Cherry Bounce – Cherry Infusion Recipe

Cherry Bounce (Infusion)
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Cherry Bounce (Infusion Recipe)

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

120

kcal
Total time

3

minutes

How to make a traditional Cherry Bounce.

Ingredients

  • 2 oz 2 Cherry Bounce Liqueur

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Simple Syrup/Sugar

  • Optional Spices

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass.

Featured Video

What Is Cherry Bounce?

Traditional Cherry Bounce appears to be the sweetened alcoholic liqueur infused with tart cherries. It takes around six months to make brandied cherries, so simultaneously, a quicker cherry bounce recipe existed for mixing brandy and cherry juice. According to the Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang, the earliest known reference to Cherry Bounce comes from the 1693 Robertson’s Phraseologia Generalis. In Robertson’s Phraseologia Generalis (A Latin text on general English phrases), the drink is referred to as “Cherry-Bouncer” and only mentioned it as a mixed drink. The next mention of it comes from the George Washington family. A recipe for cherry bounce was found in a stack of Martha Washingtons’ papers written on George Washingtons’ watermarked stationery. The recipe was in neither George nor Martha’s handwriting, and it is unknown who wrote it. The recipe is as follows:

“To Make Excellent Cherry Bounce. Extract the juice of 20 pounds well ripend morrella cherrys Add to this 10 quarts of old french brandy and sweeten it with white sugar to your taste—To 5 Gallons of this mixture add one ounce of spice such as cinnamon, cloves and Nutmegs of each an Equal quantity slightly bruisd and a pint and half of cherry kirnels that have been gently broken in a mortar—After the liquor has fermented let it stand close-stoped for a month or six weeks then bottle it remembering to put a lump of Loaf Sugar into each bottle.”

During the 19th century, a few drinks and cookbooks mention cherry bounce but not many. Some books state to sweeten the cherry liqueur, and others say to mix cherry juice with spices and brandy. Not to say all recipes adhered to this structure, but the trend I noticed was cherry bounce recipes made from the cherry-infused liqueur only sweetened the liqueur, and recipes that called for mixing cherry juice, sugar, and brandy also added spices. I don’t know if there was a reason for that, but that was consistent. One of the best recipes for a cherry bounce comes from the 1892 Encyclopaedia of Practical Cookery. The author provides both an infused recipe and a cherry juice recipe that also sticks to the trend of only spicing the cherry juice. The recipe below is the cherry liqueur recipe from that book.

Does Cherry Bounce Need To Be Refrigerated?

It depends on which recipe you make whether cherry bounce needs to be refrigerated. Cherry bounce made with juice should be refrigerated. While it does have alcohol in it, it’s not enough to stop the growth of bacteria. If it’s the cherry infusion recipe, it does not need to be refrigerated while it soaks, so long as the cherries are fully submerged. Every old recipe I have found for a cherry bounce that uses the infusion method does not refrigerate them, but if you have a refrigerator, why not use it? Home refrigeration started becoming common in the 1930s, so while it wasn’t an option for many folks making cherry bounce in the 19th century, it is for you. And keeping it in the fridge takes the worry out of storing it. There is no downside to keeping it in the refrigerator.

Two Different Ways To Make Cherry Bounce.

This is the 6-month-long whole cherry infusion recipe for making cherry bounce. If you want the cherry juice recipe, you can find that one here.

I first heard of cherry bounce from a website saying it was George Washington’s favorite drink. After researching the drink a bit, I kept coming across two different ways of making the same drink. One recipe would add cherry juice to brandy, sugar, and spices; the other was to make brandied cherries and drink the sweetened liqueur. I was trying to decide which was the right way to make it. Still, after a bit of reading and checking my sources, I believe both ways are correct—the Encyclopaedia of Practical Cookery by Theodore Garrett list both methods as ways of making cherry bounce. The 7-volume Encyclopaedia of Practical Cookery is a very high-quality resource. It is such a well-written, thorough, and culinarily educated book that I will take it for its word.

I get the impression the liqueur version is the older of the two and was invented out of a desire not to waste the boozy juice left over from preserving cherries. The juicing method was developed as a quick way to make the drink without waiting six months and make a more drinkable version of it. If you want to compare the two, the one made with cherry juice is fruiter and much easier to drink. The infused version is more like a cherry old-fashioned.

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Brown Derby – Original Recipe & History

Brown Derby
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Brown Derby

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

300

kcal
Total time

3

minutes

How to make the Brown Derby

Ingredients

  • 1 oz 1 Grapefruit Juice

  • 1 oz 1 Honey Syrup

  • 2 oz 2 Bourbon

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake until the ice fully melts.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a glass.

Featured Video

The History Of The Brown Derby Cocktail.

The Brown Derby cocktail first appeared in the 1933 book “Hollywood Cocktails.” The Brown Derby was the house cocktail of the Los Angeles-based Brown Derby, a chain of formal high-end restaurants shaped like derby hats. Wilson Mizner opened the Brown Derby in 1926 to coincide with the release of the 1926 silent film “The Brown Derby,” starring Johnny Hines, Ruth Dwyer, and Edmund Breese.

Although this cocktail is commonly known as the Brown Derby, the exact recipe for the Brown Derby first appeared in the 1930 “Savoy Cocktail Book” as the “De Rigueur.” It could be a coincidence, but chances are the Brown Derby got the recipe from the Savoy. We will never know for sure, but two whiskey cocktails with the exact same proportions of grapefruit juice and honey being developed independently seem unlikely to me. But maybe they did.

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Whiskey Fizz – Classic Recipe & History

Whiskey Fizz
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Whiskey Fizz

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

247

kcal
ABV

13%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a Whiskey Fizz.1

Ingredients

  • 1 Whole 1 Egg White

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Lemon Juice

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Simple Syrup

  • 2 oz 2 Bourbon

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients except for the soda water in a cocktail shaker.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake till the ice has fully melted.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a collins glass.
  • Slowly pour the soda water in, and the bubbles from the water will expand all bubbles in the drink to form a large foam head.

Featured Video

The History Of The Whiskey Fizz.

First appearing in the 1887 edition of the Bartenders Guide by Jerry Thomas, the whiskey fizz is a fantastic cocktail. A combination of a whiskey sour with egg whites and a whiskey daisy, the whiskey fizz is both lights, airy and refreshing.

What Does The Whiskey Fizz Taste Like?

The taste of a whiskey fizz is like a mousse whiskey sour. Incredible, and the texture feels like the first few sips of a tap served Guinness. The egg foam gives a velvet texture similar to nitrogen bubbles, but the soda water adds a refreshing carbonated beverage feel. I believe the tongue cannot distinguish bubbles below 30 microns, which gives a fine egg foam a velvety texture in cocktails. Above 30 microns, bubbles have a more refreshing texture, which the soda water provides to the cocktail. Combine those with a classic whiskey sour, and you have one of the best-tasting cocktails.

How To Get Great Foam On Cocktails With Egg Whites.

Egg Whites are challenging to get right in cocktails. Everyone struggles with them at some point, and bartenders search for any way to make whipping them into a fluffy meringue easier. Henry Ramos hired “shaker boys” to shake for him. Some use the dry shake or reverse dry shake, others swear by only using one large ice cube, and some say you have to shake till your arms fall off. The method I like is called the Saxe Shake, and De Forest Saxe invented it in the 1880s.

The Saxe Shake is largely unknown in the cocktail world because De Forest Saxe was a soda fountain operator in Chicago, Illinois. His 1890 book “Saxe’s New Guide Hints to Soda Water Dispensers” details his shaking technique for egg drinks that produces the best foam and can be accomplished with minimal effort. Saxe states to shake drinks with eggs with only one chestnut-sized ice cube. An Ice cube from a standard ice tray is about chestnut-sized, so one or two small cubes will work. Then shake until the ice fully melts, and pour into the serving glass without straining. The small amount of ice is just enough to cool and dilute the drink, and since there are no remaining bits of ice left in the shaker, there is nothing to strain. Passing the mixture through a strainer destroys most of the bubbles you worked so hard to make. As you add soda water, the escaping carbon dioxide fills the tiny bubbles in the drink, forcing them to expand and form a large fluffy foam. Give it a try. Using the Saxe Shake, I have turned out Ramos Gin Fizzes as fast and efficiently as any other shaken cocktail with excellent results.

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Whiskey Daisy – Original Recipe & History

Whiskey Daisy
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Whiskey Daisy

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

161

kcal
ABV

20%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a classic Whiskey Daisy.

Ingredients

  • 1/3 oz 1/3 Lemon Juice

  • 2 dashes 2 Orgeat

  • 3 dashes 3 Gum Syrup

  • 2 oz 2 Bourbon

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker except for the soda water.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake until the ice fully melts.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a glass.
  • Top with soda water.

Notes

Featured Video

The History Of The Daisy Style Cocktail.

The daisy was another early cocktail style emerging around the same time as the crusta and many other early standard sour cocktails. The Daisy is essentially a crusta with an ounce of soda water to cut the intensity and make the cocktail more refreshing. First appearing in the 1862 edition of the bartender’s guide by Jerry Thomas, The daisy is a beautiful cocktail if you find the standard sour is too strong.

What Does The Whiskey Daisy Taste Like?

The Whiskey Daisy is a beautiful little cocktail that adds a bit of refreshing soda water to a delicious sour cocktail. The small amount of Orgeat adds a lovely almond and cherry taste while the bourbon still shines through as the primary flavor of this cocktail.

The Right Ingredients To Use For This Cocktails.

The most essential ingredient in this cocktail is the orgeat and the kind of whiskey you use. Unlike most cocktails, this one benefits from a nicer bourbon as none of the other ingredients are made to overshadow the base spirit. The subtleties of a nicer whiskey still shine through, so medium-grade bourbon ends up making for a better product. The orgeat is another essential ingredient that adds a faint note of almond and cherry to the cocktail. The issue is cheaper orgeats taste like sweet almond milk and lack the bitter almond cherry flavor of genuine orgeat syrup. If you have a bottle of almond baking extract in your pantry, give that a taste, and you will know what orgeat should taste like. The orgeat is what separates this cocktail from tasting like a standard whiskey sour with soda water.

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Eggnog – Traditional Recipe & History

Egg Nog Cocktail
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Eggnog

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

584

kcal
ABV

11%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a classic Eggnog.

Ingredients

  • 1 dash 1 Vanilla Extract

  • 1 Whole 1 Egg White

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Simple Syrup

  • 6 oz 6 Half & Half

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Brandy

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Bourbon

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake until the ice fully melts.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a glass.
  • Garnish:
  • Ground nutmeg

Notes

Featured Video

Some Variations On Eggnog.

There are countless eggnog recipes, and they all range from thick custard-like dairy drinks to non-alcoholic almond milk drinks and from really good store-bought to bad store-bought. A typical grocery store may sell well over a dozen different eggnogs during the holiday season. Although, you can have fun with eggnog when it’s homemade. Common homemade variations of eggnog are:

  1. Traditional no-cook eggnog. Like this recipe, most of your traditional eggnogs are not cooked but either shaken or beaten and drank right there or stored in the fridge for several days to develop more flavor.
  2. Modern cooked eggnog. Eggnogs started to get cooked due to the worry of food poisoning from consuming raw eggs. These tend to be very thick and custard-like and are the majority of most recipes today.
  3. Dairy-free eggnog. Typically made for lactose intolerance, these will replace the dairy with either coconut milk, almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, or other alternative milk. They also usually don’t have eggs, and most are also vegan.
  4. Egg-free eggnog. They are typically made for allergies, dietary, or just because some folks are grossed out by drinking eggs. Egg-free eggnogs exclude the eggs altogether and use heavy cream to provide a thicker texture.
  5. Vegan eggnog. Made for dietary and lifestyle choices, most of your dairy-free egg nogs are also vegan.
  6. Alcohol-free eggnog. Almost all store-bought eggnogs are alcohol-free unless bought at a liquor store. Typically purchased for their convenience, the option of adding alcohol or not, children can join in.

I love eggnog and have drank a ton of everything listed above. That being said, this 1862 Jerry Thomas recipe is the best eggnog I have ever had. THE BEST. This is not a sweet and thick recipe; it tastes like a slightly thicker milk punch. This recipe is ripped right from the 1862 Bartender’s guide. The only change I made was the addition of vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The original recipe did not have those ingredients, but I added them because they make the drink taste better and more in line with what someone expects eggnog to taste. This recipe is outstanding because it tastes exactly like you would expect eggnog to taste, but the texture is thinner and more like a standard cocktail. It may sound gross to crack an egg into your shaker, shake it up and drink it, but you will be blown away once you try this eggnog. Keep in mind that these are the original recipes that made eggnog famous.

How To Get Great Foam On Cocktails With Egg Whites.

Egg Whites are challenging to get right in cocktails. Everyone struggles with them at some point, and bartenders search for any way to make whipping them into a fluffy meringue easier. Henry Ramos hired “shaker boys” to shake for him. Some use the dry shake or reverse dry shake, others swear by only using one large ice cube, and some say you have to shake till your arms fall off. The method I like is called the Saxe Shake, and De Forest Saxe invented it in the 1880s.

The Saxe Shake is largely unknown in the cocktail world because De Forest Saxe was a soda fountain operator in Chicago, Illinois. His 1890 book “Saxe’s New Guide Hints to Soda Water Dispensers” details his shaking technique for egg drinks that produces the best foam and can be accomplished with minimal effort. Saxe states to shake drinks with eggs with only one chestnut-sized ice cube. An Ice cube from a standard ice tray is about chestnut-sized, so one or two small cubes will work. Then shake until the ice fully melts, and pour into the serving glass without straining. The small amount of ice is just enough to cool and dilute the drink, and since there are no remaining bits of ice left in the shaker, there is nothing to strain. Passing the mixture through a strainer destroys most of the bubbles you worked so hard to make. As you add soda water, the escaping carbon dioxide fills the tiny bubbles in the drink, forcing them to expand and form a large fluffy foam. Give it a try. Using the Saxe Shake, I have turned out Ramos Gin Fizzes as fast and efficiently as any other shaken cocktail with excellent results.

Is Eggnog Cooked Or Not?

Most eggnogs are cooked at low heat, refrigerated for a few days, and taste like custard or melted ice cream. This is done to ensure that all the germs are killed that could potentially cause food poisoning and because most people are super grossed out at the idea of drinking a raw egg. Cooking also adds quite a bit of time to making eggnog, and it can be challenging to prevent clumping from the egg whites cooking hence why most buy it these days. Although if you add thickened cornstarch to the eggs before cooking prevents the egg whites from forming large cooked groups. Most recipes say the cornstarch adds thickness, but it prevents the proteins from forming large bonds and making the eggnog chunky.

This is not that kind of recipe. This one is fast and easy to make. No cooking, just a bunch of shaking. Most of the ancient recipes I found are not the cooked custard kinds but recipes like this one. You can let this drink sit in the fridge for a few days to develop more flavor or drink it right away.

As a word of warning, use pasteurized eggs if you can. Pasteurized eggs are still raw like a regular egg but with all the germs killed off. Pasteurized eggs don’t make big foamy egg white heads like non-pasteurized eggs do, but you can be sure they won’t get you sick. The FDA guesstimates that 1 in every 40,000 eggs has salmonella, which is super rare. Pasteurized eggs are hard to find, so you can pasteurize them yourself or roll the dice. If you have one of those fancy sous vide devices. As someone who has had Salmonella poisoning before, without going into detail, I will say it is one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. Again 1 in every 40,000. So rare, and if you get Salmonella, you’re much more likely to get it the same way I did by eating contaminated food prepared by someone who didn’t wash their hands. I’ve eaten countless raw eggs and have never gotten sick from eggs once.

The History Of Eggnog.

There is no definitive answer to where eggnog came from. Many guess it is a descendant of a medieval drink called posset, a milk and beer drink that would sometimes have an egg added for extra creaminess and flavor. The Oxford English Dictionary canonized the word nog in the late 1600s to mean a strong ale. It was probably used by the general population much earlier than that, but that’s when it was officially recorded. The first use of the word Eggnog started popping up in the United States in the late 1700s. England had a similar drink, but it was called an Egg Flip. Over time it became linked to Christmas and is not made much outside of the winter holiday season.

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Whiskey Julep – Classic Recipe & History

Whiskey Julep
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Quick Step-By-Step Whiskey Julep Recipe Video

Whiskey Julep

5 from 1 vote Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

211

kcal
ABV

32%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make a classic whiskey julep.

Ingredients

  • 5 whole 5 Mint Leaves

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Simple Syrup

  • 2 oz 2 Bourbon

  • 2 dashes 2 Gold Rum

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Add the base spirit, simple syrup and mint to a mixing glass without ice.
  • Press the mint leaves with a flat muddler to infuse the drink with the mint’s flavor.
  • Fill the mixing glass with ice.
  • Mix the drink for 10 seconds.
  • Fill your serving glass with crushed ice and strain the drink into the serving glass. Dash the top with rum.
  • Garnish:
  • Mint bouquet and dusting of powdered sugar

Recipe Video

Notes

The History of Julep Cocktails And Their Ancient Origins.

The history of the Julep goes back to ancient Persia (modern-day Iran). Rosewater was thought to have health benefits, and the word for rosewater in old Persian is Gulab (gul=rose, ab=water). Gulab slowly made its way to the surrounding Arabic cultures, and over time, the word Gulab changed to Julāb, and it was used to describe any sweetened medicinal syrup. Julābs eventually traveled to western Europe and England; syrupy medicines are called Julaps or Julapums. By the mid-1700s, there were all kinds of julaps. Rosewater julap was called Julapum Rosatum and was used for treating Heart issues. Julapum tabaci was a tobacco-infused syrup for treating asthma, Julapum sedativum was opium syrup Julapum Stomachicum was a mint-infused syrup used to settle upset tummies. I found many kinds of other Julapums, but this is good enough. Also, most of what I found was written in Latin, and google translate can only do so much. A medical journal I found online from the 1750s calls for a Julapum Stomachicum to be a peppermint-infused sweetener mixed with sherry. What we today consider a mint julep emerges around the early 1800s. The British 1827 home medical book Oxford Night Caps refers to a mint julap as a mint syrup mixed with brandy that a parent can make to ease the upset tummy.

With its unique drinking culture, the mint julep took on a different identity in the United States. Mint juleps were dressed up and made fancy for saloon patrons looking to get buzzed. The oldest printed recipe for this saloon-style julep comes from Jerry Thomas’s 1862 edition of The Bar Tenders Guide. The formula is one table-spoonful of white pulverized sugar. And 2 1/2 tablespoonfuls of water and mix well with a spoon. 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh mint. 1 1/2 wine glass Cognac brandy, dash with Jamaica rum, and sprinkle white sugar on top. Jerry Thomas also has recipes for a gin julep, whiskey julep, a pineapple julep, pineapple syrup, and gin cocktail.

The mint julep stays a brandy cocktail for a very long time, and most bartenders and recipe books copy Jerry Thomas till around the late 1800s. Books in the late 1880s mention how the once-loved julep had fallen in favor of other more complex cocktails and is typically something only the older men order. Around this time, the mint julep recipe replaces brandy for bourbon. The first instance of this is in the 1888 book Bartender’s Manual by Theodore Proulx, where he has his recipe for a mint julep that uses bourbon instead of brandy. Whether this change is accidental or intentional, it would happen when the cocktail begins to fade from the bartender’s repertoire. As decades passed, the mint julep and whiskey julep merged till it just became standard to make a mint julep with whiskey.

Variations Of The Mint Julep.

This specific version is the whiskey julep variation of the mint julep. Had you ordered a mint julep in the 1800s, you would be given a brandy cocktail instead, but the whiskey variation is the most common one made today. All the other variations of the mint julep are almost entirely forgotten today, and almost everyone only knows of the mint julep. Jerry Thomas had recipes for a gin julep, whiskey Julep, pineapple julep, and a plain brandy julep. Harry Johnson added the Champagne Julep too in his 1882 book Harry Johnson’s Bartender’s Manual. An 1885 book called New guide for the hotel, bar, restaurant, butler, and chef by Bacchus has nine different Julep recipes. They are not worth listing here as they are all quite lousy.

Getting The Ice Right In A Julep.

I feel the most essential part of any julep is the crushed or shaved ice you will pack the cup with. This cocktail should have the spirit of a snow cone that tastes sweet of mint and booze, and the ice should be rounded over the rim. Otherwise, it comes across as old-fashioned if you don’t pack the cup with ice, and the julep should be more of a refreshing hot daytime summer drink and not a smoky old nighttime bar drink.

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Whiskey Cocktail – Classic Recipe & History

Whiskey Cocktail
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Whiskey Cocktail

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

213

kcal
ABV

32%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the classic whiskey cocktail the old fashion is based on.

Ingredients

  • 2 dashes 2 Cardamom Bitters

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Gum Syrup

  • 2 oz 2 Bourbon

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass with ice.
  • Garnish:
  • Orange peel.

Notes

Featured Video

The History Of The Whiskey Cocktail.

Before people started calling this an Old Fashioned, it was just a Whiskey Cocktail. Prohibition brought about a massive paradigm shift in the way cocktails were made. Before the ratification of the 18th amendment and the start of prohibition, lightly flavored, high-quality spirits were popular among many drinkers. You can identify these vintage-style American cocktails by a couple of ounces of a base spirit lightly flavored with no more than 2 or 3 dashes of other flavorful ingredients and just enough sweetness to cut the spirit’s burn. With the start of prohibition in 1917, the quality of most liquor greatly diminished, high-quality spirits were priced out of most people’s range, and most trained bartenders left the profession and got jobs that were not illicit. Suddenly overnight, there was a loss of quality products and knowledge. The cocktails that gained in popularity were the highball and sour style cocktails. Not to say they didn’t exist before this but prohibition had made them more popular. Highballs and sours were slightly easier to make and had more significant amounts of strong-flavored ingredients that helped mask the taste of poor quality spirits. The epitome of this is the tiki drink, which was created during prohibition and saw the first tiki bar open in Hollywood, CA, in 1933, immediately once prohibition ended. If an older individual wanted to order a whiskey cocktail like they remembered having before prohibition, they would need to ask for a whiskey cocktail made in the old fashion. Keep in mind that prohibition lasted for 16 years. A person turning 21 in 1917 was now 37. An entire drinking generation had grown up not having access to this kind of cocktail.

Before prohibition, the bitter used in this classic cocktail was Boker’s Bitters. Unfortunately, the company that manufactured Boker’s Bitters was already on hard times in the early 1910s, and with the start of prohibition, they closed their doors forever. Those that knew the recipe ended up taking it to their graves. Angostura Bitters ended up replacing Boker’s since people could not get this classic ingredient or even find people who knew what it was made of. Oddly enough, a bottle of Boker’s Bitters was found in the 2000s in a deceased man’s attic, and the very old tincture was reverse-engineered. It was primarily a primarily Cardamom bitter with other citrus and spices flavors. Since this discovery, Cardamom bitters made in the Boker’s style have started popping up on store shelving.

The other lost ingredient was gum syrup which was replaced with standard simple syrup. It’s not that gum arabic disappeared, but gum syrup is difficult to make and can take quite a while to emulsify fully. Untrained prohibition-era bartenders didn’t have the skill or patience to make an ingredient that most speakeasy drinkers didn’t even want.

What Does The Whiskey Cocktail Taste Like?

The classic whiskey cocktail still taste strongly of bourbon and has very forward caramel and oak flavors, but the bitters add almost an Indian spice to it. The boker’s style bitters add a cardamom, cinnamon, herbal, citrus flavor that taste very much like traditional spices for Indian food. The small amount of gum syrup thickens the consistency giving the drink a velvet full body. the body is similar to that of a red wine. To me it’s completely different from a modern old fashion. I can see reasons for preferring one over the other as they are very different from each other and both are an acquired taste.

Make Sure To Use The Right Bitters.

The cardamom bitters are the most essential ingredient in a pre-prohibition-style whiskey cocktail. This one ingredient completely changes the direction of the drink. Angostura has a dark heavy, spicy, bark, earthy flavor, but broker’s style cardamom bitters are bright and fragrant with Indian spices and citrus flavors. The Gum syrup does play a nice role in changing the body to more of a milky full-body red, but regular simple syrup will still work fine, but the bitters define this cocktail.

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Scoff-Law | Original Recipe & History

Scofflaw Cocktail
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Scoff-law

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: French
Servings

1

servings
Calories

244

kcal
ABV

22%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make a classic Scoff-law Cocktail.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Lemon Juice

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Grenadine

  • 1 dash 1 Orange Bitters

  • 1 oz 1 Dry Vermouth

  • 1 oz 1 Rye Whiskey

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake until the ice fully melts.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a glass.

Notes

Featured Video

History Of The Scoff-Law

The earliest recipe for the Scoff-Law (or just Scofflaw) I can find comes from the 1927 book “Barflies and Cocktails” by Harry McElhone. McElhone credits a bartender named Jock at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris for inventing the drink. The cocktail was named after the prohibition term “Scoff-Law,” which at the time meant anyone who illegally drank—ignoring the laws against alcohol consumption. The term is still used today to indicate someone who scoffs at the laws and intentionally breaks them. The book Barflies and Cocktails cited an article from the Chicago Tribune on January 27, 1924.

“Hardly has Boston added to the Gaiety of Nations by adding to Webster’s Dictionary the opprobrious term of “scoff-law” to indicate the chap who indicts the bootlegger, when Paris comes back with a “wet answer” — Jock, the genial bartender of Harry’s New York Bar, yesterday invented the Scoff-law Cocktail, and it has already become exceedingly popular among American prohibition dodgers.”

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Manhattan – Original Recipe & History

Pre-Prohibition Manhattan Cocktail
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Pre-Prohibition Manhattan

4 from 1 vote Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

198

kcal
ABV

32%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make a pre-prohibition style Manhattan cocktail

Ingredients

  • 3 dashes 3 Cardamom Bitters

  • 2 dashes 2 Orange Liqueur

  • 1 oz 1 Sweet Vermouth

  • 2 oz 2 Bourbon

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass.
  • Garnish:
  • Lemon peel.

Recipe Video

Notes

Featured Video

The History of The Manhattan.

The Manhattan most people think of when they order a Manhattan today is the post-prohibition style Manhattan. Bourbon, sweet vermouth, and angostura bitters. An excellent pairing of flavors, but had you ordered a Manhattan from the 1880s to 1919, you would have been served this cocktail instead. The oldest printed reference to the manhattan cocktail I can find is from August 31, 1882, Crawford Avalanche newspaper of Michigan and the December 4, 1883, Evening Star newspaper of Washington DC. The bartender interviewed in the Crawford newspaper mentions that he was the first to introduce “Manhattan cocktails” to the area, and he likes to make his with “whiskey, vermouth, and bitters” The bartender in the DC newspaper says he pre-batches them with gin and vermouth. Both newspapers refer to a new Manhattan style of cocktail currently in vogue and talk about it as if it is a style rather than a specific drink. A few years later, both newspaper and cocktail books seem to have settled on the Manhattan as specifically a whiskey cocktail. This Manhattan recipe is pulled from the 1887 Jerry Thomas Bartenders Guide. This is the oldest printing I could find from a cocktail recipe book. The Manhattan remained unchanged until 1919, as documented in the Old Waldorf Astoria Bar Book, which reported all their recipes from 1897 to 1919.

The two changes that changed the Manhattan from its pre-prohibition to post-prohibition form are changing from Boker’s bitters to Angostura bitters and no longer adding two dashes of orange liqueur. The recipe changed from using Boker’s bitters because the Boker’s company, which was already struggling financially by the 1910s, completely closed its doors around the start of prohibition. Those who knew the secret recipe took it to their graves. I believe in the mid-2000s, an old unopened bottle of Boker’s was found in a recently deceased man’s attic. The mixture was reverse engineered, and it was discovered to be primarily cardamom, cinnamon, and orange peel bitter. You are now able to find cardamom bitters made in the Boker’s style, but for almost 90 years, the closest anyone could get was using Angostura Bitters. The second change was removing the two dashes of orange liqueur. This change had more to do with the transition from pre-prohibition mixing ideologies to the prohibition era and post-prohibition mixing ideologies. The hallmark of pre-prohibition mixing ideology was to take a decent base spirit and add complexity and flavor with small amounts of bitters and liqueurs, with the base spirit still the most forward element. Prohibition-era and post-prohibition mixing ideology shifted to making flavorful cocktails where the base spirit blended in with the sodas or liqueurs. Not to say these styles were exclusive to any period, but there was a definite shift in what was popular and sold.

I cannot find any specific genesis of the Manhattan or who maybe created it. Often with very old cocktails, the creators were never credited, and many people claim they invented the drink. I can’t find any reference to it before the 1880s, and it was most likely created in New York. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was trendy to name drinks after cities or popular locations in New York. This is what gives us cocktails like the Bronx, the Oyster Bay, Brooklyn, etc. So there is no real reason it’s called a Manhattan other than being a famous New York cocktail naming convention of its time.

What Does The Pre-Prohibition Manhattan Taste Like?

Bourbon and Sweet Vermouth are a match made in heaven. The two ingredients’ flavor profiles pair perfectly. The sweet vermouth adds just enough sweetness to soften the bourbon, and the bourbon adds just enough sharp toasted oak volume and flavor to bring down the vermouth’s solid herbal notes. A few dashes of orange liqueur and cardamon bitters add a nice gentle citrus and spice complexity to the cocktail that Angostura bitters do not provide. These are all wonderful ingredients, and combined; they make a wonderfully sweet and spicy cocktail. I like the modern Angostura bitters Manhattan better, but this one is also tasty. If I were to equate the two to sipping spirits, I would say the original pre-prohibition one is like sipping rye whiskey, and the current one everyone knows it is like sipping bourbon.

What Is The Difference Between The Manhattan And The Old Fashioned?

Whether it’s the pre-prohibition or post-prohibition style, the Manhattan and old fashion are, for the most part, very similar cocktails. The main difference between the two is since the old-fashioned uses simple syrup/gum syrup to cut the strength of the bourbon; the taste is still a very clean, bourbon forward cocktail. On the other hand, the Manhattan comes across with a more mild bourbon taste that is balanced against a lightly sweet herbal flavor. So the Manhattan is a slightly sweetened bourbon and herbal flavored cocktail, and the old fashion is a somewhat sweeter but clean bourbon tasting cocktail.

Get The Sweet Vermouth Right.

The most essential ingredients in the pre-prohibition style Manhattan are the sweet vermouth and the cardamom bitters. Boker’s Bitters was one of the quintessential tastes of the 1800s cocktail, and you can finally get that flavor again with cardamom bitters. It’s like tasting history. A little bit more than the bitters, though, is the sweet vermouth. Vermouth is the defining flavor of this cocktail, and for not much more, you can buy some fantastic sweet vermouths. There isn’t a “bad” sweet vermouth, the cheap stuff is still pretty good, but for five bucks more, you can buy some fantastic top-shelf vermouths that will elevate this cocktail to new heights.

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Oyster Bay – Classic Recipe

Oyster Bay
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Oyster Bay

2 from 1 vote Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

194

kcal
ABV

35%

Total time

3

minutes

While not the prettiest cocktail its actually pretty good.

Ingredients

  • 1 dash 1 Orange Bitters

  • 1 tsp 1 Lemon Juice

  • 2 tsp 2 Orange Liqueur

  • 2 tsp 2 Dry Vermouth

  • 2 oz 2 Bourbon

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass.
  • Garnish:
  • Spanish olive.

Notes

Featured Video

This drink is most likely named in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, whose home is located in Oyster Bay, New York. During the earlier days of mixing, there was a trend on the east coast to name drinks after regions of New York. If the oyster was a crayon color, one could also say it had an oyster color. Don’t be put off by the strange color of this drink because it’s pretty good.

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