Gin Rickey: a classic long drink for those hot, spring days

Like many other classic cocktails, the origins of the Gin Rickey seem to be lost in time. In the Joy of Mixology, Gary Regan reports that it was invented by Colonel “Joe” Rickey who was a lobbyist in Washington, DC.  Other sources say Colonel Joe was a British officer who died in 1903 (thus dating the cocktail to pre-1903, unless he passed away in the act of inventing the thing).  Of course, he could have been both an officer and a lobbyist (good film title?).  Actually, the thought of a British officer lobbying corrupt American lawmakers with gin cocktails is kind of appealing: at least they weren’t grubbing for money for their reelection campaigns.  

One of the more attractive things about this long drink is its simplicity. The simplest recipes only call for three ingredients.  It reached 80 degrees in Salt Lake City today (at least it did at my house).  After returning from the gym and putting in enough time on yard work to preserve peace in the household, the time was right for the first Gin Rickey of the season.  It did not take long to gather the three ingredients, and not much more time was required to mix the cocktail.  The only real delay was the time it took to take the attached photo.  Use of your favorite highball Gin is recommended; save your best Gin for Martinis.  And finally, if the Rickey is too sour for you, add a little Simple Syrup or sugar to sweeten it up a little.  Leave it a little tart, though, or it won’t be a Gin Rickey.

Gin Rickey

2 oz New Amsterdam® Gin

½ oz fresh Lime juice (juice of ½ Lime)

½ tsp Simple syrup (optional)

4-5 oz Soda water

Fill a highball glass ¾ full of ice.  Add the Gin and Lime juice and drop the Lime rind on top of the ice.  Fill with Soda water, stir lightly, and enjoy.

The Perfect Cocktail – is it perfect for you?

The Perfect Cocktail is another classic from the Savoy Cocktail Book, found right below the Pegu Club Cocktail.  It’s simplicity is attractive, the Savoy specifies one-third each of French Vermouth, Italian Vermouth, and Gin.  Don’t use a Gin that will be overpowered by the Vermouths; Bombay Sapphire® was used here, and Noilly Pratt® works well for the French Vermouth.  The Italian Vermouth may be problematic.  If you enjoy, for example, a glass of Italian Vermouth on the rocks for an apéritif, you will enjoy this recipe as written.  If you’re aware of an Italian Vermouth that works better and is available in Utah, post its name as a response to this article.  The ones in my bar are on the sweet side, so if you prefer your cocktails a little dryer, you might want to add a dash of Angostura® Bitters to tone down the sweetness.  The choice is yours.

Perfect

1 oz French Vermouth

1 oz Italian Vermouth

1 oz Gin

1 Dash Angostura Bitters, (if necessary, not in the Savoy)

Pour ingredients into a mixing glass 2/3 full of ice.  Stir briskly for 20-30 seconds.  Strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Pegu Club Cocktail – a tart treat from the 1920’s

The classic Pegu Club Cocktail is another classic from the Savoy Cocktail Book,  even though it wasn’t invented at the Savoy Hotel.  It was actually invented at the Pegu Club in Burma (Myanmar), from whence it “traveled, and is asked for, around the world.”  It’s a great warm (hot?) weather cocktail that is best served ice cold.  The Savoy specifies a 2:1 Gin:Cointreau® ratio, but is rather vague on how these relate to the lime juice.  A little experimentation resulted in the proportions used in the recipe below, but if you like your sour cocktails a little tarter you can go with the juice of half a lime (1/2 oz).  The only sweet in this drink comes from the Cointreau, so that’s what you have to balance against the lime juice.  If you add sugar or cut the lime juice to under a teaspoon-full, though, it won’t be an “authentic” Pegu Club cocktail.

Pegu Club

¼ oz Lime juice, freshly squeezed

1 oz Cointreau (or Triple Sec)

2 oz Gin

1 Dash Angostura Bitters

1 dash Orange Bitters

Pour ingredients into a shaker 2/3 full of ice.  Shake well while thinking of a ceiling fan slowly turning in the old Pegu Club.  Strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lime wheel or a lime twist.

Vieux Carré cocktail puts you squarely in New Orleans

The Vieux Carré was invented during the 1930’s in the French Quarter of New Orleans (where the physical Vieux Carré is found) at the Hotel Monteleone by bartender Walter Bergeron.  To experience one at the Carousel Bar is said to be quite a treat.  A cocktail with six ingredients might seem to be a little contrived to some, but since two of the ingredients are bitters, it may pass muster.  Vieux Carré recipes generally call for equal amounts of Rye, Cognac, and Vermouth, with half that of the Benedictine and a dash each of Peychaud’s® (what’s a New Orleans cocktail without Peychaud’s?) and Angostura® bitters.  Experienced mixologists will know that this does not mean equal amounts of the two bitters: the bottle of Peychaud’s in my bar puts out a lot more bitters per dash – several drops more, anyway –  than does the Angostura bottle.  If that bothers you a little, think back to how well the Peychaud’s and Rye went together in your last Sazerac.  If you give the Vieux Carré a try, it’s almost sure to end up on your short list of cocktails.

Vieux Carré

3/4 oz Rye Whiskey

3/4 oz Cognac or good Brandy

3/4 oz sweet Vermouth

(a short) ½ oz Benedictine

1 dash Peychaud's bitters

1 dash Angostura bitters

Pour the Whiskey, Cognac, Benedictine and Vermouth into a mixing glass full of ice and shake in the bitters.  Stir well for 20-30 seconds, then strain into an old-fashioned glass half-full of ice (or strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass).  Twist a slice of lemon peel over the glass and drop it in.  Savor this cocktail while dreaming of Mardi Gras.

Corpse Reviver No. 2 cocktail is good enough to rattle your bones

Thumbing through the Savoy Cocktail Book in search of recipes for classic cocktails always pays off.  This time no thumbing was required.  During a quiet evening scanning the Twitter-feed while sipping a Corpse Reviver cocktail, a tweeter mentioned that their favorite cocktail was the Corpse Reviver No. 2.  Such an occurrence cannot just be coincidental, it must be kismet: my next Savoy experiment was set.  Fortunately, the Savoy is in alphabetical order and the recipe did not take long to find.  The Savoy can be rather ambiguous on quantities.  In the case of the Corpse Reviver No. 2 it calls for “1/4 glass” each of four ingredients, which could be as much as 1 to 2 ounces each.  That seemed a little much, so quantities were instead determined by the quantity of juice in half a lemon.  Either use the measures given below (based on my lemon), or use as much of each ingredient as you got out of your lemon half… your choice.

The recipe just calls for “Dry Gin”.  There were bottles of Bombay Sapphire® and Hendrick’s® Gin in the bar, and it was a tough decision, but combining Hendrick’s with the Lillet had worked in the Depth Charge, so the Hendrick’s won out.  Feel free, however, to use your Gin of choice.  As mentioned in that post, the original Savoy recipe includes Kina Lillet, which had quinine in it, but is no longer made (add a dash of Angostura® Bitters if you’re picky).  And finally, Grand Marnier was substituted for Cointreau®, so use that or your favorite orange liqueur.  While the Corpse Reviver No. 2 is not my new favorite cocktail, it has definitely won a spot in my heart and will be a frequent caller at my house.

Corpse Reviver No. 2

3/4 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

3/4 oz Kina Lillet

3/4 oz Grand Marnier

3/4 oz Hendrick’s Gin

1 Dash Absinthe.

Add the ingredients to a shaker half full of ice.  Give it your best shake until you feel it’s ready.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.   If you object to naked cocktails, feel free to select a suitable garnish.

What’s at the Utah DABC Store, April 2010?

There are two fine Vodkas marked down in April: Teton Glacier ($18.99, CS Code # 038115) and Tito’s Handmade ($16.99, CS Code # 038176).  (Too bad there are no bargains in April like the great deal on (ri)1 Rye Whiskey that the Utah Mixologist told you about last month.)  Both of these brands produce far less than the large, industrialized brands, but the results are worth going out of your way for, and we are lucky to be able to get both of them in Utah.  The Tastings.com Vodka section even has a review of the Teton Glacier.  If you read the recent post on the White Russian, you’ll know that the other essential ingredient in that cocktail (besides Vodka) is Kahlua.  The DABC has accommodated us this month by having Kahlua (1000ml, $20.99, CS Code # 067527) on sale, too, and you can check it out in the Tastings.com Coffee Liqueur section. 

Have you ever thought that you might be wasting that good, French sipping Cognac when you mix it in a cocktail?  Well, you’re probably right.  The best way I know to get around that problem is to use some far less expensive domestic Brandy in cocktails.  This month there are two inexpensive, high quality Brandies from E&J marked down: the VSOP ($10.99, CS Code # 052582) and the XO ($13.00, CS Code # 052563).  Both of these will do well in a Sidecar or any other cocktail and hurt your wallet far less than the Remy Martin will.  Check out the Tastings.com Brandy ratings  here.

If you like cocktails, it’s never a waste of time to download the sale book to see what’s marked down during the current month.  Every so often you can find one of your favorite brands on sale.   If you don’t know how to obtain this useful information, check out the post on “What’s on sale” at the Utah DABC, and see the associated posts for more information.  As always call ahead to your favorite store and ask if they have CS Code # for the item you want in stock.  With two great but affordable Vodka’s marked down this month, here’s a recipe for a classic Vodka cocktail, the Cosmopolitan.

Cosmopolitan

2 oz vodka

½ oz triple sec (or Grand Marnier®)

½ oz freshly squeezed lime juice

2 oz cranberry juice

Add the ingredients to a shaker full of ice.  Shake con brio until you know it’s ready.  Pour into a chilled cocktail glass.   For the classic Cosmo, garnish with a lime wheel.  To get a deeper red color, add more cranberry juice and use Grand Marnier instead of triple sec.