Bibulo.us - We plead the 21st.

A Tale of Four Smashes

In 1862, Jerry Thomas would have been happy to make you a Whiskey Smash and it would have gone something like this:

2 ounces of whiskey
1 TBSP water
1/2 TBSP sugar

Stirred to mix, poured into a small bar glass two-thirds full of shaved ice, garnished with two sprigs of mint ("same as in the recipe for a mint julep").

Twenty-nine years later, William "Cocktail Bill" Boothby would have served you something similar. In fact, the recipe in his 1891 book American Bar-Tender consists entirely of "A small Whiskey Julep, with the rum flavor omitted. (See Juleps.)" In other words:

"Fill a large goblet with fine ice and pour a jigger of whiskey over it; then take several sprigs of young, tender mint and place them in a medium-size mixing-glass with a dessertspoonful of bar sugar and just enough water to nearly fill the goblet, in which you have already placed the fine ice and whiskey. Press the mint with a muddler until the sugar is all dissolved and the water is well-flavored with mint, strain into the goblet of ice and whiskey, ornament with fruits and a few sprigs of mint which have been moistened and dipped in sugar, and serve with straws.

Jump forward half a century, to W.C. Whitfield's 1941 book Here's How and little has changed.

"Use Old Fashioned cocktail glass. Dissolve 1 lump of sugar in a few dashes of carbonated water. Add four sprigs of fresh mint and crush slightly. Fill glass with cracked ice. Add 1 jigger of rye or bourbon. Decorate with lemon peel and slice of orange.

Another leap, to 2002, and Dale DeGroff's take on the drink, and we've only gotten a little juicier:

With the same basic recipe Jerry Thomas used 140 years earlier, include two lemon pieces in your muddling and, unlike Whitfield, let the mint serve as the entire garnish.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Sweet William

Inspired by William "Cocktail Bill" Boothby and his Ruby Cocktail, here's a new drink which pertly rules the center of the bitter/sweet/tart Venn diagram.

This rich burgundy-colored cocktail, in its royal form, is ideal for holiday parties. You can make it in batch in advance, then simply serve from the chilled bottles, garnish, and brighten with a pour of champagne on top.

Sweet William

3 oz Bitter Truth sloe gin*
3 oz regular ol' sweet vermouth (e.g., Martini & Rossi, Cinzano)
1/16 oz Cherry Heering
scant 1/16 oz Parfait Amour**
3 dashes orange bitters

Chill and serve to a few friends, garnishing with an orange twist.
With a champagne float, it's a Sweet King William, and delicious.

*If using another, sweeter brand, use less of the two liqueurs.
** If you don't have this, do not buy a bottle—you will never ever use it up—just put in a little more Cherry Heering.

Remember: if making it for a party and then chilling the bottles (rather than stirring with ice and adding dilution that way as you would when mixing on demand), add water before bottling; 3 parts ingredients to 1 part water. Yep, good cocktails really are 25% dilution.

Masters of the Universe

Another original, designed for plotting and planning with dear fiends.

Friends! We mean friends.

 

Masters of the Universe

2 oz Cocchi Americano
1 oz Beefeater 24
2 dashes Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
dash orange bitters

Stir with ice, serve up, or over an ice cube with an orange slice.

 

Yessss. Everything is falling into place perfectly...

Judge Walker

Photo by Derek Powazek (all rights reserved), used by gracious permission.

A new cocktail in honor of the taste of sweet justice.

 

Judge Walker

.75oz Dewar's 12yr Scotch
.75oz Old Overholt rye
.25oz sweet vermouth
.25oz Dolin Blanc vermouth
quick dash of Angostura aromatic bitters
quick dash of Angostura orange bitters

Stir with ice, serve up in a chilled glass or on the rocks.
Garnish with 2 good cherries and cut a coin of orange peel, squeeze it over the glass, touch the glass rim and stem and discard.

 

Ideal for soothing the stresses of wedding planning.

Spread Eagle Punch

When you love your guests and want them to know it, make this powerful and premium punch. It's yet another winner from Jerry Thomas's 1862 How To Mix Drinks by way of David Wondrich and was featured in the December 2009 issue of Esquire magazine. (Do go subscribe; they really have been keeping the quality very high lately and we often read it cover to cover).

One key to this punch is the oleo saccharum – the potent oil which lemon peels will give up to sugar after half an hour or so. There was no liquid in the pot shown in the picture on the right when the peels and sugar were first stirred together. It's magic! (Well, fine, it's osmosis, but that's as good as magic).

As with all good punches, freeze up a big piece of ice using a small bowl 48 hours before you'll be serving.

On the day of your party, peel 1 dozen lemons, getting as little pith as possible. Put them in 2 or 3 gallon pot and muddle them with 1 cup sugar. Leave them alone for 30 minutes and then come back to marvel at the delicious lemon oil exuded.

Add 2 bottles of a nice smoky single-malt Scotch – we recommend Laphroaig – and 2 bottles rye whiskey – Wondrich was right about how wonderful Sazerac is here. Stir, then put in 1 gallon boiling water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Cover and let cool.

When you pour it over your big ice block in your punch bowl later, add 4 thinly sliced, de-seeded lemons and grate half a nutmeg over the top.

Stunning. Possibly literally. This is a 44 proof punch. Put out the small glasses.

Pearlescent

"A subtle and pleasant drink, the Pearlescent also happens to be quite easy on the eye." - David Wondrich

Yet another winner from his Killer Cocktails.

• 2.5 ounces vodka
• 2 teaspoons orgeat syrup
• 1 teaspoon Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
• lemon peel strip

Shake viciously (with the peel in the shaker) and serve in a chilled cocktail glass.

This one premixes like a dream and since it's got no citrus juice will keep fine in the fridge. Just stick the bottle next to the ice, shaker, lemons, and channel knife and let guests go to town with these instructions:

1. Measure 3 ounces of the premixed cocktail into the shaker for each drink.
2. Cut a fresh twist of lemon peel for each drink over the shaker & drop in.
3. Add twice as much ice as liquid.
4. Close the shaker tightly.
5. Holding the base, with fingers over the lid, shake viciously.
6. Take off the little cap and strain your drink into a chilled glass.
7. Dump your ice & peels into the dump bucket.
8. Enjoy your drink.

Hoffman House

"The Hoffman House Hotel maintained New York City's best bar at a time when New York had nothing but great bars... It pulled in a strictly A-list clientele until it got hauled down and replaced with an office building. That was in 1915. Their version of the Martini is one of the most suave known to science." - David Wondrich

Again we turn to Killer Cocktails for another party winner.

• 2 ounces gin, Martin Miller’s or Plymouth is encouraged
• 1 ounce Noilly Prat dry (white) vermouth
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• To finish: orange peel strip

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Squeeze peel over glass & drop in.

Delightful.

Daisy Shim and Daisy Mocktail

• .75 ounces gin
• .5 teaspoon lemon juice
• .5 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon grenadine (ideally from Small Hand Foods or homemade)
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Fill a small collins glass with ice, add ingredients and stir until chilled.

Top with .5 oz fizz water. This may be garnished with fruits in season, if desired.

This is an adaptation of the Gin Daisy (new school) intended for those seeking a lower-alcohol alternative. It's handy for that guest who needs to slow down their intake a bit while their body catches up (and if they really need it, you don't even have to tell them it's a shim; just get a little gin on your finger and wipe it around the rim and they'll never know).

For the Daisy Mocktail, omit the gin entirely.

Note to party hosts: premix all but the gin and put it in a squeeze bottle. 3 teaspoons is 1/6 of an ounce, so call it a scant 1/4 ounce pour and then add your gin or not depending on whether you're making a Daisy, Shim, or Mocktail. For kids and those with a sweet tooth, give 'em a little extra of that mix.

Gin Daisy (new school)

"Almost always just the thing for a man or woman in the dumps or out of them." - David Wondrich

• 2 ounces gin
• .5 teaspoon lemon juice
• .5 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon grenadine (ideally from Small Hand Foods or homemade)
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Fill a small collins glass with ice, add ingredients and stir until chilled.

Top with .5 oz fizz water. This may be garnished with fruits in season, if desired.

Yes, it's another party favorite from a Wondrich book, this time Imbibe. This is the "new school" version, which is to say the fancy grenadine-rocks Daisy of the 1910s as opposed to the original orange-liqueur-up version from the 1870s.

Garrick Club Punch

Yes, it's another party drink from a David Wondrich book, in this case, Killer Cocktails. Who is surprised? The man has an uncanny sense for what makes our guests happy.

"Back in the early part of the nineteenth century, the Garrick Club was one of London's sportier institutions, with a membership made up of actors, slumming aristocrats, and other racy types."

• 1 liter (1 bottle) Bols Genever
• 8.5 ounces fresh squeezed lemon juice (preferably from Meyer lemons if in season)
• 8 ounces Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
• peel, with as little pith as possible, from 4 lemons
• 1 liter chilled fizzy water (soda or seltzer)

At least 36 hours before serving, freeze a huge ice block for the punch bowl.
An hour or two before serving, peel 4 of your lemons (you’ll probably need 10-12 large ones) and put them in a closed container with the other ingredients except the fizz water to get to know each other.
To serve, put the ice block in the bowl, carefully pour the punch over it, and add the fizz water.
Serves 40-50 people for a while and instills in even the most cocktail-unaware an urge to buy obscure ingredients like genever.