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Tag: historic cocktail

The Sherry Flip

by Nicole Carpenter

Taverns in early America served a variety of drinks including beer, wine and spirits. Mixed drinks weren’t the sophisticated quaffs we know today. Often combining liquors for the best bang, heavily spiced and including for body, nutrition and froth, early American cocktails were served room temperature, warm or even hot since ice was not available. A common sailor’s drink, The Flip featured beer, rum, and molasses that was heated with a hot iron and served warm. 

Ingredients

  •   1 large egg 
  • ½ ounce (1 tablespoon) Simple Syrup* 
  • 2 ounces (¼ cup) East India Solera Lustau Sherry or sherry of your choice 
  • Nutmeg for garnish 

Directions

Makes 1 drink 

  1. Crack the egg in a small bowl then pour the egg into a cocktail shaker or blender. Cracking the egg into another vessel allows you to remove any bits of shell and to also ensure the egg is fresh enough to use before pouring into your main mix. 
  1. Add the simple syrup and sherry. Seal the shaker and shake vigorously away from you for 30 seconds. Alternatively, if using a blender, mix in high speed for 15 seconds. 

Lucien Gaudin Cocktail

by Nicole Carpenter

Lucien Gaudin was a French fencer during the 1920s who medaled in no less than three Olympic competitions in that decade which became known as the Annes Folles or “Crazy Years”. Gaudin quickly became a national hero for his efforts and the cocktail that bears his name was born and enjoyed in the myriad cafes, bars, and restaurants around Paris where a vibrant new-century social culture bloomed.

Ingredients

  •   1 1/2 ounce (3 tablespoons) gin  
  • ¾  ounce  (1 ½ tablespoons) Campari 
  • 3/4 ounce (1 ½ tablespoons) dry vermouth 
  • 3/4 ounce (1 ½ tablespoons) Cointreau 
  • Orange, washed, for twist (optional)

Directions

Makes 1 drink 

  1. Add all ingredients to a mixing beaker with a generous amount of ice. 
  1. Stir for 10 to 15 seconds. Strain and pour into a chilled martini glass.  
  1. Using a vegetable peeler, peel a 3 inch piece of rind from the washed orange and garnish cocktail. 

Jesup Hall’s The  Buzzed  Bee

by Nicole Carpenter

Branden Hahn, General Manager at Chef Bill Taibe’s popular downtown Westport eatery, Jesup Hall, offers this modern take on the classic Prohibition era cocktail called “The Bee’s Knees” (find the original here). Hahn’s spicy, sophisticated version of the drink uses vodka instead of gin and offers a kick with ginger syrup sweetened with demerara sugar, a unique, partially-refined large grained brown sugar grade originally milled in South America. 

Ingredients

For the Honey Syrup: 

  • ½ cup honey 
  • ½ cup water 

For the Spicy Ginger Syrup: 

  • 4 ounces ginger, chopped 
  • 1 cup water 
  • 1 cup demerara sugar 

For the Cocktail 

  • 2 oz. (¼ cup) Vodka 
  • .5 oz (2 teaspoons) Honey Syrup 
  • .5 (2 teaspoons) Spicy Ginger Syrup 
  • .5 (2 teaspoons)fresh lemon juice 
  • Club Soda as needed 
  • 1 lemon for twist to garnish (Optional)

Directions

  1. Make the Honey Simple Syrup: Combine the honey and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer until reduced by half—about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and store in a sealable glass bottle. 
  1. Make the Spicy Ginger Syrup: Combine ginger and water in a blender or food processor and process to a smooth liquid. Strain the liquid into another bowl or a glass jar. Mix the ginger mixture and demerara sugar together in  a small saucepan and place over medium low heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer until all the sugar is dissolved and remove from heat. Store in a sealable glass bottle. 
  1. Make the Cocktail: Combine all the cocktail ingredients except the club soda in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain over ice into a Collins glass or tall, narrow tumbler. Top with club soda. 
  1. Make the Lemon Twist: Take a potato peeler, sharp paring knife or small channel knife and peel a narrow strip of rind around the lemon crosswise. Place the strip on a flat surface, pith side up, and roll away from you in tight coils—as if rolling a rug. Uncoil and use in your cocktail as a garnish 

ProTip: Use the edge of a teaspoon to peel ginger. Hold the spoon with cup facing toward you and use the edge to scrape away the skin. The shape of the spoon allows you to get into ginger’s knobby nooks and crannies without losing too much of the flesh itself.

The Bee’s Knees

by Nicole Carpenter

This cocktail was popular one hundred years ago during the Jazz Age. The sweet-sour combination was ideal to mask the taste of the harsh “bathtub gin” brewed locally or at home in defiance of Prohibition laws. 

Ingredients

For the Honey Simple Syrup: 

  • ½ cup honey 
  • ½ cup water 

 For the cocktail: 

  • 1 lemon, washed well to make twist for garnish (optional) 
  • 2 ounces gin (or vodka) 
  • 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
  • 1 tablespoon honey simple syrup (or to taste) 

Directions

1. Make the Honey Simple Syrup: Bring the honey and water to a boil in small saucepan over medium heat, then lower to a simmer. Simmer until the mixture is reduced by half to form a syrup. Set aside in a sealed container, preferably glass. 

2. Make the Lemon Twist: Take a potato peeler, sharp paring knife or small channel knife and peel a narrow strip of rind around the lemon crosswise. Place the strip on a flat surface, pith side up, and roll away from you in tight coils—as if rolling a rug. Uncoil and use in your cocktail as a garnish. 

3. Make the Cocktail: Add the gin or vodka, lemon juice, honey simple syrup to a shaker with ice and shake well. Pour into a champagne bowl or martini glass and serve with the lemon twist, if desired. Alternatively, you may mix the ingredients in one tall glass and pour over anther tall glass filled with ice. Pour into a martini glass or champagne bowl using a strainer. Serve with the lemon twist, if desired.