Texas Iced Tea – Original Recipe & History

Texas Iced Tea
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Texas Iced Tea

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

1

servings
Calories

300

kcal
Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make a Texas Iced Tea.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Sweet and Sour Mix

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Orange Liqueur

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Vodka

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 White Rum

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Dry Gin

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Silver Tequila

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Rye Whiskey

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Coca-Cola

Directions

  • Technique: Tiki Dirty Pour
  • Combine all ingredients, except for the soda, into a shaker with crushed ice.
  • Vigorously shake the shaker for 10 seconds.
  • Dirty pour the whole shaker into a glass. Crushed ice and all.
  • Top the drink off with soda.
  • Garnish:
  • Lemon wheel

Featured Video

What Does The Texas Iced Tea Taste Like?

The Texas Iced taste resembles the standard Long Island Iced Tea. It’s a bit boozier, but it’s not bad. The kind of whiskey used will make all the difference. Irish whiskey is fun because it adds a nice smokey flavor to it. Scotch differs depending on the manufacture and region, but softer, milder scotch is a miss. It just gets lost. Any smoother whiskeys, regardless of style, are pointless in this cocktail. Bourbon is toasted caramel flavors, but it too is a bit weak in the Texas Iced Tea. The best whiskey for a drink like this is rye.

The recipe I have provided uses Robert “Rosebud” Butt’s original Long Island recipe with the addition of 1 oz of rye whiskey. I don’t know if the original 1980s T.G.I. Friday’s recipe used rye, but I figured rye would be the best way for the whiskey to make a noticeable difference in such a sizeable boozy drink. Bourbon’s softer, sweeter flavor is a bit lost in the Texas Iced Tea, but rye’s more robust spicier flavor is more noticeable.

The History Of The Texas Iced Tea

The Texas Iced Tea was invented by T.G.I. Fridays in 1980 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its parent company Carlson. T.G.I. Fridays is often mistaken for inventing the Long Island Iced Tea, and while they didn’t, It is still one of the most popular drinks they sell. Although T.G.I. Fridays did create several popular variations. They made four variations: the Sparkling Iced Tea, the Long Beach Iced Tea, the Caribbean Iced Tea, and the Texas Iced Tea. The Sparkling Iced Tea replaced the Coca-Cola with champagne. The Long Beach Iced Tea replaced Coca-Cola with cranberry juice. The Caribbean Iced Tea used blue-orange liqueur instead of clear to give the drink a light green color and left out the Coke. And the Texas Ice Tea added an additional ounce of whiskey.

I understand this is supposed to be a vintage cocktail resource, and while T.G.I. Fridays is not seen as a high-end bar today, it once was. The first T.G.I. Fridays was opened in 1965 by Alan Stillman. Stillman lived on 63rd Street between First and York in New York and, while surrounded by single attractive working women, had a hard time meeting any. Alan liked to go out after work, and believe it or not, many bars in the 1960s still had policies that no women could enter unless they were with a man. Hell, women couldn’t have bank accounts until the 1960s, and it wasn’t the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 that women could get an account without a father or husband to manage it. But back to cocktails. Obviously, not every bar was like this, and some areas were more progressive than others, but there was still a culture of bars being too rough for single vulnerable women. Some high-end bars excluded single women, fearing their presence would distract business-minded men from making deals. Even though prohibition had helped lessen the stigma of women publicly drinking, it still took activists like Betty Friedan and others to fully break down these barriers. Alan Stillman also helped break down these barriers when he opened T.G.I. Fridays, one of the United States’ first singles bar. The original intent of T.G.I Fridays was to offer a welcoming environment that felt like home where single women and men could meet. Women didn’t need to come with a man to enter. They served high-end drinks and well-made American food. Stillman may have been looking to meet women, but he inadvertently helped bring down some of the social barriers American women faced.

Recipe Resources

Texas Iced Tea Article

Original Long Island Iced Tea Recipe

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Kamikaze Cocktail – Original Recipe & History

Kamikaze Cocktail
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Kamikaze

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

1

servings
Calories

100

kcal
ABV

40%

Total time

2

minutes

How to make a Kamikaze cocktail.

Ingredients

  • 1 dash 1 Lime Juice

  • 1 dash 1 Orange Liqueur

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Vodka

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Combine
  • Simply combine the ingredients together.
  • This works best if the ingredients are pre-chilled.

Featured Video

The History Of The Kamikaze Cocktail

The Kamikaze was most likely invented in the early 1970s. In the January 1989 issue of Motorboating and Sailing Magazine, cocktail writer John Mariani states Tony Lauriano created the Kamikaze in 1972. While working at Les Pyrenees restaurant in New York, he originally named the drink the Jesus Christ Superstar after the famous Andrew Lloyd Webber Broadway show. People thought the name was too weird, and it was renamed the Kamikaze soon after, as drinking a couple of them will send you into a destructive nosedive. In the October 1979 issue of Ski Magazine, on page 78, an article by Peter Miller provides a different origin about the Kamikaze cocktail spread in popularity. Miller states the kamikaze first came out of Florida (though he does not give a specific name as Mariani does) in the early to mid-1970s, and from there, it moved to New York. Once it became popular in New York, the cocktail spread to the rest of the country. The Kamikaze became particularly popular in the ski resorts of North America. The Kamikaze is named for its strength and the idea that it’s a one-way trip once you start to drink them. Miller’s article predates Mariani’s article by ten years, and proximity to creation is important. Miller also provides the oldest known recipe for the Kamikaze. Either one could be true or neither.

  • 1.5 oz of prechilled Vodka
  • A dash of lime juice
  • 1 drop of Cointreau

The cocktail is not mixed with ice as the ingredients are already pre-chilled in the freezer. Combine in the glass and serve.

The oldest reference I can find to the Kamikaze cocktail is in a 1975 public state disclosure of different companies marketing records. In 1975 Montebello Brands Inc began selling a premixed bottled cocktail called the Original Kamikaze Cocktail, a mix of vodka, orange liqueur, and lemon juice. Montebello has no official product page for the product, but it can be seen here on Wine Chateau. Most likely, the mixed drink came before the pre-mixed bottle, but this shows that by 1975 the cocktail was well known enough for a pre-mix to sell.

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Planters Punch #2 – 1933 Cuban Recipe

Planters Punch 2
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Planter’s Punch – 1933 Recipe

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

1

servings
Calories

154

kcal
ABV

30%

Total time

3

minutes

Make a Cuban style planter’s punch

Ingredients

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Lemon Juice

  • 1 barspoon 1 Grenadine

  • 1 barspoon 1 Orange Liqueur

  • 2 oz 2 Gold Rum

Directions

  • Technique: Tiki Dirty Pour
  • Combine all ingredients into a shaker with crushed ice.
  • Vigorously shake for 10 seconds.
  • Dirty pour the whole shaker into a glass. Crushed ice and all.

Featured Video

The History Of The Planter’s Punch.

The truth is, no one alive knows the origins of this cocktail, and every best guess of its origin is just the best guess. The issue I have struggled with (and I’m sure many other drink writers have, too) is hoping to find that one true origin story. There are two common origins to the Planter’s Punch that get tossed around:

  1. Mid 1800s Jamaica.
  2. The Old Planter’s Hotel in Charleston, SC.

Had I been asked ten years ago, I would have pushed the hotel idea; then, I pivoted to the Jamaica one. Now I kinda say to hell with it; there seems to be a planter’s punch for every island in the Caribbean, with neither more “authentic” than the other. But the different significant versions are worth exploring. After much reading, I have concluded that every place that had a plantation probably had a version of the planter’s punch.

Bar La Florida’s 1933 Planter’s Punch Recipe.

The Cuban versions are the first recipes I can find where grenadine is used, and it more closely resembles the Planter’s punch most people think of. Also, both Bar La Florida and Sloppy Joes have the same ingredients, but the recipe’s proportions vary a bit so I would consider this type the overall Cuban version of the planter’s punch. Bar La Florida’s seems a bit sweeter, and that’s the one I’m printing here.

  • 1/2 oz (15 mLs) Lemon Juice
  • 1 Barspoon (5 mLs) Orange Liqueur
  • 1 Barspoon (5 mLs) Grenadine
  • 2 oz (60 mLs) Gold Rum

Why Are There So Many Planter’s Punch Recipes?

I include all these because they are all delicious, and one is not more authentic than the others. The oldest known recipe may be the Fun magazine recipe, but there is no certainty that it is even the original. There are more versions of this cocktail than I have included here, and they are all different and good. So don’t let anyone tell you your recipe is wrong because there is no right way to make the drink.

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Brave Bull – Classic Recipe

Brave Bull
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Brave Bull

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

1

servings
Calories

276

kcal
ABV

33%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a Brave Bull.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz 1 Coffee Liqueur

  • 2 oz 2 Silver Tequila

Directions

  • Technique: Build In Glass
  • Combine all ingredients in a glass.
  • Fill the glass with crushed ice.
  • Stir to combine and chill the drink.

Notes

Featured Video

What Does The Brave Bull Taste Like?

More than a tequila cocktail, I think of this as a Kahula cocktail, and this is a fantastic Kahlua cocktail. So if you’re not usually a coffee liqueur fan, this one is still worth a shot. If you already like Black or White Russians, this one may become your new favorite. This cocktail taste exactly as you would expect. It tastes like cold tequila and Kahlua. What makes the drink good are the proportions. Kahlua is intensely sweet but the tequila cuts it well. The tequila is strong but the ice dilutes it and chills it just enough. The trick to getting this cocktail right is to stir it for a little bit longer than you typically would stir a drink like this. It needs that extra chill and water to balance out, but if the balance is right it tastes great.

There was a 1950s movie called The Brave Bulls, and maybe it was named after that, but there is no evidence to suggest so. I have never seen the movie but maybe it is where Vic Bergeron got the name from.

Tequila Cocktails And Their History

You may be surprised to know that tequila is not a common spirit in cocktails. Most commonly known tequila cocktails come from only two sources. The 1937 “Cafe Royal Cocktail Book” and the 1972 “Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide.” While there are a few outliers like the Paloma or Tequila Sunrise, the fact of the matter is tequila has never been a popular spirit for mixing. This is unfortunate because it tastes great. Tequila is often had straight, but most tequila cocktails can be traced to one of those two sources. This recipe is no different and is from the 1972 Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide.

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Long Island Iced Tea – Original Recipe & History

Long Island Iced Tea
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Long Island Iced Tea

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

1

servings
Calories

540

kcal
ABV

29%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make a Long Island Iced Tea.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Sweet and Sour Mix

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Orange Liqueur

  • 1 oz 1 Vodka

  • 1 oz 1 White Rum

  • 1 oz 1 Dry Gin

  • 1 oz 1 Silver Tequila

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Coca-Cola

Directions

  • Technique: Tiki Dirty Pour
  • Combine all ingredients, except for the soda, into a shaker with crushed ice.
  • Vigorously shake the shaker for 10 seconds.
  • Dirty pour the whole shaker into a glass. Crushed ice and all.
  • Top the drink off with soda.
  • Garnish:
  • Lemon wheel

Notes

Featured Video

History Of The Long Island Iced Tea

The Long Island Iced Tea was invented in 1976 by Robert “Rosebud” Butt while working at the Oak Beach Inn in Hampton Bays, N.Y. The earliest recipes for the Long Island Iced Tea I could find come from both a 1986 and 1989 issue of Motor Boating & Sailing magazine. Both columns were written by the magazine’s drink writer John Mariani, who contacted Robert Butt for the articles. In the 1986 issue, Robert tells how he came up with the cocktail, and in the 1989 issue, the original recipe is provided. Mariani States in the July 1986 article:

“Robert… was looking for a new drink for his boating customers. ‘I’m a tequila drinker,’ Rosebud told me, ‘ so I put together tequila, some light rum, vodka, gin, a dash of triple sec, a splash of sour mix, and topped it off with Coca-Cola and a slice of lemon, then served it on the rocks in a Collins glass. Well, the thing tasted just like iced tea, and I started serving them at the bar.'”

In the January 1989 Mariani gives Butt’s recipe and says the cocktail was invented in 1967 instead of 1976. This was most likely just a typo with his flipping the number, but it’s still worth noting.

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White Lady – Classic Recipe

White Lady Cocktail
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White Lady Cocktail

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

1

servings
Calories

268

kcal
ABV

25%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a White Lady.

Ingredients

  • 1 Whole 1 Egg Whites

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Lemon Juice

  • 1 oz 1 Orange Liqueur

  • 2 oz 2 Dry Gin

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

The History Of The White Lady.

The oldest known White Lady recipe comes from the 1923 Harry MacElhone book “Harry of Ciro’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails,” His recipe is very different from the more popular Savoy recipe. The original White Lady is 1 oz brandy, 1 oz creme de menthe, and 2 oz Cointreau, shaken and strained. This version of the white lady never quite caught on; the more popular version is the Harry Craddock recipe from the Savoy.

A Short History Of The American Bar at the Savoy Hotel In London.

In 1893, The American Bar at the Savoy hotel started serving American-style cocktails in London to the British upper class. The American Bar has always been a high-end bar but what set it on the map was when Harry Craddock became its head bartender in the 1920s. Harry Craddock was a British-born bartender who immigrated to the United States, eventually becoming a US citizen and head bartender of several high-end hotel bars. Still, Harry found himself out of work with the start of prohibition in 1920. He then immigrated back to England and became head bartender of the Savoy Hotel’s Bar. Harry transformed The American Bar from a high-end bar to one of the seminal cocktail bars of the 20th century. As the American prohibition was ending, the hotel realized it should record all of its most famous recipes and the innovations Harry brought to the bar. A year later, they published the Savoy Cocktail Book. Printed in 1934, the Savoy Cocktail Book documents the bar’s best recipes from the 1890s to the 1930s and stands as the pillar of prohibition-era European cocktail innovation. If Jerry Thomas’s Bartenders Guide is the best cocktail book the 1800s gave us, then The Savoy Cocktail Book is the best cocktail book of the first half of the 1900s. I don’t think I will ever be able to drink there, though. A cocktail cost around $250 there, and they have one that’s almost $1000, and I’m not the Amazon guy, so good thing we have their recipe book.

What Does The White Lady Taste Like?

The white lady is a fantastic velvety smooth cocktail that tastes like a gin lemon meringue. The flavor profile is similar to the sidecar or margarita, but the egg whites add a wonderful texture and smoothness.

Should You Use Cointreau, Triple Sec, Or Curaçao?

You can use Cointreau or triple sec/Curaçao/orange liqueur. Technically they are all orange liqueurs, and the only reason for the different names is history, marketing gimmicks, and brand names. Check out my orange liqueur description for a more detailed account of that. Again you don’t have to use Cointreau; any orange liqueur will work. On that note, though, Cointreau is the best and makes for what I think is a noticeably better cocktail. The only downside to Cointreau is its price tag. It’s a little pricier than other brands (around 50 bucks for a liter), but it’s worth it. There have been other delicious and pricy orange liqueurs to hit the market in the last few years, but Cointreau is still the go-to.

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.

Recipe Resources.

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White Lily – Classic Recipe

White Lily Cocktail
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Quick Step-By-Step White Lily Recipe Video

White Lily

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

1

servings
Calories

238

kcal
ABV

40%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a classic White Lily.

Ingredients

  • 5 dashes 5 Absinthe

  • 1 oz 1 Orange Liqueur

  • 1 oz 1 White Rum

  • 1 oz 1 Dry Gin

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

What Does The White Lily Taste Like?

The white lily is a fantastic cocktail. It is clean and strong with a delicate orange and herbal flavor. If you wanted to group it, then it’s more along the lines of a vesper or dry martini. The white lily does many things right that it’s really impressive—lightly sweet, strong, and delicate flavor, citrusy and herbal.

A Short History Of The American Bar at the Savoy Hotel In London.

In 1893, The American Bar at the Savoy hotel started serving American-style cocktails in London to the British upper class. The American Bar has always been a high-end bar but what set it on the map was when Harry Craddock became its head bartender in the 1920s. Harry Craddock was a British-born bartender who immigrated to the United States, eventually becoming a US citizen and head bartender of several high-end hotel bars. Still, Harry found himself out of work with the start of prohibition in 1920. He then immigrated back to England and became head bartender of the Savoy Hotel’s Bar. Harry transformed The American Bar from a high-end bar to one of the seminal cocktail bars of the 20th century. As the American prohibition was ending, the hotel realized it should record all of its most famous recipes and the innovations Harry brought to the bar. A year later, they published the Savoy Cocktail Book. Printed in 1934, the Savoy Cocktail Book documents the bar’s best recipes from the 1890s to the 1930s and stands as the pillar of prohibition-era European cocktail innovation. If Jerry Thomas’s Bartenders Guide is the best cocktail book the 1800s gave us, then The Savoy Cocktail Book is the best cocktail book of the first half of the 1900s. I don’t think I will ever be able to drink there, though. A cocktail cost around $250 there, and they have one that’s almost $1000, and I’m not the Amazon guy, so good thing we have their recipe book.

Use The Right Orange Liqueur.

The most essential ingredient in the white lily is the orange liqueur. You have to use Cointreau, no other brand works, and I will tell you why. When mixing any cocktail, it’s best to use a neutral base spirit, orange liqueur, like Cointreau, and not one that uses an aged-based spirit, like Grand Marnier. Grand Marnier is excellent stuff and wonderful to drink by itself, but the color is off, and aged oaked brandy flavors compete with the cocktail’s other flavors. It’s excellent for sipping, not so much for mixing drinks. It specifically has to be Cointreau and not another brand of dry neutral orange liqueur because Cointreau has a ton of orange peel oils dissolved in it. This cocktail’s beautiful pale white color is the dissolved oils in the orange liqueur breaking off the alcohol molecule they are attached to in a process called the Ouzo effect or louching. It is similar to how absinthe turns pale white when you add water. Cointreau does too, but to a much lesser degree since it has fewer dissolved oils than absinthe. The amount of oil capable of being dissolved in a liqueur will be proportional to the ABV of the liqueur. At 40% ABV, Cointreau has far more orange peel oil than an orange liqueur would at 35, 30, or 25% ABV. The oil also adds a lot of flavors, but only Cointreau will give you that beautiful look and intense orange flavor. Again other orange liqueurs will still taste good but will not have the same appearance. Check out my Absinthe drip description for a more detailed explanation of the Ouzo effect.

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Jean Collins – Recipe

Jean Collins
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Jean Collins

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

1

servings
Calories

243

kcal
ABV

11%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a Jean Collins.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz 1 Lemon Juice

  • 1 oz 1 Orange Liqueur

  • 2 oz 2 Brandy

  • 5 oz 5 Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Build In Glass
  • Combine all ingredients except for the soda water in a glass.
  • Fill the glass with ice.
  • Stir to combine and chill the ingredients.
  • Gently add the soda water and give the drink a couple of last stirs to mix it fully.

Notes

Featured Video

The History Of The Collins Cocktail.

While probably not invented by Harry Johnson, his 1882 Bartenders Manual is the oldest printed book I could find to mention the Collins cocktail. The oldest concrete evidence of this cocktail is the Harry Johnson one. It seems both the John Collins and Tom Collins are invented around the same time, and the Bartenders Manual gives a pretty definitive recipe for both the John and Tom Collins. His John Collins recipe calls for genever (dry gin doesn’t start to get mixed into cocktails till the end of the 1800s/early 1900s), and his recipe for the Tom Collins calls for Old Tom gin. Harry Johnson’s collins recipes and names are clearly defined, but unlike Harry Johnson, Jerry Thomas’s 1887 Bartenders Guide does not follow his recipes. The Bartender’s Guide doesn’t even mention the John Collins but instead uses the name Tom Collins for every variation of the collins. It has three different recipes for Tom Collins. A Tom Collins whiskey, a Tom Collins brandy, and a Tom Collins genever. It doesn’t mention the Tom Collins with Old Tom gin and calls the one made with genever a Tom Collins.

To further complicate this, in 1885, a British cocktail book called “The New guide for the hotel, bar, restaurant, butler, and chef” by Bacchus and Cordon Bleu has a recipe for what they call a Fred Collins. Their Fred Collins Recipe is a Whiskey Collins with orange liqueur instead of simple syrup. Their Collins section states, “I should be glad if our caterers would agree what it is to be perpetually named. One Barkeeper calls it a John Collins – another Tom Collins. Harry and Fred are all members of the same family.” They then say they prefer the Fred Collins name, thus credence to Jerry Thomas’s version of the Collins in that the name is more a style than a specific drink. Hell, there was a Harry Collins we have never seen. The Savoy Cocktail Book does the same thing and has both a Dry Gin and Whiskey Tom Collins. Although The Savoy does say that a Tom Collins made with genever is instead called a John Collins.

While Harry Johnson uses the names as specific cocktails, the Bartenders guide and others seemed to use the collins as a cocktail structure more than a particular recipe. Like the Rickey, Daisy, or Fizz, the collins describe a structure of 2 parts base spirit, 1 part citrus, 1 part sweetener, and 4 or 5 parts carbonated beverage. Harry Johnson’s influence has been permanent, and the collins is ultimately both. It is a specific cocktail that Harry Johnson pushed and a cocktail archetype like others believed. Looking at its influence as an archetype, many popular cocktails are structurally collins that you would not think of as a Collins. The Adios Motherfucker, Mojito, French 75, Paloma, etc., are just fun variations on the Collins form.

What Does the Jean Collins Taste Like?

The Jean Collins is a brandy variation of the John Collins and good. The mellow-aged sweetness of the brandy perfectly blends with the orange liqueur and lemon juice into a bubbly, refreshing cocktail. Imagine this as a lengthened and more refreshing Side Car.

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Brandy Crusta – Original Recipe & History

Brandy Crusta Cocktail
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Brandy Crusta

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

1

servings
Calories

193

kcal
ABV

30%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a classic Brandy Crusta.

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp 1 Lemon Juice

  • 1/3 oz 1/3 Gum Syrup

  • 1 tsp 1 Orange Liqueur

  • 1 dash 1 Cardamom Bitters

  • 2 oz 2 Brandy

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Moisten a cocktail glass rim with a cut lemon slice and rub the end in granulated sugar to create a sugar crust.
  • 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.

Notes

Featured Video

The History Of The Brandy Crusta.

First printed in the 1862 Bartenders Guide by Jerry Thomas, the Brandy Crusta is old as it is delicious. The Crusta is considered one of the oldest fancy sours and is named for its decorative sugar-crusted rim. It was invented in the 1850s by Joseph Santini in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, and was made to try and improve the taste of the standard sour cocktail. You can spot a crusta by its oversized decorative lemon peel that imparts that this is a special elevated sour cocktail.

What Does The Brandy Crusta Taste Like?

These fantastic cocktails taste light and delicate while not being overly sour or overly sweet. While the standard sour is more flavorful and benefits from sharper, more intense spirits, this one is different. In my experience, a top-shelf spirit works better. This is because you are not overwhelming the base spirit with a whole ounce of sweetener and citrus, and the more subtle finer qualities of a better base spirit can still come through. Make this with the perspective that you are not making a solid, flavorful cocktail but adding subtle flavor and complexity to an already delicious spirit.

Balancing This Delicious and Subtle Cocktail.

There isn’t any single essential ingredient in this cocktail; instead, all the elements come together in the proper balance. But if I tried to narrow it down, I would say the brandy, orange liqueur, and gum syrup are the most essential parts of this cocktail. You want to use a good base spirit for this cocktail as none of the other ingredients are made to mask the flavor of a lower-quality spirit. So whatever the quality of the base spirit will make a meaningful difference in the final product. The orange liqueur matters, too, because cheap orange liqueurs are typically not very good. I love buying on value, but I’ve never found a cheaper orange liqueur that also tasted good, and with how this drink is structured, you will notice a cheap orange liqueur—lastly, the gum syrup. You can use a standard simple syrup if you prefer and what that will change is the cocktail’s texture. Gum Syrup has gum arabic and gives the cocktail a velvety consistency similar to what egg whites provide. A smooth, meringue-y, velvet, dessert-like texture. Standard simple syrup will not add this texture and make for a thinner liquid texture cocktail, but you may prefer that. If you like your sours without egg whites, then opt for using standard simple syrup but if you like sours with egg whites, buy a bottle of gum syrup and give it a go.

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Midori Sour – Classic Recipe & History

Midori Sour Cocktail
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Midori Sour

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Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

279

kcal
ABV

20%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a classic Midori Sour.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz 1 Lemon Juice

  • 1 oz 1 Orange Liqueur

  • 2 oz 2 Midori

Directions

  • Technique: Tiki Dirty Pour
  • Combine all ingredients into a shaker with crushed ice.
  • Vigorously shake for 10 seconds.
  • Dirty pour the whole shaker into a glass. Crushed ice and all.
  • Garnish:
  • Maraschino cherry

Notes

Featured Video

I’m a bit torn with this one. I wouldn’t say I like this drink, but it has its place in history, and some people like it. So here it is—the ultra-sweet and synthetic Midori Sour.

This isn’t a true late 70s Suntory Midori sour. The official recipe uses a sweet and sour mix, but that garbage has no place in this kind of an app, so I replaced it with orange liqueur and lemon juice. Sweet and sour is a lousy facsimile of those two ingredients. If you were thinking of making this drink or think you like it, I would suggest checking out the two improved Midori Sour recipes. The two improved recipes retain the melon flavor but mellow it out quite a bit and add more herbal or textural complexity to the drink. I think those two are decent drinks. For this one, I took one sip and then dumped it as soon as I finished taking the pictures for it.

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