Not just history of cocktails, but history through cocktails
Posts in category Monster in a Glass
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Episode 38: When Good Americans Die&#...
Oscar Wilde said, “When good Americans die, they go to Paris”. Not long after, many Americans came to Europe and died in the first World War. When the war ended many Americans stayed in Europe, often the more intellectual set of writers and artists including Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Dos Passos. At the time they were […]
Episode 33: Raising the Dead – ...
Putting the word “corpse” in anything you are going to consume is probably a mistake, but Corpse Revivers seem to have weathered any associations with dead stuff. When you look at the name closely you pick up right away that this cocktail is intended to clear out the cobwebs and get you right up out […]
Episode 32: A Touch of Class – Cosmop...
If you asked the average person to name a cocktail, The Cosmopolitan would probably be on the short list. If you asked the average person what was in it, you might not get past vodka in a martini glass with some other stuff. It is a heavily-recognized cocktail for sure, but it is it anything […]
Episode 31: By the Horns – Blood and...
You say Blood and Sand and it generates images of a switchblade fight on a beach. The consensus though is that this cocktail is named for the 1922 bullfighting movie starring silent-movie era heartthrob, Rudolph Valentino. Most likely originating from Harry Craddock, it appears in the Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930 first, and not many other […]
Episode 30: Hitting It On The Head –...
The Rusty Nail sounds like a rough cocktail, something that requires you to get a tetanus shot after you drink it. The ingredients don’t necessarily live up to the harsh name, but I hope you like Scotch! This drink is just Scotch, and the Scotch-based liqueur Drambuie for extra scotchiness and a bit of sweet. […]
Episode 29: How About Them Apples &#...
There are a couple of things to note about the Calvados Cocktail. One, it does in fact have Calvados in it so no misdirection there. Two, there is a whole lot of orange-flavor in this one, with orange juice, Cointreau, and orange bitters. I am not sure if the Calvados Cocktail gives you any Vitamin […]
Episode 28: The Real McGregor – Rob R...
While the recipe for Rob Roy cocktail is pretty standard today, it wasn’t always that way. Variations occur from the earliest appearances in cocktail books and continue on pretty much throughout the 20th century. So how do we get to a standard for a drink often referred to as a Scotch Manhattan? We discuss this […]
Episode 27: A Fine Kettle of Fish – P...
The Pimm’s Cup is obviously a cup, right? I mean it is in the name. So why was it advertised as “the original gin sling?” Or is it actually a punch? Is Pimm’s No. 1 a cup? Or is Pimm’s Cup a cup? And just what are cups, punches, and slings? All these questions will […]
Episode 26: Dead in the Water —...
In this episode we delve into the concept of extinct cocktail ingredients. It’s hard to put your finger on these dearly departed until you discover by happenstance, as I did, that you can’t complete the recipe. I stumbled into this circumstance by choosing the Amarosa Cocktail, another classic cocktail in the pantheon of aged beverages, […]
Episode 25: The Real Hanky Panky – T...
Was there ever any doubt that at some point in history there would be a cocktail with the name Hanky Panky, when cocktails so often have the reputation of leading to lascivious funny business? Whether the name was a reference to the cause, prevention, or embodiment of sexual activity, or completely unrelated is not […]
