Post Prohibition Cocktails

Today Woodbridge Wine Supervisor David Rudd talks about some Post-Prohibition American classics.

1933 saw the end of Prohibition in the United States of America with Constitutional Amendment XXI, and thus was born a new progressive era that would eventually beget my job.  (Way to go, Congress!)  Many cultures around the world have seen some form of Prohibition at one time or another: China’s Xia Dynasty, Prince Edward Island 1907-1948, Russia 1914-1925, and Australia 1910-1927.  This period in our nation’s history is really quite interesting: it was during Prohibition that we saw the rise of America’s greatest gangster, Al Capone.  At the height of his career the guy was pulling $80,000,000 a year (in today’s money = more than $1 billion dollars!)  More to the point of our purpose here today, Prohibition’s demise finally gave Depression Era mixologists free reign to shake, stir and flame their way into the history books.  Classics like the Martini, Manhattan, and Collins were born right after Prohibition.  There are a number of slightly lesser known – and somewhat more complicated cocktails – from this period.  So find your good cocktail shaker, a stirring rod and muddler, your ¾-1 ½ oz measure, caster sugar, assorted garnishes and your martini, rocks, and highball glassware.  That’s right, today we’re having an advanced lesson in cocktails…

The Old-Fashioned

 ½ tsp of superfine (aka caster sugar)
3 dashes of Angostura™ aromatic bitters
2 slices of orange peel
3 oz of bourbon whiskey
Maraschino cherry

Place the grains of sugar into the bottom of a rocks glass and soak it with the bitters.  Place one orange peel into the glass and muddle it with the sugar and bitters.  Swirl the glass to allow the contents to coat the inside of the glass.  Fill the glass with ice and pour the bourbon over it.  Garnish with the second orange peel and Maraschino cherry.

The Sazerac

(this might be America’s oldest cocktail recipe – dating back to 1830)
3 oz of rye whiskey
½ oz of absinthe
3 dashes of Peychaud’s™ bitters
½ tsp of superfine sugar
A curl of lemon peel

In a dry cocktail shaker stir together the whiskey, bitters and sugar.  Pour the absinthe into a chilled rocks glass and swirl the glass to coat the inside surface.  Pour out the excess absinthe and fill the glass with ice.  Pour the whiskey/bitters/sugar mixture over the ice and garnish with your lemon curl.

The Sidecar

¾ oz Cointreau™
¾ oz cognac
¾ oz fresh lemon juice
A slice of orange peel

Take a chilled martini glass and rub the rim with your finger coated in lemon juice, then dip the rim of the glass into a demi-plate of superfine sugar to coat the rim – allow to dry while you prepare the drink.  In your cocktail shaker filled with ice shake the Cointreau™, cognac and fresh lemon juice for a six count.  Strain into the martini glass and then flame your orange peel to garnish.

The Pink Lady

1 ½ oz Plymouth™ gin
½ oz grenadine
½ oz heavy cream
¼ oz fresh lemon juice
1 egg white
Maraschino cherry

Rub the rim of a champagne saucer with your finger coated in grenadine and then dip the rim of the glass into a demi-plate of superfine sugar to coat the rim – allow to dry while you prepare the drink.  In your cocktail shaker filled with ice shake the gin, grenadine, cream, lemon juice and egg white for a 20 count.  Strain into the champagne saucer and add the cherry for a garnish.

The Horse’s Neck

1 lemon
3 oz of dry gin (Hendrick’s™ is a good choice)
Dry ginger ale (GuS™ extra dry ginger ale is a good choice)

Carefully peel the lemon in one continuous strip so that the entire rind is in one long spiral, hang it from the edge of a tall glass so that the better part of it dangles inside.  Fill the glass with ice and pour the gin on top.  Fill the glass the rest of the way with the dry ginger ale.  This one is my favorite summertime cocktail.

The Gibson

½ oz of dry vermouth
3 oz of dry gin
Cocktail onions

Combine the gin and vermouth in an iced cocktail shaker and STIR, do not shake.  Strain into a martini glass and garnish with skewered cocktail onions.

The Planter’s Punch

This is a party recipe, the flavors benefit from mixing together over a long period, so make this one ahead and enjoy as much or as little as you like.

One large pitcher

32 limes juiced, or about 2 cups of fresh lime juice
6 oranges juiced, or about 2 cups of fresh orange juice
1 1L bottle of dark rum (Gosling™ Black Bermuda Rum is a good choice)
8 oz of grenadine
Angostura™ aromatic bitters
Soda water
Sliced peaches

In your large pitcher combine the juices, dark rum and grenadine and stir well.  Individually prepare a wide tumbler (a fat, tall glass) with a dash of the bitters and fill with ice.  Pour the rum mixture into the tumbler until ¾ full and top up with soda.  Garnish with a peach slice.

The Zombie

This killer cocktail became popular at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York.

¾ oz white rum (the Rogue™ White Rum is a good choice)

¾ oz light rum
¾ oz dark rum
¾ oz apricot brandy
¾ oz pineapple juice
¾ oz guava nectar
½ oz Bacardi™ 151 proof rum
A dash of grenadine

In an iced cocktail shaker combine white, light and dark rums with brandy, juices and grenadine for a six count.  Pour the drink and ice into a tall glass and float the overproof rum on top.