The Blackthorn Cocktail is a real puzzler. It’s an example of another cocktail that has multiple versions, which is not that unusual, but in this case the resource we’re using has the outlying recipe. The name of the cocktail sounds sinister but it’s nothing more than a connection to a berry bush indigenous to the […]
Episode #45 I convinced Jay to come to the Brixton and record the history portion of the show. We sat down and Michael made us a couple of Bebbos. Our book tells us the word comes from an Indian dialect and means “toad”. If that’s true, there better be a reason, however, there is […]
Episode #44 features a popular personality from the cocktail era: Mr. PT Barnum. The name of the cocktail refers to Barnum’s supposed famous saying that a “sucker is born every minute.” But even as we look into this cocktail we can’t verify much of anything and even the attribution of that phrase seems off. Given […]
Initially we all figured that this cocktail history would be a slam dunk. It has a name of a person…it’s named after someone. It has to be easy to find out. We couldn’t have been more wrong. This drink was a complete mystery. Jay could not find any references to it anywhere prior to our […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
For a pink drink that is nothing more than a glass of gin with Angostura bitters, Pink Gin wins the award for being the simplest cocktail with the most obvious name. With so few ingredients, it can’t be that strong though, right? Don’t let the color fool you, it is nothing more than a glass […]
The Singapore Sling has a bit of a tricky history to piece out. Most recipes nowadays have pineapple juice, and attribute the Singapore Sling recipe to the Raffles Hotel in 1915. While some evidence points in that general direction, it is hard to confirm. What muddies the waters is changing ingredients from reference to reference, […]
It pleases me to present the next Monster Summoning episode wherein we feature new cocktails born from the minds of liquid genius. The Brixton is where we record our Monster in a Glass series, wherein we discuss and taste classic cocktails both popular and forgotten, and Michael Donnelly, the bartender we work with, always knows […]
