Lost and Found

My mother was never keen on throwing things away, I was always informed the moment she would it would jump right back in fashion. Truth is, given enough time, everything will some day come back in to vogue with a renewed lease of life and on that day we are all left wondering why this fashion ever died out in the first place. The cocktail world is currently enjoying a resurgence in vintage drinks, classic cocktails made in authentic ways using traditional ingredients and methods are taking the bar world by storm!

Unfortunately my mothers advice never reached the ears of the bartenders of old, leaving many classic libations unrecorded in modern bartender manuals, as a result many beautiful cocktails were left untouched and unappreciated.

Ted Haigh did a sterling job in his book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails researching and bringing these lost drinks back to bartenders and booze aficionados alike, this post will explore some of the absolute gems given a new breath of life by this spectacular publication.

The first drink I wanted to explore was one recorded in Charles H. Baker's 1939 edition of The Gentleman's Companion, The Alamagoozlum Cocktail.

This drink has a rather intense list of specific ingredients making it difficult to reproduce at most home bars and also making it guaranteed to annoy any bartender, especially if like me you decided to order it in the middle of a Friday night service. Having said this, rumour has it Will at Hyde & Co is rather fond of such behaviour, so pop down and see him for an Alamagoozlum when you've got the time...

The Alamagoozlum photographed
by Sofia Miranda

The Alamagoozlum Cocktail

Bols Genever 30ml

Still Mineral Water 30ml 

Appletons Rum V/X 22.5ml

Green Chartreuse 22.5ml

Simple Syrup 22.5ml

Cointreau 7.25ml

Angustora Aromatic Bitters 7.25ml

Egg White 1/2 

The key to this drink is dilution, dry shake first to emulsify the egg white, then take the largest shaker you have, fill it up with ice an give it a very hard and extremely long shake before fine straining it in to a coupe large enough to contain this beastie.

At first glance the drink is slightly reminiscent of a latte, a pleasant coffee colour from the heavy measure of Angostura bitters and a wonderful foam from the egg white. The egg white does a great job at combining the diverse range of flavours whilst giving the drink an exceptionally smooth mouth feel. On the palate the malty notes of the genever shine through immediately which are followed by sweet, honeyed caramel notes from the rum and an aromatic spicy finish of cloves and cinnamon courtesy of the Chartreuse and the Angostura.

All in all a rather tasty and charming drink, more on the sweet of the spectrum, a perfect digestif.

The next beverage of particular interest is The Twentieth Century Cocktail. First recorded in the Cafe Royal Bar Book of 1937, and named after a super modern streamline train from New York to Chicargo that was unveiled that year.

This is an extraordinary libation using a diverse range of contrasting ingredients, our good friend gin, Lillet Blanc, lemon juice and Creme de Cacao blanc. The first three ingredients are fairly standard ingredients often mixed with gin, indeed without the Creme de Cacao it looks remarkably similar to the Corpse Reviver No.2. The cacao was what made this drink appeal to me when I first read about it and is what sets it apart from the hundreds of gin cocktails which have come and gone over the years.

The Twentieth Century Cocktail  

Tanqueray - 50ml

Lillet Blanc - 20ml

Lemon Juice - 20ml

Creme de Cacao Blanc - 15ml

Shake over ice and strain in to  chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a lemon zest.

A very light and refreshing beverage with that lovely juniper and citrus combination upfront, the surprise comes at the back of the plate when a wonderful sweet chocolate note coats the mouth, refreshing citrusy chocolate, what a novel idea. If the cocoa notes are too over powering cut down on it a little, after all it's not just the Martini which can be tailored to the individuals palate.  

The final drink i wanted to cover for this post is potentially one of the coolest named vintage drinks, the  Satan's Whiskers Cocktail! Although a gin based libation this particular cocktail is rather light on the gin, sharing centre stage with fresh orange juice, dry and sweet vermouth, orange liqueur and orange bitters. The Satan's Whiskers can be served either straight (with Grand Marnier) or curled (with orange curacao), personally I prefer a Curled Satan's Whiskers using Cointreau as I find the flavour of Grand Marnier a little over powering. As for my gin of choice, I was looking for a nice big, bold gin, ironically Deaths Door Gin works rather well.

Satan's Whiskers Cocktail (Curled)

  

Deaths Door Gin - 20ml

Noilley Prat Dry Vermouth - 20ml

Punt e Mes Sweet Vermouth - 20ml

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice - 20ml

Cointreau - 10ml

Orange Bitters - 5ml

Shake all ingredients over ice and fine strain in a champagne coupe, garnish with a lovely curled orange zest twist. 

A lovely zesty orange nose on this drink, with huge citrusy orange notes with a rather bitter finish from the vermouth and heavy use of bitters, a drink for those with a more adult palate accustomed to bitter flavours.

Well I hope you enjoy rediscovering these once lost, luscious libations. These are only a taster of the spectacular selection Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails has to offer, if you like what you see I would certainly recommend the book.

Umpleby & Brown 

    

The Genever Daisy and Death in the Gulf Stream

Genever is commonly described as the mother of gin, this malty botanically infused spirit, sometimes referred to as Hollands Gin, is what inspired the gin we drink today. Although it is a spirit in it’s own right we believe it is unfair to speak of gin without paying homage to Genever. 

Genever is made in a similar way to gin, a high proof spirit is redistilled with a selection of botanicals, of which juniper must be included. The difference is that this spirit is then blended with a spirit is made from malted barley, the addition of which gives genever it’s distinctive malty, slightly oily flavour.

With the forgotten and classic cocktail renaissance in full swing as well as recent research by David Wondrich suggesting that many classic gin cocktails from the Martinez, the Collins and the Aviation may have evolved from drinks originally containing genever, cocktails with this old spirit are making there way on to drinks menu’s up and down the country. 

We decided to cover two genever cocktails, one rediscovered classic, created by Ernest Hemming way and a forgotten cocktail usually made with gin, rum and just about any other spirit except genever.

The first cocktail is one either created or very much enjoyed by Hemmingway, Death in the Gulf Stream. We discovered this interesting libation in Jigger, Beaker & Glass by Charles H. Baker Jr., a book originally published in 1932 as The Gentleman’s Companion.

The recipe calls for a large amount of Holland’s Gin, in this case we opted for Bols Genever considering its high malt wine content, a characteristic of classic genevers, the juice and zest of a whole lime and four dashes of Angostura Bitters. The original recipe is adverse to adding any sugar although does concede that it is acceptable to add a tea spoon if necessary. It is however worth considering that Hemmingway was diabetic and as a result enjoyed drinks on the rather sour side. In the interest of making a more approachable drink we have opted to sweeten it with agave syrup, a sweetener that has proven diabetic friendly… here's to you Hemmingway!

Death in the Afternoon

- 60ml Bols Genever

- 25ml Lime Juice

- 4 long Dashes of Angustora Bitters

- Zest of 1 Lime

- 10ml of Agave Syrup

- Lime Zest Garnish

Peel lime with a potato peeler, add zest in to Boston glass with other ingredients, Shake over cubed ice, strain in to an Old Fashioned over cubed ice, garnish with a lime zest and serve… 

The second drink we chose to visit was a classic style of drinks enjoying a resurgence in certain circles, the Daisy. The Daisy is a sour based cocktail sweetened with orange liqueur and lifted with a splash of charged water. The Daisy is a very bright, refreshing, summery cocktail and works remarkably well with Genever. The malty characteristics of Genever appear somewhere in the background with the botanical backbone and citrus notes make this drink approachable to new comers to the spirit.

Genever Daisy

Bols Genever - 60ml

Grand Marnier - 10ml

Lemon Juice - 22.5ml

Simple Syrup - 10ml

Soda Water - Splash

Garnish with a lemon or orange zest

Combine all ingredients except soda water in a shaker, fill to the top with ice and shake hard, fine strain in to a chilled cocktail glass, add a dash of soda then garnish with a lemon or orange zest. 

We hope you enjoy

Umpleby & Brown