Friday Happy Hour: Alexander

An Alexander is another of those guilty drinks we love so much here at Rogers Park Retro. It's creamy, light, and indulgent. There are a few fundamentals we need to establish, though. First: this drink isn't mixed in a blender. Second: this drink isn't mixed in a blender. Third: even though a lot of old watering holes do it, this drink isn't mixed in a blender. Having established that, let's have fun! Here are some recipes from Oscar Haimo:

There are two popular versions for the Alexander -- one with gin and the other with brandy. Usually, the gin version is the "Alexander" and the brandy version is a "Brandy Alexander." But, with either of these, the formula is pretty easy (and easy going down): cream, creme de cacao, and gin or brandy. Here, as you can see, he calls for twice as much spirit as the liqueur, and only a dab of cream. The proportions are slightly different here:

Our formula at Rogers Park Retro is the 2:1:1 proportions they have here. To make it slightly less boozy, you can do a 1:1:1 ratio, as they do here:

And, we do need to add that the traditional garnish for this drink (gin or brandy) is a dash of grated nutmeg on the top. Aromatic, refreshing, and beautiful. Here is a little lore about the Alexander from "Famous New Orleans Drinks (and how to mix 'em)":

Well, after reading that, we feel like we've just be regaled by a Kentucky Colonel cum New Orleans bartender. Note that they include an egg white, which is a different twist, but worth experimenting with. But, "simply de-lovely" indeed!

Cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve! The evening when sparkling wine flows! We certainly wish you the very happiest in 2011, and we're pleased to bring you several tempting drinks you can use to toast in the new year!

Our first drink is the appropriately named Champagne Cocktail:

This simple drink offers just enough complexity with the flavor of the bitters and orange twist to make it very satisfying. Also, the sugar helps accentuate the bubbles! Next, we have a slight variation on this drink:

A kick, indeed! A little more "oomph," huh? Along the same lines, the French 75 is a classic drink made with sparkling wine:

And here is another version of this drink, along with something they're calling a "French 90" which is very much like the brandy version we saw above:

Maybe it's not unfair to say that sparkling wine is kind of like bacon -- everything is better with it. Here we have a drink that's one of Rogers Park Retro's favorite, but with a sparkle:

Of course, you can have your sparkling wine by itself, too! Anyway you have it, we hope your new year sparkles!

Friday Happy Hour: Thanksgiving Special

Having returned to Standard Time, and having survived Halloween, we can't help but acknowledge that winter is settling in. But, the bright side of that is that we have the holiday season to enjoy! In the holiday spirit, we bring you the Thanksgiving Special, which is a drink you truly will give thanks for. What's vexing about this drink, however, is that there is scant information on how this drink got its name or how it is associated with Thanksgiving. The drink is featured in all of the vintage recipe books, yet it isn't a drink many have ever heard of. Here's the version from Mr. Boston's 1979 edition:

Now, if you look up this drink in virtually any comprehensive recipe book, you'll most likely find a version very similar to this (if not identical to this). Alas, this probably explains why this venerable old drink is consigned to the dustbin of memory. Quite simply, this recipe doesn't make for a very good drink. But, these ingredients seem like they'd match up very well. Good news! They do match up very well, but in slightly different proportions. Here's a recipe that makes this drink sing: This is a drink you can bring to your Thanksgiving feast and wind up being the toast of the party! We suggest that you start practicing mixing this drink right away, and you'll have it mastered by the time Thanksgiving rolls around in less than 3 weeks! Cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: Aviation

The Aviation is a genuinely vintage cocktail that has gotten some attention in the recent revival of oldies-but-goodies. It fell out of fashion, we suppose, because it's mostly gin. Gin drinks, in general, have been shunned for decades -- and even the preeminent cocktail, the Martini, has become a standard vodka-based cocktail, rather than its original gin. Well, gin is back, baby! This drink might be just a little too obscure, though, because there are some variances on how it should be made. As we see above, it calls for gin and maraschino liqueur, and some lemon juice. In this recipe, from the 1946 edition of Oscar Haimo's "Cocktail and Wine Digest" we see the same basic ingredients, except with lime juice instead of lemon juice:

Plus, he adds triple sec. His recipe is startlingly close to a Corpse Reviver. Regrettably, these references exhaust our library on the Aviation. What these recipes are missing is any reference to Creme Yvette, which is a liqueur that was out of production for many years and has only very recently been reintroduced. Its robin's egg blue color lends an Aviation the soft blue of the open sky. It takes just a dash or two to do the trick; you can also use Creme de Violette. However, for some purists, they say leave out the Creme Yvette/Creme de Violette. We don't purport to be experts here at Rogers Park Retro -- rather, "we report, you decide." We'll let the true experts hash this out. Meanwhile, why not try these recipes and figure out what works for you?

Regardless, the sky is the limit for the Aviation! Cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: how to mix a perfect Martini

Well, of course we want that! As we have mentioned, the martini is the preeminent classic cocktail. Let's learn how!

Well, sounds like we can handle it, then . . .

Just as though it had been made at the North Pole and rushed straight to you!

Gallo? Martini & Rossi? Noilly Prat? Oh, Lejon!

Now, that is practically colorless!

(well, maybe depending on what town you're in)

See, it's easy! Cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: Pink Lady

The Pink Lady, a classic cocktail coming to us from decades gone by, is indisputably one for the ladies. Maybe think of Mamie Eisenhower and a soiree at the British embassy circa 1950s. To order a Pink Lady would be the ne plus ultra of sophistication in such a setting. The drink pre-dates this era where it probably had its zenith, however. Here's a recipe for the Pink Lady from Oscar Haimo's 1946 edition of Cocktail and Wine Digest:

Our choice to feature the Pink Lady this Friday not only pays tribute to this worthy drink, but also affords us an opportunity to discuss its most controversial ingredient, the egg white. Egg whites have been coming back to popular awareness as vintage cocktails have been revived. The Pink Lady is one of the classics that uses egg whites. Simply put, you add the egg white to the mix just like any other ingredient. Yes, let's admit it, it's kind of gross going in. You might not think anything of handling eggs to make breakfast or in baking, but adding it to a drink is jarring if you're not used to it. Also, people would justifiably be concerned about health risks. Nowadays, there are pasteurized egg whites available if the health risk is a deal-breaker. Frankly, we have never had a problem with the health risk, which is statistically non-existent. Once the egg white is in the shaker, along with the other ingredients, and the ice is added, the key thing is to shake like hell. Really, shake. When you pour, you notice something magical has happened! It pours out frothy and silky. The egg white has whipped into kind of an instant meringue-like substance that adds body and lift to the drink. Try it, and you'll see why egg whites are an ingredient in so many classic drinks. Now let's talk about some of the other ingredients -- here's a recipe from our circa-1930s edition of Mohawk's "Recipes for Mixed Drinks":

In comparing these two recipes, first we should clarify the measurements. Going back to the previous recipe, by a "dash" they mean 1/6 of a teaspoon. So, essentially, they call for just over half a teaspoon of grenadine and applejack (a kind of apple brandy), plus the egg white, gin, and lemon juice. Here, in this second recipe, their "jigger" is 1 ounce, and a "dash" is 5 drops (whatever that means). And, interestingly, they don't call for an egg white at all. Otherwise, except for the lemon juice as opposed to lime juice, the ingredients remain the same, albeit in significantly different proportions. By way of further comparison, here is a recipe from the 1934 edition of "The Drink Master":

Unfortunately, they don't specify what they mean when they use the term "jigger", but it is fair to presume that they mean 1.5 ounces. They omit the applejack and citrus (lemon or lime juice) altogether, and add a bit of heavy cream. Also, they call for significantly more grenadine than the others, which is completely understandable if you're working with real grenadine syrup. Unlike Rose's grenadine, which is artificially dyed red, real grenadine, made with pomegranate juice, is red, but only faintly lends the necessary pink hue. So, the full jigger of grenadine makes sense. What's funny is that this recipe is supposed to serve four people. Oh, those old time people! It was the Depression, we suppose . . . . This recipe, however, is the perfect segue into what is probably the standard and classic 1950s era version of the drink, which comes from the 1948 edition of "Fleishmann's Mixer's Manual":

Something that is special about cocktails is that they often spark memories of particular people and moments, often long past. For us, the Pink Lady holds a sentimental pedigree for J from a time when he worked at a retirement community while in college, and the Pink Lady was the "usual" for a few of the ladies at the Friday afternoon cocktail hour. They truly would have been of that era of the late 40s and the 50s, and they carried this drink with them into the dawn of the 21st century. The drink has languished a bit since this golden era of cocktails, but here's our effort to bring it into people's minds again! Cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: Orange Blossom

Once again, we reach into our goodie bag of "old and forgotten drinks" for this week's happy hour. The Orange Blossom appears to have been a very popular drink once upon a time, but it's obscure even to us.

Why do we say that it was popular? Well, from our own anecdotal experience, we'd have no basis to say so, because it's not a drink we encounter at all, or even hear referenced. But, there's some evidence we have uncovered in our frequent expeditions to estate sales (read about them on our sister blog, estatesalestories.blogspot.com) that hint at the history of this drink.

First, we acquired this charming glass that goes with a shaker at one estate sale:

The photo may not very clearly depict the graphic, but the side of the glass features recipes for some classic drinks: a Martini, a Manhattan, a Bronx, a Daiquiri, and .... an Orange Blossom? Okay, the Bronx is a little obscure nowadays (as we have duly noted several times in prior happy hour discussions), but those other drinks are old standards. Why would an Orange Blossom be included in their company? Was the Orange Blossom a quiet favorite that everyone was gulping down 50 years ago, but never mentions anymore? Here's another piece of evidence we uncovered in an estate sale purchase:

This is a handwritten recipe that was tucked into a cocktail booklet we picked up at a sale. This was written down sometime in the 1950s, which we know because it's written on the reverse side of a time sheet from someone's job where they had to fill in the date, and the year was provided as "195___". So, some archaeological clues, we suppose. The fact that this person wrote out the specific recipe seems to indicate how important this drink was to them -- and the instructions ("shake till shaker gets frosty") offer a charming glimpse into this person's bartending technique.

Here's a recipe from Oscar Haimo's "Cocktail and Wine Digest: Encyclopedia & Guide for Home & Bar" from 1946:

Another point that we need to discuss in relation to this drink is how much diversity there is in its ingredients. So far, we see that it, at minimum, takes orange juice and gin. The proportions of the gin and orange juice vary widely. Some recipes call for sugar to be added. The recipe on the side of the glass called for nutmeg. Here's a recipe from the 1964 edition of "Famous New Orleans Drinks And How to Mix 'Em":

Well, they kind of explain it there, don't they? To prove their point, here's the recipe from our 1933 edition of "The Drink Master":

Instead of Peychaud's bitters, they call for Angostura bitters, and instead of sugar (or grenadine or honey), they call for maple syrup. Yeah, just like the topping for your pancakes. Oh, and be sure you don't miss the little detail that this recipe is supposed to serve two. We don't know about you, but not in our household!

Next, we have a recipe from a 1960's era Fleischmann's booklet:

Here, they take the drink down to its basics: just a 1:1 ratio of OJ and gin.

But, wait .... now this drink is kind of sounding familiar .... like something we've heard of .... oh, a Screwdriver, except with gin instead of vodka! As we've commented on in the past, gin is a spirit that is slightly out of vogue (to put it mildly, and lamentably). So, maybe the Orange Blossom is as popular as ever, except that it changed its name and got a few nips-and-tucks and transformed itself into a Screwdriver? In the era when the Orange Blossom evidently had its heyday, vodka was not readily available -- could it be that as vodka came onto the market and became so popular the Orange Blossom just modernized and changed with the times?

Well, something to ponder. Regardless, here's to keeping up with the times! Cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: Gin and Tonic

We couldn't let the summer slip by without paying tribute to a classic drink that is often associated with a summer's evening, yet is enjoyed all year long. Gin and tonic go together like cookies and milk, except with better results. Here's a recipe from a Fleishmann's recipe booklet, where they quaintly refer to "quinine water":

Of course, nowadays we call "quinine water" simply "tonic". Otherwise, wouldn't it be "Gin & Quinine"? Doesn't have the same ring, does it? Here's a recipe from the 1974 edition of "You Are What You Drink" where they recommend making the drink with ice cubes made with tonic:

Enjoy your summer, enjoy your croquet, and cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: the Daisy

A few weeks ago in our tongue-in-cheek discussion about drinks for the "advanced" bartender, we came to the point that a lot of classic drinks are simply two or three ingredients thrown together in the right proportions. In that case, the point was that you (yes, you, too!) can be an accomplished home bartender. Another point to be drawn from that is today's Friday Happy Hour topic.

A very popular drink these days -- and it's a good one -- is a vodka soda. Or, often a so-called "Citron soda" made with Absolut Citron or any other infused vodka. They're light, refreshing -- it's a great drink. They're simple to make -- hence even an "advanced" bartender can master them.

These "soda" drinks have a forgotten ancestry. A "daisy" was a kind of drink that mixed a spirit (your choice), lemon or lime juice, grenadine or a sweet syrup, and topped it off with soda. Illustrated in the following recipes from our 1946 edition of the "Cocktail and Wine Digest" by Oscar Haimo:

Now, of course, this was from an era when no one was drinking vodka yet.

Maybe it was because of the Cold War or something. But, take that citrus from the lemon juice , imagine that it's calling for vodka, and you kind of have a Citron soda.

Here's a recipe for a gin daisy from our 1948 Fleishmann's Mixer's Manual:

So, a daisy is just as easy to make as your trusty old vodka soda, and it has such an interesting history behind it. Why not add this drink to your bag of tricks and trot it out whenever you have your friends over and one of them asks for a vodka soda or something along those lines? Suddenly you're an expert! Also, by now, maybe you're kind of understanding that a daisy is a perfect summer drink -- on the rocks, spirit and soda, citrus and sweetener, and some pretty garnishes thrown in. As they say, two is too many, three is never enough!

It's too bad that you can't walk into a bar and order a daisy, since this old war horse of a drink was put out to pasture years ago. It still has legs, though, and maybe she'll make another run. But next time you or a friend orders a vodka soda, and they serve it with a wedge of lemon or a twist, think of the daisy!

Friday Happy Hour: for the advanced bartender

If you're like us, you read about the latest drinks that they're hyping at the trendy clubs and your head spins. How could the hobbyist bartender possibly keep up with it?

Well, like they say, practice makes perfect.

And, sometimes you have to start at the very beginning. Here's a drink to start with, and once you have mastered this, you can move on to more advanced drinks:

Okay, so ice and scotch. Got it!

Here's something a little different:


Actually, this one is a little easier to follow. The twist is optional!

But, what happens if your guests don't like scotch or gin? Try this:

Did you get that? Here's another variation on this theme:

You're probably getting the hang of it by now.

Here's a secret: you can make a drink like this out of any kind of liquor.

Now you're ready to graduate to the next step: follow these recipes with whatever liquor you prefer. Then add soda or tonic or water -- voila! Suddenly you have some drinks that everyone enjoys: gin and tonic, vodka tonic, scotch and soda, bourbon and branch. Or, add cola to get rum and coke!

Now you're pouring 'em! Go knock them dead!

Cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: the Gimlet

English sailors, you say?

Staving off boredom, huh?

Getting off to a good start!

This colorful introduction to the Gimlet comes from the 1999 book "Vintage Cocktails: Authentic Recipes and Illustrations from 1920-1960"

And, no doubt about it, the Gimlet is an authentic old drink. So old that you'd probably struggle to remember the last time you ever saw anyone drinking one. Probably never, huh? Us too.

So, what is a Gimlet? Going back to "cocktails 101," here's the instructions from "Cocktails for Dummies" (circa "timeless"):

See? They even show you what kind of glass to use! To boot, they give you choices for your glassware.

But, not so fast. There is actually a diversity of opinion about the ingredients for a Gimlet. This is from a 1979 edition of Old Mr. Boston's:

(Maybe a cousin to those English sailors from before, there) So, two variations are arising: one is the age-old vodka vs. gin battle. The other, and more significant, one is whether or not there's a sweetener. Rose's Lime Juice (which we saw in the first recipe, too) is a proprietary syrup you've probably seen in grocery stores. There may or may not be actual lime juice in it, but it's certainly sweet.

Consider this version from a 1961 edition of Old Mr. Boston's:

In this earlier version, we find sugar -- also throwing in the curve ball of carbonated water. A little bit of sparkle!

So, the Gimlet is the kind of drink you can hang around casually with -- say, as you would with a gin & tonic -- or you can get dolled up with for a nicer occasion.

If that kind of sophistication and pedigree isn't really your thing, you can dismiss the Gimlet as the "granny drink" you might have thought of it as all along:

From "You Are What You Drink" (1974).

Note: doesn't say they aren't having fun!

Cheers!

Friday Happy Hour: a Martini or a Martinez ... or a Golf Cocktail?

At risk of repeating ourselves, and as we have recently noted (and not that it takes any saying so from us) the Martini is the preeminent classic cocktail.

It's certainly one of the most storied drinks, and a drink whose origins are shrouded in mystery. Let's explore that a little bit. First, the classic recipe, with some commentary:

Okay, so there was this place called "Martinez, California" -- other versions say the bartender was a guy named Martinez. Sometimes, the bar patron is a guy named Martinez. Who knows -- it wasn't exactly well documented.

But, the idea is that a Martini is gin (or, nowadays, vodka) with dry vermouth, right? And, the drier, the better, right? What do you make of this, then:

This is a recipe from an old Mohawk liquor recipe booklet of uncertain origins, but probably circa the 1930s. It bears noting that "Italian" vermouth is the same as sweet vermouth (dry vermouth is "French"). So, not only do the proportions of this recipe (2:1) make for a wet drink, it's made with sweet vermouth. Not your daddy's Martini, is it? And the bitters are an ingredient from left field.

What this is, actually, is kind of a Martini recipe with vestiges of its ancient evolution from a drink called a Martinez. The Martinez actually has the proportions of the sweet vermouth and gin reversed; the vermouth was the dominant ingredient, and the gin is the minority contributor. Also, a Martinez has bitters (just like this Martini) and also adds a "dash" of maraschino liqueur (which this Martini recipe has lost).

A Martinez is actually a good drink -- but keep the gin as the dominant ingredient -- there's a reason why the vermouth-based idea never caught on: it sucks.

But, from the same booklet, check out this drink:

Now, except for the bitters, this is a "wet" Martini (meaning that it's a 2:1 ratio of the gin and vermouth -- not at all aridly dry, as fashions have come to demand).

Frankly, we don't know what ever happened to the Golf cocktail, or if it was ever very popular. Why not give it a try next time you order a Martini?

Of course, one of the amazing things about a Martini is the utter clarity of the drink, frigid and cold, with the oils of the olive shimmering on the surface. Simply gorgeous. A Martinez, with the sweet vermouth, looses that simplicity and starkness. But, with it's reddish color -- maybe kind of like the clay in Martinez, California? -- it has its own elegance.

Cheers!