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A Classy DrunkDecades-old cocktails get resurrected—with a twist |
At Manhattan speakeasy Employees Only, you’ll find Pimm’s Cup, a drink that dates back to Victorian London, and the Manhattan, a favorite of the American humorist Ring Lardner (1885–1933), among other old standards. But they don’t taste like they did back then. Employees Only mixologists spike their Pimm’s Cup, for instance, with Cointreau and fresh lime juice for added depth and kick, although that’s not the way the drink was traditionally made.
“There are a lot of cocktail dorks running around, saying you can’t make it like this and you have to make it like this. It’s depressing,” says Employees Only co-owner Jason Kosmas. “Our drinks aren’t so much a period piece as a continuation of that period—like how people would have made then, if they had better access to the ingredients we have now.”
Many bars around the country are putting their own spin on the classics. Here are some of the more interesting reinterpretations.
1. Sidecar.
Classic: Brandy, orange liqueur, lemon juice served up with a sugared rim.
Spin: Cuban Side Car—Captain Morgan spiced rum, Tuaca (an Italian vanilla and citrus liqueur), orange liqueur, fresh lemon and orange juices. (Ibiza Dinner Club, Seattle)
2. Ramos Gin Fizz.
Classic: Gin, lemon and lime juices, egg white, cream, sugar, orange flower water, club soda.
Spin: Bourbon Fizz (a.k.a. Porcupine’s Elixir)—Old Pogue bourbon, lemon juice, orange bitters, egg white, Sprite, cinnamon. (Dino, Washington, D.C.)
3. Sazerac.
Classic: Rye, sugar, bitters, absinthe or a substitute (Herbsaint, Pernod, or Ricard), lemon twist.
Spin: Harmony—Pear and green tea–infused 209 gin, Lillet Blanc, Chartreuse, lemon juice. (Range, San Francisco)
4. Old Fashioned.
Classic: Rye or bourbon, bitters, sugar, muddled maraschino cherries and orange slices, water.
Spin: The same, only no “fruit salad,” as they put it. (The Alembic, San Francisco)
5. Negroni.
Classic: Gin, sweet vermouth, Campari.
Spin: S.F. Negroni—Vya vermouth, 209 gin, and Aperol, an orange-flavored aperitif. (The Last Supper Club, San Francisco)
6. Manhattan.
Classic: Rye or bourbon, sweet vermouth, Angostura bitters, a maraschino cherry.
Spin: Manhattan Cocktail—The same, plus orange curaçao. (Catherine Lombardi Cocktail Bar, New Brunswick, New Jersey)
7. Pimm’s Cup.
Classic: Lemon-lime soda or ginger ale, slice of lemon, slice of cucumber, Pimm’s No. 1.
Spin: Pimm’s Cup—Pimm’s No. 1, Cointreau, lime juice, ginger soda, cucumbers, fresh mint. (Employees Only, New York City)
8. Hot Buttered Rum.
Classic: Dark rum, cloves, allspice, a cinnamon stick, sugar, butter, freshly grated nutmeg.
Spin: Hot Buttered Rum—Charbay Tahitian Vanilla Bean Rum, vanilla bean ice cream, brown sugar, cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, butter. (Cyrus, Healdsburg, California)
9. Moscow Mule.
Classic: Vodka, ginger beer, lime wedge.
Spin: Moscow Mule—Vodka, ginger beer, lime, freshly grated ginger, club soda. (The Gilt Club, Portland, Oregon)
10. Bramble.
Classic: Gin, crème de cassis, simple syrup, lemon juice.
Spin: Bramble—Gin, simple syrup, lemon juice, and freshly muddled blackberries. (East Side Company Bar, New York City)
How on earth is the Harmony anything close to a Sazerac? And Pimm's never went away, it's just been hiding in Britain, where some 150,000 glasses of Pimm's are served at Wimbledon every year.
Good point, JK. Let's also not forget down South in the US where alcoholic debutantes (sorry, Aunt Lily) still swim the Pimm's-tinted seas...I cut my drinking teeth on Pimm's at weddings and parties all through childhood.
Oy, that breaks my heart. A harmony is about as close to a sazerac as a tom collins is to a negroni. Ridiculous.
this is bullcrap.
the classic Old Fashioned didn't have the fruit salad. the muddled fruit comes from the modern spin on the Old Fashioned.
as for the Harmony as a spin on the Sazerac? Huh? wtf? there's a crapload of drinks with glasses rinsed with liquors...and the Harmony is a lot closer to some of them.
I don't have a problem with new spins on old classics, but at least get the details right.
Check out "The Savoy COCKTAIL BOOK" from, of course, The Savoy Hotel. It was originally published in 1930, but I have '80's version, reprinted with all of the deco artwork.
(Good luck finding absinthe.) As, mentioned above, Pimm's is just a six mile drive away, at my local state PA liquor store!
I love Pimms and a good Manhattan, but I will have to see if I'm making it "correctly". I don't think you can get absinthe - something similar -absenthe? maybe, but nothing that actually uses the wormwood. Greenfairy.org? sells it and ships to the US, I think. I am not vouching for it in any way shape or form. I personally think it looks and tastes like Nyquil, but my hubby digs it.
I get a little tweaked at the whole " ....tini" thing. A martini has Gin and vermouth. The variations are limited to olive, twist, onion, OK, maybe Vodka, but that is a stretch.
How hard is it to give all the variations their own name.
Chocolate is to martini as Kia is to Testarossa.
Reminds me of the Monty Python Spam routine.
Agreed -- I have no problems with modifying classic cocktails, but don't call them by the same name -- they're not. It just gets confusing. Someone trying a Manhattan for the first time at that bar in New Jersey is going to be in for a big suprise when trying a real Manhattan at any half-way decent bar. The NJ version seems part of an unfortunate trend of making cocktails too sweet. Unless the Orange Curacao is just the barest drop or two I've got to think it makes that drink over-sweet. Just my opinion though -- there must be folks that like it if they're selling them and getting national web press.
Re: munch_kin:
Actually, a version of absinthe has been legalized in the US--it's called Lucid. It's not the European kinda of absinthe, but it contains the thujone. You can buy it here: http://www.drinkupny.com/SearchResult... Other than that, I don't think it's being widely distributed yet.