Post by officergroyman on Jun 7, 2007 22:36:05 GMT -1
Sure, you’ve had a Manhattan … but have you ever had a Bronx? Help save these worthy drinks from extinction.
By Kim Khan and Sharon Lorimer for MSN City Guides.
For a long time, the unspoken rule of drinking has been to avoid anything your grandparents might have drunk. The Brandy Alexander and the Pink Gin lost their place on the menu to Sex on the Beach or other absurdly named (and, frankly, foul-tasting) concoctions.
Sure, like your grandparents' wardrobe, some cocktails have gone out of fashion; and some, like the Dempsey (apple brandy, gin, anise liqueur and grenadine), disappeared for good reason.
But to truly preserve America's cocktail culture, we can't rely solely on bartenders to know their history, or allow the next HBO series to dictate what belongs in a martini glass. We need drinkers to save some cocktails, like those below, now consigned to the endangered-species list.
1. The Bronx
Although the martini and the Manhattan made it into cocktail lore, the Bronx hasn't gained the same notoriety. Like the way we’ve forgotten Gouverneur Morris, a primary author of the Constitution who is buried in the South Bronx, we the people have ignored the Bronx cocktail. If you like the sweet and dry taste of the perfect martini, then you'll enjoy the Bronx (2 ounces gin, 1/2 ounce orange juice, 1/2 ounce dry vermouth, 1/2 ounce sweet vermouth), which—like Morris' famous document—was designed to form a more perfect union.
The Manhattan became the quintessential drink of the 1930s and 1940s in our minds, while the Bronx, voted the third-best cocktail of 1934, seems to be known to only a few bartenders. Although the Bronx is as strong as the martini or the Manhattan, the orange juice gives it a citrus flavor neither cocktail can match. As with the rejuvenation project in the Bronx, Yankee fans can have not only a new stadium but a new drink … or an old drink in need of revival.
2. The Stinger
Instead of dessert, order a Stinger (2 ounces brandy, 1 ounce white or green crème de menthe), a sort of liquid after-dinner mint made famous by Cary Grant and Jayne Mansfield in the 1957 movie "Kiss Them for Me." A bartender in Squaw Valley, Ca., recommended its revival.
As popular as the mojito is today, it would seem logical to prepare the Stinger with fresh mint, but white crème de menthe provides a tasty counterpoint to the strong brandy. Crème de menthe gets a bad rap in some corners because of its likeness to mouthwash, but consider this: In the Stinger’s heyday, the mouthwash tasted like medicine, and mint was actually a treat.
3. The Black Velvet
The Black Velvet couldn't be simpler: one part Guinness (bottled beer is preferred, for its consistency) and one part dry champagne (as cold as winter in Valley Forge). But the result is an excellent combination of sweet, dry and bitter flavors. It's a wonderful beer cocktail that saves you the trouble of dropping a shot glass into your pint. Plus, the drink is layered and looks cool.
We suspect the diminished popularity of layered drinks is the product of lazy bartenders who roll their eyes. But really, how hard is it to pour off the back of a spoon?
Some purists scoff at the Black Velvet, maintaining it spoils the taste of both the bubbly and the beer. But these are the same people who would deny you crème fraîche with your caviar, sauerkraut with your hot dog and, of course, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
4. The Rob Roy
Until recently, orange bitters wasn’t readily available, unless the bar made its own. But Angostura, which distributes its secret-recipe classic bitters all over the world, released an orange version this spring, bringing this great citrus blend of spices to the masses.
Used for everything from stimulating the appetite to curing the hiccups, bitters is the classic addition to any cocktail. It was invented by Johann Siegert, surgeon general in the army of South American liberator Simón Bolívar, and was named after Angostura, Venezuela. Dozens of cocktails using orange bitters merit revival, but our choice is the Rob Roy (1.5 ounces Scotch whisky, 0.75 ounces red, 1 dash orange bitters), named after another champion of the people.
The Rob Roy is unusual in that it uses Scotch whisky instead of bourbon (which is easier to blend). But stock up on bitters while you can, before Venezuela's self-appointed people’s champion, Hugo Chavez, nationalizes the industry and snatches that cocktail out of your decadent hand!
5. The Hot Toddy
How did the Irish coffee eclipse its subtler cousin, the hot toddy, as a winter warmer? The hot toddy was created to disguise the flavor of low-quality Scotch in Edinburgh—before the Scots perfected their distilling process—and takes its name from Tod's Well, the local water supply. (The tale mirrors the rise of the cocktail itself, which became popular during Prohibition to disguise the taste of bootlegged alcohol.)
The traditional hot toddy comprises 2 ounces Scotch whisky, boiling water to taste, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 4 sugar cubes, but today’s toddy is any combination of a spirit, a hot liquid and a sweetener. Mulled cider is a traditional toddy, but chai toddies (1 1/2 ounces spiced rum, 1 dash peppermint schnapps, 1 teaspoon honey, 4 ounces hot tea) and chicory toddies (1 1/2 ounces rye, 1 tablespoon sugar, 4 ounces hot chicory) should appeal to experimental drinkers.
Kim Khan learned to drink at the University of Virginia, while Sharon Lorimer trained at the University of Edinburgh. Both now live, write and drink in London.