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Whiskey and Barspoons: the Brainstorm Cocktail

The Brainstorm Cocktail, photo © 2017 Douglas M. Ford. All rights reserved..

There is a tongue-in-cheek reference to something called a Brainstorm Cocktail in a 1906 issue of a trade magazine called “The Northwest Druggist”:

The “brainstorm” cocktail is the latest. It consists mainly of cracked ice set aside to thaw.

Druggist humor, I guess.

The real Brainstorm Cocktail came along about ten years later; it’s one of Hugo Ensslin’s pre-Prohibition classics, first published in his Recipes for Mixed Drinks (1916).

Continue reading “Whiskey and Barspoons: the Brainstorm Cocktail” →

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Back to the tropics with the 151 Swizzle

Lemon Hart 151 Demerara rum label (detail), Photo © 2017 Douglas M. Ford. All rights reserved.

At first glance, the Swizzle seems like a very close cousin of Tiki—both are refreshing blends of (typically) rum, lime, sweetener, and ice, served in tall glasses with pleasant, tropical garnishes.

But the two styles followed very different trajectories.

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Cynar and Scotch: The Choke and Smoke Cocktail

Choke and Smoke Cocktail, photo © 2017 Douglas M. Ford. All rights reserved.

I’ve always had trouble with Scotch whisky when it comes to making cocktails. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this—the long history of cocktailing has only managed to come up with a handful of Scotch-based cocktails that have any semblance of balance and finesse.

Continue reading “Cynar and Scotch: The Choke and Smoke Cocktail” →

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Whiskey Sours and Embittered Last Words: the Paper Plane Cocktail

The Paper Plane Cocktail, photo © 2016 Douglas M. Ford. All rights reserved.

The first cocktail I learned to make was the Whiskey Sour. I made it with Scotch, which was a very poor choice, but I was just out of college and didn’t know better. It’s gratifying to discover, in retrospect, that even then I had enough wits about me to think that tinkering with the mix might lead to a worthwhile improvement in flavor. It took forever to realize that the problem was the Scotch. Well, it was too much lemon, too, but at least I finally figured it out.

Continue reading “Whiskey Sours and Embittered Last Words: the Paper Plane Cocktail” →

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Hair of the Dog: the Morning Glory Cocktail

Morning Glory Cocktail, photo© 2016 Douglas M. Ford. All rights reserved.

Hangovers have been around forever, so it’s not surprising that one of the most popular branches of amateur medicine is the hangover “cure.”

Continue reading “Hair of the Dog: the Morning Glory Cocktail” →

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Chasing the Gibson Cocktail

Gibson Cocktail (detail), photo © 2016 Douglas M. Ford. All rights reserved.

Steward: “Cocktail before dinner?”

Thornhill: “Yes, I’ll have a Gibson.”

So begins one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most amusing scenes, the famous club car seduction scene between Cary Grant’s Roger Thornhill and Eva Marie Saint’s Eve Kendall in North by Northwest. Seduction isn’t really the right word; it’s more of a pickup scene between two people who don’t seem to be in the habit of resisting. Grant’s Thornhill seems the type to always have his motor running, but it’s clearly Eve who’s shifting the gears. Continue reading “Chasing the Gibson Cocktail” →

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Mixing the Pisco Sour

The Pisco Sour, photo © 2016 Douglas M. Ford. All rights reserved.

We don’t often encounter the Pisco Sour, mainly because we don’t often encounter the Peruvian brandy called Pisco these days. (For that matter, we don’t seem to encounter very many brandy cocktails of any sort, but that’s another story.)

The Pisco Sour is a classic brandy sour, differing little from what we might call the Jerry Thomas brandy sour template. It uses lime juice (instead of lemon) to provide the sour component, but its hallmark difference is an ostentatious eggwhite foam.

Continue reading “Mixing the Pisco Sour” →

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Rum and Falernum — the Corn ’n Oil Cocktail

The Corn 'n Oil Cocktail, photo © 2016 Douglas M. Ford. All rights reserved.

Drinks are named for places, religions, sweethearts, politicians, even political parties. Some drinks draw their names from song lyrics, some reflect ideas and aspirations. And some have names are utterly inscrutable, like the Corn ’n Oil Cocktail.

Continue reading “Rum and Falernum — the Corn ’n Oil Cocktail” →

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The Olympic Cocktail

Olympic Cocktail (detail), photo © 2016 Douglas M. Ford. All rights reserved.

The Lusitania, the Kaiser Wilhelm, the Titanic—before World War I, the great ocean liners were the peak of traveling adventure, luxury, and technology. It was the age of the “greyhounds of the seas.”

Their British and German owners competed for speed, for luxury, and for bragging rights; the twenty years between 1895 and 1915 saw the launches of ever-larger ships, each more lush and decadent than its predecessors. The story of the Titanic provides one of the world’s best-known cautionary tales about the dangers of overweening pride in technology, but, oh, that was a handsome, luxurious, and well-fed ship—for all of the five days it stayed afloat.

As it turns out, the Titanic had a sister ship; Continue reading “The Olympic Cocktail” →

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