Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails – Boston

by Pink Gin

This week in the Dig I offered up a road-trip version of the classic martini and I have a few little baubles to add…

More on ingredients for the “HoJotini”
We’re using Beefeater gin, Noilly Prat vermouth, and Angustora orange bitters that we got through bartering on the black market. Fees Orange bitters are somewhat more available in local shops. Or look on-line.

What’s a HoJo?
For those of you too young to remember or from another country, HoJo’s is a quintessential 20th century American story of one man’s vision. It starts with New England ice cream, leads to the development of the “franchise” system, capitalizes on the needs of automotive travelers wanting reliable food and lodging, becomes a huge national success, is passed on to the founder’s son, suffers from competition, is sold off in pieces to conglomerates, and limps along today. Anyone who can comment on this blog post with ways to link HoJo’s with cocktails or women’s history gets bonus points. Here are a few links on nostalgia for the old “orange roof”:

http://www.hojoland.com/history.html
http://www.roadsidefans.com/hojo.html
http://www.slamtrak.com/hojo2003/

Modding up the liquor travel case
Also known as a “travel bar,” these can be found in a wide range of sizes and styles. The featured photo was not staged; I snapped this at a hotel on the Jersey shore. My travel companion and I had been road tripping all day and were getting ready for dinner while sipping the martini featured in the Dig. The case is an older one made of plastic and metal and includes space for two small bottles, a flask, small glasses, a stirring spoon, and an opener. We carry what you see here. The gin goes into a smaller bottle to save space, and the two plastic cups have been replaced with four unstemmed vintage cocktail glasses protected with sheets of papertowel. These are put into service when no other glassware is handy. We also add in a paring knife and a kitchen towel. With ice provided by the hotel, we are good to go.

Recipes for other cocktails mentioned in the Dig this week

FRENCH 75
1 oz gin
½ oz fresh lemon juice
Simple syrup
4 oz sparking white wine

Shake the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup (a splash or to taste) with ice, pour in stemmed glass and top with sparkling wine. Other variations include cognac rather than gin as well as different glassware.

NEGRONI
1/3 gin
1/3 sweet vermouth
1/3 Campari

Stir the ingredients with ice and serve up or on the rocks. A twist of orange is the least offensive garnish I’ve seen served with this drink.

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