20’s

The Ritz Hotel in Paris claims origin of the Side Car. The first recipes for the Sidecar appear in 1922, in Harry MacElhone’s Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails and Robert Vermeire’s Cocktails and How to Mix Them. It is one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury’s The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (1948).
Read More

Many drinks are an offshoot of the Gin and Vodka drinks out of the 20’s and 30’s that are part of the Cap Codder family which is Vodka and Cranberry. There are many variations on this drink like the Bay Breeze, Sea Breeze, (Vodka, Grapefruit and Cranberry), Greyhound… Any way you look at it these drinks remind you of summer by the sea! 
Read More

The creamier version of the Pink Lady for this recipe is thought to have been around since the 1920’s. As most older drinks there are many versions this one uses both cream and an egg white. Once named on Esquire’s list of the ten worst cocktails, most likely due to it’s girly nature and color, it is still a great drink that has more kick then one would think.

The original Old Fashioned 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 Fashioned). 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 Fashioned 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!

Read More

Many drinks are an offshoot of the Gin and Vodka drinks out of the 20’s and 30’s that are part of the Cap Codder family which is Vodka and Cranberry. There are many variations on this drink like the Bay Breeze, Sea Breeze, Greyhound… Any way you look at it the drink reminds you of summer by the sea!

Read More

The French 75 was created in 1915 at the New York Bar in Paris—later Harry’s New York Bar—by barman Harry MacElhone. The combination was said to have such a kick that it felt like being shelled with the powerful French 75mm field gun, also called a “75 Cocktail”, or “Soixante Quinze” in French. The French 75 was popularized in America at the Stork Club in New York. An elegant drink with Gin and Champagne with a great kick it a drink that was enjoyed by the upper class elite both men and women. Shades of Downton Abbey all that is needed is lace gloves or an ascot.

Read More

One of the classic cocktails and aperitif, this may be a little old fashioned for some but it grows on you. A before dinner drink that helps set the tone for dinner this is the perfect classy way to start a meal.
Read More

The Charlie Chaplin Cocktail was one of the premier drinks of the Waldorf-Astoria prior to 1920. The equal mix of lime, apricot brandy and sloe gin is documented in A.S. Crockett’s “The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book”. Not sure if Charlie Chaplin drank these but if he did it was to satisfy his sweet tooth.
Read More

Most believe this is a riff on an Alexander which uses gin instead of brandy, some think that the Brandy Alexander was not a variation of the original, but a new drink created without any knowledge of its predecessor. The Russian Tsar, Alexander II, believes the drink was named after him, while opera critic, Alexander Dragon, believes it was made with him in mind. However it came to be the Brandy Alexander has lasted a long time as one of the best dessert cocktails around. Add ice cream instead of cream and you have an even richer treat.

The modern version of the Pisco Sour wasn’t born until late 1920s, when bartender Mario Bruige added Angostura bitters and egg white. However, the Pisco Sour can trace its origins much further back to the creation of its base: the strong, brandy-like liquor, Pisco.
Read More