The Old Fashioned. A Muddled history

The Old Fashioned

An Old-Fashioned from Bow Lane, Dublin

"The Old-Fashioned Whisky Cocktail",to quote Simon Difford, was its original name. Its history can be seen as a bit like a game of Cluedo (Clue to my American readers): it's a case of who, where, and how.

History

The Old-Fashioned is the definition of a cocktail that was first published in ‘The Balance & Columbian Repository’, a publication from Hudson, New York in 1806. It was defined as a drink containing a mix of spirit, bitters, sugar and water. The Old-Fashioned went by a different name when it was first put down on paper in The Bartender's Guide by Professor Jerry Thomas in 1862, in which it was referred to as a Whisky Cocktail. In Thomas’ book it is also made in a different way, with its ingredients shaken up and strained into a chilled Martini glass. At that time the drink was imbibed as an "eye opener", something like your morning coffee, something to shake off the hangover from the night before. By the 1840s the Old-Fashioned had grown in popularity.

About 20 - 30 years later, some bartenders started putting their own twists on the Whisky Cocktail, calling it the Improved Whisky Cocktail. This new variation was made with the addition of Absinthe, Maraschino liqueur, Curacao, Chartreuse or other liqueurs. This change in what was being served infuriated the older drinkers in the bars they preferred the original way of making the drink. This change prompted them to begin ordering the Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail. It is from this that the name for the Old-Fashioned most likely stemmed.

Throughout the history of the Old-Fashioned, people and bars have claimed to invent the Old-Fashioned, most notably The Pendennis Club, a private members club in Louisville, Kentucky, founded in 1881. The Pendennis Club stated in a release in 2009 that the drink was made "different to the run of the mill Old-Fashioned being requested and consumed at the time." The recipe The Pendennis Club made included exclusively Kentucky Bourbon and three fruits (lemon, orange and cherry), muddled together with sugar syrup and bitters before adding ice . The Pendennis Old-Fashioned was said to be created for a Kentucky Colonel James E. Pepper who was also a Bourbon distiller. However in a 1914 book called Drinks by Jaqcues Straub (a former manager at The Pendennis Club) the Old-Fashioned is listed but there is no mention of it being created at the club itself. The Pendennis may have been the first to muddle fruit into their Old-Fashioned but, due to the fact that it is a private club with no written records, the muddled version of the Old-Fashioned didn't appear in cocktail books until after Prohibition.

Prohibition was unkind to many drinks, most of all the Old-Fashioned. The introduction of the Volstead Act saw many of the skilled bartenders move overseas to Europe or retire altogether. The speakeasies that operated during Prohibition were not concerned with the quality of what they served, so Canadian whisky replaced bourbon as the spirit in the Old-Fashioned and fruit was used in the making of it allegedly to mask the poorer quality of the liquor being used. The Old-Fashioned survived Prohibition and in 1935, two years after Repeal, The Brooklyn Eagle reported on the popularity of various cocktails in large hotels throughout the country and reported that “The Old-Fashioned cocktail [was] leading."

The introduction of Prohibition also brought about a change in the drinking culture in the America. The bars were no longer just a man's drinking spot;men and women now drank side by side (something not done before Prohibition). Women not only openly drank but, as discerning drinkers, had no problem in quizzing the bartenders on the ingredients of cocktails. In Robert Simonson's The Old-Fashioned he quotes a manager from the Lotus Club as saying "Women patrons at (my) place order Old-Fashioneds more often than any other cocktail." Women's love of the Old-Fashioned during that time is probably best captured in a song by Ruby Keeler in 1935 called "A Good Old-Fashioned Cocktail (with a Good Old-Fashioned Gal)."

The 1950s and 1960s saw a decline in the popularity of the Old-Fashioned, and the rise of vodka and vodka cocktails saw it fade into the background. It wasn't until 1987, when a artender was tossed a copy of Jerry Thomas' Bartender's Manual and asked to create a menu of classic cocktails, was it to appear again. That bartender was Dale Degroff of The Rainbow Rooms. Dale give rise to classic cocktails that had almost disappeared, like the Bronx, Sazerac, Whiskey Sours and the Old-Fashioned, and so they all began to make a comeback. Dale's recipe for the Old-Fashioned was one he grew up with, a muddled fruit version that was "punchy and wonderful tasting" as he calls it.

The Old-Fashioned was back again, and its revival brought back the age-old argument of how it should be made: with or without fruit, muddled or not? It is a discussion that is nearly as old as the cocktail itself and will probably continue for years to come. Its revival has also brought with it new twists on the classic, from PDT's Benton's Old-Fashioned (using bacon-infused Bourbon) and Death & Co's Oaxaca Old Fashioned (using aged Tequila) to one created closer to my home at Upstairs in Dublin called Celtic Fusion (with a mixture of Irish and Scotch Whiskey).

What ever way you enjoy your Old-Fashioned is up to your own taste, so enjoy nearly 200 years of history with every sip. Either way, it is back, and hopefully it will never fade again.

Recipes

The Benton's Old-Fashioned

Benton's Old Fashioned made by  Sophie's @ The Dean

Benton's Old Fashioned made by 

Sophie's @ The Dean

50ml Bacon fat-infused Bourbon

15ml Grade B maple syrup

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Garnished with an orange twist

Method

Combine all the ingredients except the orange twist in an Old-Fashioned glass. Stir with ice. Twist a large piece of orange over the glass and drop it in.

Bacon fat-infused Bourbon

50ml Bacon fat

1(750ml) bottle of Bourbon

Warm the bacon fat in a small saucepan on a low heat, stirring for about 5 minutes till it is melted. pour fat and bourbon into a freezer safe container and stir. Cover the container and let it sit at room temperature for 4 hours. Next place the container in the freezer for a further 2 hours. Remove the solid fat layer on the top of the bourbon and discard. filter the bourbon through a cheesecloth or a coffee filter into a bottle. Store in the fridge and use within 2 months.

Oaxaca Old-Fashioned

Oaxaca Old-Fashioned made by The Ivy, Dublin

50ml Reposado Tequila

2 dashes of Angostura bitters

15ml Agave syrup

Garnished with an orange twist

Method.

Combine all the ingredients except the orange twist in an Old-Fashioned glass. Stir with ice until chilled. Twist a large piece of orange over the glass and drop it in.

Celtic Fusion made by Upstairs@Kinara Kitchen, Dublin

Celtic Fusion

25ml Irish Whiskey

25ml Scotch Blended Whisky

2 dashes of Boker's bitters

15ml Demerara syrup

Method.

Combine all the ingredients except the orange twist in an Old-Fashioned glass. Stir with ice until chilled. Twist a large piece of orange over the glass and drop it in.

References.

Diffords Guide

The Old-Fashioned by Robert Simonson.

The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David A. Embury.

The Bartender's Guide by Jerry Thomas.

The Moscow Mule: A Kicking History

The Moscow Mule. 

The Moscow Mule is one of those great drinks for any occasion. Weather it's a summer refresher your looking for or a wintery ginger kick that you're after, then The Moscow Mule is the drink for you.

The Moscow Mule, since its creation, has been hugely popular. There have been many twists on the old classic, by changing the main spirit, weather it's using brandy for a French Mule or tequila for a Mexican Mule it's difficult to get wrong, and is always a fantastic drink.

A Bottle of Smirnoff  Black Vodka.

History

The creation of the of the Moscow Mule is somewhat disputed. In the research that I've done, I've found two main stories that stand out. Although one fact that remains consistent, is that it was originally created with Smirnoff vodka.

In 1934, Rudolf Kunnet secured the rights to Smirnoff from his friend Valdmir Smirnov, who was exiled from Russia to France during the Bolshevik Revolution, to produce his family vodka under the French spelling of his father's name, Piotr in America. 

Kunnet struggled with Smirnoff due to it being unpopular at the time in the US. In 1939 Kunnet sold the rights to a Connecticut company called Heublin, run by John G Martin. Martin kept Kunnet on as an account executive when he bought the company.

The Creation of The Moscow Mule

The first story of its creation is that John G Martin had a friend, Jack Morgan who own a bar on Sunset Strip called Cock 'n' Bull. Morgan had at the time had a stock of ginger beer which he couldn't sell. In the mean time, Morgan's girlfriend Osleen Schmit had recently inherited a copper manufacturing company.

According to Martin, himself, Kunnet, Morgan and Schmit met in the Cock 'n' Bull one evening to create a drink with Smirnoff and ginger beer. They settled on two ounces of vodka in a copper mug topped with ginger beer with a squeeze of lime juice. How they created the name is somewhat a mystery but, Martin said "it had something to do with a kick".

The other story came to light in an article in The Wall Street Journal in 2007, in which it credits the Cock 'n' Bull's head bartender at the time, Wes Price, for creating the drink.Price says he came up
with the drink sometime in 1941 in an effort to "to clean the basement" which had at the time, a shipment of Smirnoff in it as well as an excess of ginger beer. The Moscow Mule became so popular Price even made the drink for actor Broderick Crawford. Price said of its rise in popularity "it caught on like wildfire".

The Mule was hugely popular in America until the out break of World War 2, when production of Smirnoff stopped, and things were to get worse before they got better. The Cold War began and Americans began seeing the Moscow Mule as a Russian drink supporting Communism.

The Americans began avoiding the drink, but with the help of Smirnoff indicating that its vodka was not, and never had been a member of the Communist party, it survived the scare and was relaunched in 1965 as the 'Smirnoff Mule'. 

The Moscow Mule now enjoys its place in some of the top cocktail bars today.

Recipe

Knowing the original calls for regular Smirnoff, I'm actually going to use Smirnoff Black for this one. It was kindly given to me by a friend especially for this but, it's up to you which vodka you would like to use. Copper mugs are optional, but any long glass will do. 

Moscow Mule

50ml Smirnoff Black.

20ml Lime juice.

Fill the glass with ice & 

Top with Ginger Beer.

Garnish with a lime wheel

and a slice of fresh ginger.

References

http://www.diffordsguide.com
A Cock(tail) 'n' Bull Story, The Wall Street Journal 2007
Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails.

Bar Convent Berlin 2015. An Experience.

Bar Convent Berlin.

Picture of the Mast-Jagermiester stall.

At the beginning of the month I got a chance to experience one of the largest bar shows in the world; Bar Convent Berlin. B.C.B was launched in 2007 and today, is among the largest international meetings in the bar industry. With over 120 exhibitors and an annual crowd of 9'000 people expected each year, I was lucky enough to attend the convention with two other bartenders from Dublin.

Darren at the entrance to White Trash

Outside area of White Trash

We flew from Dublin Airport on a Tuesday morning and landed in Berlin at about 10:30am. A quick taxi into the city and our hotel where we met Christian from Mast-Jagermeister, our host for the the day.

 After we checked in, we got a quick talk about Jagermeister and its history, before we were brought to a place called White Trash Fast Food. This was a quirky place where the outside looking like someone's back garden in Southern America with an old bus as the entrance. the food was good and I was loving there "fuck you fries"

After lunch we got into a Jager jeep(1 of 4 they have) and we were brought to the bar show, While on our way there we drove past some of the city's tourists attractions( remains of the Berlin wall and Checkpoint Charlie). when we arrivied at the show we entered and I was in awe.

B.C.B covers 5 hall with talks going on throughout the show, You could spend a full 2 days there and probably not cover everything. Our first stop was the Mast-Jagermeister stall where they had 4 individual bars each serving a specific style of drink, We went for the sweet and sour stall and the drinks were great, One of my favourites was their Jager style zombie.

We ended up leaving the Jagermeister stall and went on to explore the rest of the show. The show was full of brands from the large brands like Pernod/Ricard to smaller ones like Ugava and Glendalough distillery and even the new Teelings Whiskey, with each stall offering tastings of it product as well as information on it. Monkey 47 gin had a new product on show as well as Chopin vodka.

Me & Matteo Luxardo.

Anna Walsh & Tess Posthumus @ World Class stall.

One of my highlights of the show was getting to sit in on a talk by Jacob Briars & Ivy Mix called 'Standing on the Shoulder of Giants' which was a great talk about how to improve as a bartender. the next moment was meeting Gaz Regan and getting my copy of his book Negroni signed.

The show was full of different things happening through the day. From the World Class stage where competitors of this years competition offered samples of there drinks to cocktail demonstrations.

Towards the end of the show we made our way back to the Jagermeister stall and met with Christian before heading back to the hotel to change before dinner. We went to a quiet little restaurant for dinner which was great (my first time trying Schnitzel) two mains and a Jagermeister in after each.

After dinner we were brought to an after party held in what looked like a dodgy area, but as we rounded a corner, we saw a queue of people waiting. On entering the party we were given tokens which were used to buy your drinks. The place was a large open building with an outside area where a pool was, the music was pumping and the Jagermeister was flowing.

 At some hour in the morning we left the party and made our way back to the hotel, but not before grabbing some pizza. Arriving at the hotel and made sure I had a wake up call for the morning, and we headed to bed to get ready for our trip back to Dublin the next day.

Drinks at the after party.

Picture of us at the after party.

To sum up the trip, I would advise anyone if you have an interest in the industry or are just an avid spirits enthusiast go to Bar Convent Berlin. It is something I will not forget and will hope to be back again next year.

To finish I'd like to say a big thank you to Mast-Jagermeister for bringing me over and showing us such a great time and looking after us so well and Barry & Fitzwilliam for giving me the opportunity to experience the show.

The Daiquiri. A Timeless Classic

The Daiquiri; a cocktail bartenders favourite, well mine anyway. This classic cocktail is usually followed by words like strawberry, raspberry or frozen, but there is much more to this cocktail than the frozen drink it has now become.

History of the Daiquiri:

In 1898 the US began mining Iron Ore in Cuba, in a little town called Santiago De Cuba. The first expedition was led by an engineer named Jennings Cox. His destination was a place on the south eastern shore of Cuba near the Seirra Maestra Mountains. the nearest town to where Cox was working, was a place called Daiquiri. The men were attracted to the mining in Cuba by the reward of high salaries, and included in this salary was a bottle of local white rum.

There are tow versions of the story of the how the Daiquiri came about. One being that during a meeting with another engineer, Cox set about making a drink from what he had at his disposal at the time; a bottle of rum, limes and sugar.
the second story comes from his granddaughter she recounted that while entertaining some American guests one evening he ran out of gin, being weary of giving them straight rum he added lime and sugar to make it easier for them to drink.
Which ever story it you prefer is your choice, but what is clear Cox had created something quite special.

The name of the Daiquiri came about after some time. Cox was in a bar one evening with some friends, realising that the drink had no name he declared to his friends "Gentlemen and friends, we have been drinking this combination for awhile now. Don't you think that we should baptise it?" After a brief silence he said "I have it we shall call it Daiquiri, after this little town where it was created.

The Daiquiri's popularity grew on the island of Cuba, but its popularity would grow much more. In 1909 Admiral Lucius Johnson returned from the Spanish - American war and introduced the cocktail to the Army & Navy Club in Washington D.C. It was from there that the Daiquiri spread across the country to bars and clubs.

The Recipe:

If you were to look through an old cocktail book from the renowned La Flordita Bar in Cuba, you will see that under the Daiquiri, the list of ingredients has the word Limòns this is due to there being no word for lime in Spanish.

Jennings Cox original recipe (Serves 6):

The juice of 6 limòns (limes)
6 Teaspoons of sugar
6 Bacardi cups “Carta Blanca”
2 small cups of mineral water.

Plenty of crushed ice
Put all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake well.
Personally I prefer my Daiquiri’s a bit on the sharp side, so this is my personal favourite recipe. I
make mine with caster sugar and before some wise-guy says, “the sugar won’t dissolve and all you
taste is lime”, if you were to put in the lime and sugar first, stir it around and then it will dissolve.

My Daiquiri Recipe (Serves One):

2 Barspoons of Caster sugar.
20mls of Lime juice.
50mls of White Rum.

Instructions: 

Put the lime and caster sugar into a mixing glass and stir for a few seconds to help the sugar to dissolve.
 Next add the rum (whatever rum you chose is up to you I normally use Bacardi, but not bound to it) fill the shaker with cubed ice and shake well.
Double strain into a chilled glass and garnish with a lime wedge on the side of the glass or a lime zest on top.