Art of Drink

Fruit Pectin

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 20:39:45 -0500

After writing the article on the Dawn of Tiki, I had about a litre of prepared fruit juice leftover, so I’ve continued to make the drink from the Philippines. Even though I’m on my sixth or seventh one, the drink still has a peculiar property that makes me enamored with it. I’ve finally figured out one of the unique properties that makes it so enjoyable: fruit pectin.

The Dawn of Tiki?

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:30:19 -0500

When you think Tiki, you think tropical drinks from exotic locations like Polynesia, and people such as Donn the Beachcomber. You may also know that the tiki fad didn't begin until 1934. So, if Don the Beachcomber started the tiki fad, what were his influences? Obviously, the Caribbean and south pacific were big influences, but what exactly were these people drinking, in those countries, that made an impression on Donn Beach? Well, it is quite possible that the following common drink from the Philippines did.

Bengal Cocktail

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:04:51 -0500

Everything that is old will eventually become new again. This seems to be prove true in the cocktail world right now. For a period of time, old cocktail book would sell for pennies, now they can reach stratospheric prices on places like eBay. Locked within these books are many of the original cocktail creations from the 1800’s which provide a wealth recipes and ideas for creative bartenders. One of these lost recipes is the Bengal Cocktail.

Links Updated

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:29:09 -0500

I have updated the links to other bloggers / cocktail sites. The list was too long to put in the sidebar anymore, so I had to create a links page. I pulled this from Cocktailnerds comprehensive list, but someone probably got missed. So if you are that person, let me know and I'll add you to the link section. Feel free to link back, you don't need my permission. That is all.

Peach Blow (1909)

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:14:51 -0500

Digging up old cocktail, or in this case, fizz recipes, has led me to this interestingly named drink, the Peach Blow. The article is from the May 2^nd, 1909 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. A reader asked for the recipe of the Peach Blow and the Lilac Fizz. The newspaper was happy to oblige. Now, almost 100 years later, and right in the middle of peach season, I’m happy to bring it to you. I’d do the Lilac Fizz to, but I don’t have any Creme de Yvette.

Historical Cocktail Competitions

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:51:47 -0500

After browsing though hundreds, if not thousands, of old newspaper articles, I’ve come across some interesting cocktails. One of the neat things is the news reports on cocktail competitions. Some of these are as early as 1888. In my brief review of the winning cocktails, not many, if any, have made it to the modern era of bartending. Some haven’t made it because the ingredients no longer exist (i.e. Montana Cordial, anybody?) or they were just lost to time. Well, I’m going to fix that and do some posts on these lost cocktails.

Green Swizzle

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:11:21 -0500

The most common references you will see about the Green Swizzle, are the recipe that incorporates creme de menthe, or the quote from "The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy". It has been said, many times, that the creme de menthe version is not the original recipe and that the original "has been lost in history" or that "it never existed". These two statements I do not agree with, and I've managed to dig up a number of articles that prove the Green Swizzle did exist, and that the original recipe may be right in front of our eyes.

Falernum

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:19:56 -0500

This particular cocktail ingredient has had a significant amount of discussion in the old blogosphere. Many of the cocktail luminaries, if there is such a thing, have researched the origins of this flavour syrup from the Barbados. None more than Ted "Dr. Cocktail" Haigh. In a now defunct Martini Republic post, the good Doctor made a couple of statements about Falernum that I have been able to clarify, and improve upon his research. These documents also have a recipe for Falernum that dates back to 1896. There is also a reference to drinking it with Wormwood bitters. Curious?

My Love Affair with Caffeine

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:33:17 -0500

I am addicted to caffeine. There, I said it, but I think anyone that knows me would just yawn at that statement. Nothing feels quite as good as the warm, glowing, hug of caffeine in the morning. But, some killjoys have attempted to besmirch my good friend. They say that it causes heart disease, dehydrates you, hypertension, cancer and bone loss. All those things are crap and not true. Don’t believe me? We’ll here are some stone cold scientific facts.

Mx Monday: Local Flavour

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:05:50 -0500

This month, Mixology Monday is on local drinks, either a drink that originated in your area, or one based on local ingredients. I doubt that any good, or interesting, cocktail has ever come from the city I reside in, but local ingredients are abundant. At this time of year blueberries are the fruit to be picked and I, with some help, picked 22 pounds of the these little berries. It is a job that requires patience, but these farm berries are nothing like the puny wild blueberries, so I'm not complaining.

Six Penny Crank

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:55:37 -0500

When you browse through vintage books, you occasionally come across some interesting drinks. One that caught my eye was a drink called Six Penny Crank from The Vintner's, Brewer's, Spirit Merchant's, and Licensed Victualler's Guide; Containing the history, theory, and practice of manufacturing wines, By a Practical Man (1828). It is more the name, than the actual recipe, that caught my eye. We’ve heard of flips, swizzle's, smashes, punch, etc., etc. but where did the term “crank” come from?

Blinded with Science

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:18:00 -0500

Christine Sismondo has written an article for Gremolata discussing the many sessions, at Tales of the Cocktail, that combined science with cocktails. It is a good assessment of how things are changing in the cocktail world and how were perceive what we drink. Of course Jamie Bourdreau gets his time in the spotlight, but I make an appearance. Check it Out.

Sensory Perception Presentation

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:38:28 -0500

Well, I finally had some time to sit down and put the presentation onto the Art of Drink. I wanted to format it in the style of the website, since having just the point form presentation leaves a lot of knowledge gaps. So, down the road I'll be adding "context" to each topic and hopefully for those that didn't attend, or couldn't make it to Tales of the Cocktail, will get some useful information. For now, the basic presentation can be found here: Sensory Perception & Mixology

Cocktail Origin Addendum

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:36:21 -0500

In my previous post I spoke about the original of the word cocktail and posted a couple of old scanned newsprint articles discussing the topic. My opinion was that it came from horses, and that got me thinking about a couple of results I received while searching for the word cocktail in Eighteenth Century Collection Online (University access only, sorry). I found the term cocktail used in a horse’s name (“No Cocktail”) in a book from 1800 detailing the winning horses for 1799.

Origin of the Word Cocktail

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:43:06 -0500

This topic has been debated a lot and nobody really knows where the word came from, but every once in a while somebody comes across an old newspaper article discussing this topic. Well, as I was researching through some archives of old newspapers, I came across a couple of articles discussing the origin of the word “cocktail”. I decided to share them. The articles are interesting in that they are from a fairly early time period (1910, 1924, 1976). Some of the stories don’t jive with other historical accounts (like the third story about Angostura and Cockfighting). But, they are pieces of history.