This Issue's Libations
Prohibition – The Birth of the Speakeasy
Old Cocktail Recipe Books and more for sale, soon!
Book Review – 1912, “The License-Holder’s Handy Guide”
Proposed Bitters Category design logo
Random drink story from B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S.
Cherries marinated in Maraschino and/or Crème de Menthe
New and Old Recipes to try
Sidebar: 1935 New Orleans Mixologist booklet
Gold Rush Mixed Drinks of the early 1850’s
VIP Cartoon and weirdo drink
Readers of this site should be of legal drinking age (LDA)
in the state or country where they reside.
Any and all information published on this website are the opinions of the
author, who is in no way responsible for actions of the readers
Members of the eating and drinking establishment trade are expected to
adhere to the practice of “RESPONSIBLE BEVERAGE SERVICE”
Serve in moderation-Drink in moderation!
Prohibition – The Birth of Speakeasys
With the recent release of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s Prohibition film, I believe all members of the drink trade should view this most excellent historical production.
Especially in light of the last ten year’s plethora of Speakeasy Saloons, that have been introduced into the marketplace, this concept actually originated during the Prohibition period.
In addition to this fine film, there are some recent books that detail the complexities and results of the enacting of the 18th Amendment prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, such as:
Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent
Dry Manhattan: Prohibition in New York City by Michael A. Lerner
America Walks Into A Bar by Christine Sismondo
And a couple of books featuring drinks of that period:
Speakeasy: Classic Cocktails Reimagined by Jason Kosmas and Dushan Zaric
Classic Cocktails of the Prohibition Era by Philip Collins, with superb photography by Sam Sargent.
Old Cocktail Recipe Books For Sale
Late this year, or early next year, I shall be offering the balance of the Barchives Library for sale. This is a collection of over 450 drink and drink related books, artifacts, discontinued liquor brands, artwork, model bars, old liquor labels and photos, ephemera and more. There are many rare and scarce books in the collection, and my purpose is to have it sold in its entirety, not piece be piece.
It is an extensive reference library that anyone in the trade will most definitely appreciate, and it covers numerous historical aspects of the drink trade as well as cocktail recipes and bartending.
This could be an excellent acquisition for a distilling firm, a USBG Guild Chapter, an Importer, Culinary College, or any group seeking an extensive reference collection.
Book Review
“The License-Holder’s Handy Guide” 1912 (United Kingdom)
This is a recent acquisition that is quite interesting, and definitely an informative piece about the on premise industry in England in 1912. The Handy Guide is a condensed version of most of the basic liquor laws in England at that time, and some of the subject matter even surprised me (the relic), pertaining to areas of enforcement I had never considered.
Among the more interesting laws listed are:
- Adulteration of beer
- Betting/Gaming
- Habitual drunkards
- Brothel
- Bribery of constables
- Dead bodies
- Habouring thieves
- Juvenile smoking
- Permitting disorder/drunkeness
- Prostitutes
- Sale to children
(except with corked and sealed vessels for consumption off premise) HUH?
- Seats for female assistants
- In a future issue of thebarkeeper.com we shall discuss these laws in more detail.
Proposed “Bitters Category” Design/Logo
With the expansion of the art of making bitters, infusions and tinctures, etc., I believe this 1920’s label would make for an appropriate category design.
Especially with those great focused eyes and smile acknowledging that a great formula has been developed.
Random drink story from B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S.
Chapter “C” is for Cock - Ale
Was “Cock Ale” the origin of the word Cocktail ? In 1758, the first cookery book was published in America. It was a copy of the sixteenth edition of an English book titled “The Compleat Housewife: or, The Accomplished Gentlewoman’s Companion”, by E. Smith. To say this is an all encompassing work, is to put it mildly. Many of these books on Cookery and Domestic Economy attempted to provide as much information as possible about cooking, baking, butchering, preserving, marketing, menus, medical cures, as well as directions for household management. Also in these guides were numerous recipes for making beers, wines and cordials, as well as mixed drinks, the forerunner of cocktails. If we peruse Ms. Smith’s recipe for Cock Ale, we find the following.
“Take ten gallons of ale and a large cock, the older the better, parboil the cock, slay him and stamp him in a stone mortar till his bones are broken (you must craw and gut him when you slay him). Then put the cock into two quarts of sack (possibly sherry) and put to it three pounds of raisins of the sun stoned, some blades of mace, and a few cloves; put all these in a canvas bag, and a little before you find the ale had done working, put the bag and ale together in a vessel, in a week or nine days time bottle it up; fill the bottle just above the neck, and give it some time to ripen as other ale”
Well………maybe this is not truly the origin of the word Cocktail ! With the time and effort to construct this gourmet delight, I would imagine our Compleat Housewife would have needed an adult beverage or three, and not Cock Ale. And what sticks in my mind would be the delicate aromas that would be emanating from the canvas bag, the vessel, and last but not least, the bottle.
Cheers !!!
In this fascinating book there are also drink recipes for Possett (sack, cream, sugar, almonds), Caudles (sherry, milk, mace, nutmeg, sliced bread, eggs, sugar), syllabubs (cream, sugar, lemons, white wine, sherry), as well as formulations for making beer, brandy, cordials, mead, sack, and a variety of wines such as apricot, barley, cherry, clary (claret), current, elder, gooseberry, plum, quince, raisin, raspberry, sage, etc. Obviously the housewife of this period, besides cooking, child rearing, baking, preserving, making clothes, and innumerous other tasks, was also operating a brewery, winery, and distillery, and serving these spirited concoctions.
Talk about a full time job !
Besides this 24/7 schedule this sainted lady maintained, she was also responsible for attending the sick and infirm, as doctors were rarely available. Consequently it was necessary again to peruse these cookery books for potions, salves, ointments and concoctions that could alleviate the numerous ailments of those days. There were recipes and concoctions to cure palsey, plague, fevers, hysterics, grippe, dropsy, vertigo, stones, consumption, cancer, ruptures, toothaches, jaundice, and numerous other ills. Many of these cures, or medicines, were extremely difficult to make, and securing the ingredients was another problem. Many of the elements required for theses cures involved all types of roots and plants, flowers, dairy products, condiments, and occasionally black soap, gunpowder, ale and brandy, wine, as well as mice and dog dung. Just the gathering or acquiring of the essential ingredients, then measuring precise amounts, mixing and stirring, cooling or heating, and then attempting to persuade the patient to either consume or apply same, most surely required patience, fortitude and a real strong bedside manner.
I grovel!
Cherries marinated?
About 75 or 85 years ago, there were cocktail cherries offered to the trade that were flavored with Maraschino or Crème de Menthe. The product was called “Cocktail Pack” and was produced in France. There is no indication of the alcohol amount in these cherries, but I would imagine there had to be a residual amount in the finished product. Centuries ago when I worked behind the bar, we did occasionally soak cherries in Maraschino for a brief period, for use in Manhattan’s, but our favorite marinade for the cherries was 151 proof rum for a drink we called the Cherry Bomb, a July 4th specialty drink.
Now I am wondering what cherries would be like if marinated in Crème de Menthe, and in what type of cocktail they would be used. Probably not in one of the more traditional cocktails. SO……I would imagine some of our scientific bartenders will be conducting research and tests to determine what a) the menthe marinated cherry tastes like, and b) what particular cocktail recipe would best suit this strange combination. Please advise me of your findings, and your resultant stomach condition.
Cheers!
New and Old Recipes to Try
Old recipe – Passenger List
From the 1933 The Merry Mixer. An interesting and unusual combination.
New Recipe - created by the one and only Jim Meehan of PDT, New York City
East India Negroni
2 ounces Banks 5 Island Rum
¾ ounce Campari
¾ ounce Lustau East India Sherry
Orange peel
Stir and strain over an ice filled double rocks glass. Add orange peel garnish (although I prefer just the orange peel squeeze of oil).
I really like Negroni’s, especially with Punt e Mes vermouth, but Jim’s version here with the Sherry replacing the vermouth, and Rum instead of Gin, results in a neat combination that is pretty damn good!. I understand his cocktail recipe book was just published, so I would imagine he has a lot of his quite creative recipes in same.
Old Recipe – Cruise Widow
It would seem that this recipe could assist you in becoming single, probably due to the addition of beaten egg white as an ingredient, especially during the 1930’s. But without same, it’s not a bad drink, though a touch sweet.
New Recipe – The Prince & the Pisco
Created by Chris Ventura, Bar Manager @ Serpentine, San Francisco
1 ½ ounces Campo de Encante Pisco
1 ounce King’s Ginger
¼ ounce Falernum
3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Shake and strain into pre-chilled cocktail glass, lemon peel garnish
Sidebar– 1935 New Orleans Drink Booklet
In the October issue of the Henry Sotheran Limited Book Catalogue, there was a listing for the following item,
with the following description:
16mo., pp.16 original printed wrappers stapled as issued. A fine copy.
First edition of this advertising pamphlet from the spirits merchants Chung & Wulff. A scarce collection of cocktails recipes, with an introduction decrying the degradation of the mixologists art (as represented by the “old-time bartender” on the front wrapper) during the recently overturned Prohibition. Also with a short apology for Absinthe followed by a plug for “Milky Way”, Jung & Wulff’s absinthe substitute.
Jung & Wulff were the leading absinthe suppliers in the major absinthe drinking community of New Orleans. During the U.S. period of Prohibition they sold 4,000 cases yearly of “non-alcoholic absinthe”. In what New Orleans calls the “legal confusion which followed repeal”, Jung & Wulff sold 1,500 cases of absinthe until ordered to desist in May 1933. This pamphlet, promoting the “Milky Way”, presumably came out shortly after the absinthe prohibition of 1933.
Price 398 pounds- approximately $612 US. Wheee!
Gold Rush Mixed Drinks, early 1850’s
From the book “The Land of Gold Reality Versus Fiction” – 1855
The book was authored by Hinton R. Helper, and was about a trip to and through California during the Gold Rush period.
Mr. Hinton’s observations (often quite biased) were extensive, and do provide multiple references to drink and drinking establishments. One of the more interesting chapters pertains to grog-shops or tippling-houses, a term Mr. Hinton also uses to describe saloons. What is of most interest is the lengthy Bill Of Fare Of A California Groggery in San Francisco, which includes numerous mixed drinks that he details, ie;
This is a most extensive list of alcoholic beverages and various cocktail recipes, and one wonders was there a recipe book for all of these concoctions, as the first one would not appear until 1862, with the Jerry Thomas How To Mix Drinks or The Bon-Vivant’s Companion?
But there has had to be some record of the various recipes for this long, long list of adult beverage concoctions. I would imagine that the various grocery/liquor companies that sold the products in San Francisco, had some type of flyer listing the various ways to use those barreled (and sometime questionable) spirits so that there would be less bite, and more enjoyment, rather than over my lips, through my gums, look out stomach, here it comes! In addition, creating this diversity of mixed drinks, would provide more appeal to new, or non-drinkers.
And note that the Tom and Jerry listed is already in existence., reinforcing the theory that the concoction was named after Corinthian Tom and Jerry Hawthorne, two rake characters featured in Pierce Egan’s journal, Life in London, 1821, who constantly sought pleasure and amusement in Regency London, with artwork by the famous I.R. and George Cruikshank.
In the next few months I will make a trip to Berkeley to The Bancroft Library at University of California, Berkeley, and the San Francisco Public Library Archives, to peruse their extensive files on early California history. I would imagine I will find some type of documents from old San Francisco Grocer/Liquor dealers, as well as importers, that might pertain to early mixed drink recipes.
A VIP Weirdo Drink and Cartoon
VIP’S Recipe (scary)
Well……five ounces of liquor and the juice of a half of lemon will surely result in placing you well on your way to Adios, but I wouldn’t think there will be any Hasta la Vista in the near future.
And as regards the craftsmen at the Army-Navy Club in Manila, you do have to wonder whose side they were on.
Source: “VIP tosses a party” Virgil Partch, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1959
