great town with a fascinating history. Â I love you, Cleveland!
I’ve often been asked where I get the ideas for the recipes I cook. It goes a little like this: throughout the course of my day, thought bubbles appear with a pop above my head. They waft through the air, trailing behind me, gently enfolding images of food I would like to devour: whole roasted pigs; booze flavored jell-o; fatty dairy products. Recently, I’ve been dreaming of egg nog.
My roommate whipped up a batch based on this recipe, from the NPR article “More Evidence that Egg Nog Goes Better with Booze.” It’s made with raw eggs and an entire bottle of rum. The Nog has to sit around and mellow for a month in the refrigerator. There’s a cute video about it here, where scientists test the Nog for signs of salmonella. Preliminary tests indicate that the alcohol kills any bacteria present in the eggs. It’s hardly surprising–the nog is so boozey it tastes like creamy astringent.
The scientist’s findings inspired me to test out a 19th century egg nog recipe, from Jerry Thomas’ wonderful book How to Mix Drinks. On the subject of “Egg Nogg,” Thomas has this to say:
Egg Nogg is a beverage of American origin but it has a popularity that is cosmopolitan. At the South it is almost indispensable at Christmas time and at the North it is a favorite at all seasons…Every well ordered bar has a tin egg nogg shaker which is a great aid in mixing this beverage
The Egg Nogg chapter of his book offers a variety of recipes for egg nogg as we know it, in punch form. But the very first recipe is for what I would call an egg nogg cocktail: a single serving drink of eggs shaken up with milk and alcohol. Perhaps this is the way egg nogg was first served, well before it filled holiday punch bowls.
1 tablespoon superfine sugar 1 tablespoon cold water 1 medium egg 2 ounces brandy 1 ounce rum 1/2 cup whole milk 1/4 cup shaved ice or two ice cubes
1. The first step depends on what kind of cocktail shaker you have: If you have a Boston shaker, you’re going to want to put your ice in the bar glass. If you have a cobbler shaker, put the ice in the shaker. (what kind of shaker do I have?)
2. Dissolve sugar in the water in a bar glass; add egg and beat slightly. Add milk and alcohol.
3.Cover and shake (or add to cobbler shaker) until all ingredients are thoroughly amalgamated.
2. Strain into a pint glass and garnish with grated nutmeg.
***
I am drinking this right now, and I love it. It’s not as heavy as a cream-based egg nog, but it is still satisfying my nog cravings. And the best part–it’s a single serving! So I can enjoy it anytime without having to mix up large batch.
I also suspect this recipe would be good with bourbon instead of brandy. Either way, I highly recommend it. It’s just delicious.
If you need some training for your cocktail shake, I recommend the Hard Shake. And if you’re interested in more holiday cocktails with egg, try LeNell’s Mae West Royal Diamond Fizz.
And now that I’ve reached the end of this post…I’m a little tipsy. Congratulations, me.
Ok, I have to say upfront that I was underwhelmed, and a little disappointed, by the results of my Peach Brandy experiment.
Upon my return from the 49th state, I took my mason jar filled with mashed peaches and brandy out of the fridge. Things look good, so I strained it: first through a colander, then through a double layer of cheesecloth. I began straining it through a coffee filter, but eventually lost patience, and decided what little sediment was left could remain in the brew without an adverse affect.
At this point, the brandy was surprisingly thick and syrupy, and did have a slightly sweet, slightly peachy taste. Master bartender Jerry Thomas’ recipe recommends sweetening the infusion with simple syrup, but I decided against it. The cocktails I planned to mix already included a sweetener, and I’ve heard before (from IMBIBE! author David Wondrich) that Victorians liked their drinks very, very sweet. So I left it.
I capped my mason jar and slipped it in my purse, heading off to meet my test audience at a gathering at my boyfriend’s house. I mixed two cocktails, both from Thomas’ book: The Original Georgia Mint Julep, which I mixed using two parts Kentucky bourbon and one part peach brandy; and the Peach and Honey.
I had suspected the flavor of the peach brandy would come alive with a bit of sweetness, so I was really looking forward to the Peach and Honey. I dissolved the honey in a bit of water at the bottom of a rocks glass, added ice cubes, and poured the brandy over top. I tasted it–and I really wasn’t thrilled. It was ok, but I felt the taste of the honey was overwhelming, not complimentary.
And tragically, the peach flavor was almost undetectable in the Julep. The brandy was served best simply over ice, where the gentle peach flavors could be fully appreciated. But even then…I’m not yet certain why the liqour was a let down for me. I think I would try this project again with bourbon instead of brandy.
I had this Applejack recommended to me by one of the cocktail experts at Astor Wine & Spirits, a store that is an incredible resource for all things drinkable.
