Creating a signature cocktail.
January 2, 2011 § Leave a comment
It’s been nice to see the resurgence of vintage cocktails over the last year or so. It’s gotten me thinking that while I’ve experienced a lot from a culinary perspective, when it comes to booze it’s like I’ve just been eating at Applebees.
This week it’ll be my goal to find my signature cocktail. Despite growing up in the South, I’ve never been one for whiskey, but I’m going to give it another shot. Coming off the holidays we have a few nice bottles from friends that will help! Stocking a bar in the proper way isn’t an inexpensive endeavor.
I plan on getting in and exploring the pre-Prohibition and Prohibition era cocktails. In case you haven’t seen it, Boardwalk Empire is a great show to get you in the mood for drinking real cocktails, from an incredible era. As part of the promotion of the show they even came up with their own cocktails to check out.
In Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, Ted Haigh writes that cocktails were morning drinks. Bitters were considered medicine in the 19th century, so cocktails were the “hair of the dog” of that era.
I’ll stick to a nice evening cocktail for now and will start with the Old Fashioned (supposedly the first cocktail):
one lump sugar muddled with a dash of water, a lemon peel and 2 dashes orange bitters (or angostura bitters). add 1.5-2 oz. whiskey & an ice cube & stir. No cherry.
52 To Do 
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