Classic Cocktails through time
Classic Cocktails
Classic Cocktails come in all different types and base liquor. The one thing they have in common is they remain as enjoyable today as when they were first created. It’s fun to look at the different cocktails as they change through the years. From the necessity of introducing ingredients to cover up the taste of what we would now think of as rotgut, to complex interesting cocktails.
Classic Cocktail – Blood and Sand
Blood and Sand is one of the few classic mixed drinks that includes Scotch. It was named for Rudolph Valentino’s 1922 bullfighter movie Blood and Sand. The red juice of the blood orange in the drink helped link it with the film. The recipe is first known to have appeared in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book.
Classic Cocktail – Old Fashion
The original Old Fashion recipe would have used whiskeys available in America in the late 1800’s, either Bourbon or Rye Whiskey. The first recipe is from 1895. But in some regions, especially Wisconsin, brandy is substituted for whiskey (sometimes called a Brandy Old Fashion). Eventually the use of other spirits became common, such as a gin recipe becoming popularized in the late 1940s. The first mention of the drink was for a Bourbon whiskey cocktail in the 1880s, at the Pendennis Club. A gentlemen’s club in Louisville, Kentucky.
Common garnishes for an Old Fashion include an orange slice or a maraschino cherry. Although, these modifications came around 1930, sometime after the original recipe was invented. The practice of muddling orange and other fruit gained prevalence as late as the 1990s. In muddling the fruit make sure to muddle the fruit but try not to muddle the peel too much. You want to release the oils and fruit flavor but not a lot of the acid. As with spirit only drinks what whiskey/brandy you make this drink with matters. The fun is in trying to find which one you really like!
Classic Cocktail – Negroni
An aperitif the Negroni is a classic drink from 1919. Slightly bitter, many people double the amount of gin since the flavors of the Campari and sweet vermouth are no longer needed to mask the flavor of gin that would have been available during that time. A London Dry Gin is usually used as it has the flavor needed to work with the Campari and Sweet Vermouth.
Classic Cocktail – Gin and Tonic
The quinine was drunk in tonic water, however the bitter taste was unpleasant. British officers in India in the early 19th century took to adding a mixture of water, sugar, lime and gin to the quinine in order to make the drink more palatable, thus gin and tonic was born. I’m not sure that the gin was completely necessary but it most likely made the steaming heat of India much more bearable.
Classic Cocktail – Mint Julep
Seen as the cocktail of the Kentucky Derby the Mint Julep has been around since the 18th century. Traditionally, mint juleps were often served in silver or pewter cups, and held only by the bottom and top edges of the cup. This allows frost to form on the outside of the cup. Traditional hand placement may have arisen as a way to reduce the heat transferred from the hand to the silver or pewter cup. Today, mint juleps are most commonly served in a tall old-fashioned glass, Collins glass, or highball glass with a straw.
Classic Cocktail – Martini
The classic Martini, you can make this with many different vodkas or gins. Some assert that the drink was named after “Martini & Rossi” vermouth, which was first created in the mid-1800s. Apparently in the interest of brevity, the drink became known as the “Martini.” From entry level vodkas and gins to high end spirits you can try them all. Find one that is clean and able to stand up to the olive and vermouth then spread out to other brands till you find the perfect mix of spirits and olives. Try extra dry, less vermouth, dirty, a little olive juice, a twist or an olive, shaken or stirred, or just classic with the perfect balance of vermouth and gin. The fun part is in the testing!
Classic Cocktail – Blue Hawaiian
It wouldn’t be an article about Classic Cocktails without mentioning the cocktail explosion of the sixties. The Blue Hawaiian gets its name from the beautiful blue of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii. Created by Harry Yee at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in 1957 when a sales rep asked him to make a drink using Blue Curaçao liqueur. Curacao is an orange based liqueur that is often colored blue or orange and used extensively in tropical themed drinks. It does have a tie to the Elvis movie “Blue Hawaii” but it is fairly loose in nature. This drink, and like many like it, were an off shoot of the 60’s love of all things Hawaiian and tiki. Having sat at the pool bar at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and looked out over Waikiki Beach, I can see where they got the name.