We're going to go to school this week for Happy Hour. Oh, and we're going to have some cocktails, too. But, what is a cocktail? The handsome illustration above, from Oscar Haimo's
Cocktail and Wine Digest, circa 1945, has a trio of libations being served in stemmed glasses that are synonymous with cocktails (albeit that the bowls are more "U" shaped than "V" shaped, as we have come to expect in contemporary times). Oscar Haimo further explains more of his cocktail philosophy in the following page in his book:
Well, you don't have to remark on what a convivial party this scene depicts (complete with accordion player!) to convey what a buoyant atmosphere any cocktail hour gives. But, he notes that his cocktail recipes are each 3 ounces, and then curiously states that "for all other drinks . . ." What does he mean by "all other drinks"? Nowadays, "cocktails" means any kind of mixed drink; or, even, any alcoholic drink at all. Time was, however, when "cocktails" were a very specific kind of drink. Take, for example, this index from our Repeal-era Mohawk Liquor recipe booklet:
The first -- and biggest -- category is the cocktails. But, they have drinks like "collins" and "coolers" and "fizzes" and "flips" and "frappes" and "juleps" and ... well, you get the idea. It was customary to think of drinks as one of several kinds, and by ordering a cocktail, you were ordering a specific kind of drink, with a pretty regular combination of ingredients. Originally, a "cocktail" was a drink involving a spirit and bitters -- and perhaps some sugar and/or a liqueur. A cocktail glass (or what we sometimes call a Martini glass) was the customary glass used for a cocktail (although they could be served on the rocks in a "rocks" or "old fashioned" glass). In other weeks, we're going to cover some of these other drinks they refer to. While we're talking about all these other old-style drinks, consider this index from another of our Repeal-era recipe booklets:
This one has similar, and even additional, categories of drinks. Here's how the
Drink Master describes a cocktail:
In reviewing the "cocktails" in the indexes we showed you, many of these drinks stray from the narrow concept of spirits and bitters; in fact, several of them do not include bitters as an ingredient. So, what's different about these "cocktails" and all of the other categories of drinks? They don't have any carbonation (no seltzer or soda water); their garnishments are pretty much limited to twists, olives, and cherries (no sprigs of mint or anything elaborate); and virtually all of them can be served in a cocktail glass. Common examples of "cocktails" that have stood the test of time include the Manhattan, the Martini, and the Old Fashioned, as well as some of our Rogers Park Retro favorites such as the Bronx, the Jack Rose, the Pink Lady, and the Orange Blossom. Please consider yourselves invited to order any of these classic drinks in honor of the vintage drink known as the "cocktail" at Happy Hour this weekend. We'll circle back to the cocktail in the future -- after we've discussed some of these other vintage drink categories -- and compare notes on what we've learned.
Tomorrow is the 137th annual Kentucky Derby, and to honor the occasion let's have a julep! Specifically, we'll have a mint julep, the signature drink for the occasion -- but let's learn about the broader julep family while we're at it. The julep is another one of the classic drink categories we've been exploring the past several weeks -- in the case of the julep, everyone has heard of the mint julep, but maybe aren't aware that there are other juleps, too. As always, let's go to school on our repeal-era recipe books to learn more:
First, the basic concept of a julep involves these elements: (1) ideally served in a silver glass (but more on that in a moment), (2) combine some sugar and mint (more on that in a moment, too), (3) pack the glass with shaved or crushed ice on top of the sugar and mint, (4) add your booze of choice (as we see above), and (5) top it off with a generous sprig of mint as an aromatic garnish! Here's another couple of recipes from ye olden times:
We said we'd talk more about that first step, involving the sugar and mint. This step is where some personal preference and style enter the equation. You can simply add the sugar and get it dissolved and move on to the ice; you can muddle the sugar with mint (to make it a little extra minty; but the drawback being that you'll probably get little bits of mint leaves floating around in the drink); you can use powdered sugar, granular sugar, or simple syrup. Gosh, now that we think about it, this is getting complicated .... and it's only the first step! Let's make it simple: we suggest using simple syrup because you won't have to deal with the aggravation of dissolving the sugar (and, by the way, never use powdered sugar in drinks -- it' amateurish); if you like it extra minty, use a mint infused simple syrup. Anyway, let's move on past this confusing first step. Let's look at another recipe: 
This is pretty much the traditional mint julep for the Kentucky Derby. Let's talk about the glass. As we've been seeing, the traditional glass for a julep is a silver glass. If you have them, go ahead and use them. But, don't sweat it too much if you don't have them. In fact, maybe breathe a sigh of relief. We've heard someone remark that drinking a julep from a silver glass is like sucking on a mouthful of nickels. Yum. So, feel free to use glass. Here's another julep variation:
And, we'll close with another presentation of the classic mint julep that we'll be enjoying for the big race:
Cheers!
