Today I came across an interesting bit of literature while researching the class I’m teaching tonight at the Brooklyn Brainery, What Dickens Drank: Historic Summer Cocktails. It’s a passage from Transatlantic Travels, by Captain J. E. Alexander, an English tourist in America in 1833. Â Writing about travels in America became quite popular in the 1840s, and several books (including Dickens’ American Notes) originated in this time period. Â Often these books are invaluable because they record specifics of daily American life that no one else thought to write down.
In this case, Alexander stops by a very famous bar in New York, the City Hotel, which featured America’s first celebrity bartender, a “Mr. Willard.”  We don’t know much about Willard, because unlike like Jerry Thomas, he didn’t write down his famous cocktail concoctions.  But since the cocktail was considered a very American drink,  Alexander took the time to record three recipes in his travel book; these  are some of the earliest cocktail recipes on record.
Modernized recipes for the Cocktail, Mint Julep, and Apple Toddy.
Oh my god. The apple Toddy sounds amazing. I think I will have to make that for my family for Christmas this year!
oh, you should! and I bet you could alter the recipes to make it in a big punch bowl, so you don’t have to mix individual glasses.