sweet vermouth | Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails

Posts Tagged ‘sweet vermouth’

LUPEC: Spe-Drunking*

Posted in Weekly Dig, Women's History, tagged Alice Guest, Alice Mine, angostura bitters, Cave drinking, dry ver, Gin, Grand Marnier, Philadelhpia broads, sweet vermouth on July 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

*As originally published in the Weekly Dig.

by Pink Lady

Ever sip a cocktail in a cave? Residents of 17th century Philadelphia did, thanks to a very clever widow that we are happy to count among our forebroads. Continuing our celebration of historic ladies of bartending, here is the story of Alice Guest.

Alice and her husband George emigrated from England to Philadelphia in 1683, where George set up a brickworks on a less-than-desirable swath of land on the banks of the Delaware River.

When George died in 1685, Alice applied for a license to operate a tavern (as many women did) as way to support herself. The locale? The cave she occupied on the banks of the river. Alice’s dwelling indicates that she was of meager means at the time, but she was quickly able to turn her fortune around. Alice’s cave was ideally positioned to provide tavern services to the increasingly large numbers of immigrants pouring into the country by ship. She also captured the business of men employed in the sea trade: mariners, merchants, chandlers and ship carpenters.

During her first year in business Alice amassed enough money to put a bond on her business. When the city of Philadelphia moved to evict all the cave dwellers from the banks of the river, Alice was among the few exceptions to the rule. Alice could certainly have afforded to move her tavern business anywhere, but she chose to stay in her cave, most likely because she had a solid reputation there, served a regular clientele and could offer guests a unique place to sip their punch.

By the time she died in 1693, Alice had received a patent to her land, built a structure to house her tavern and erected a wharf out from her riverfront—along which she’d also constructed warehouses and a dwelling. And yes, she acquired another residence.

Here’s to Alice and her booming, cave-dwelling Philadelphia tavern!

ALICE MINE
1 oz Grand Marnier
3/4 oz gin
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1/4 oz sweet vermouth
1 dash Angostura bitters
Stir ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
CIN-CIN!!

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BULLETPROOF COCKTAIL: THE AMERICANO*

Posted in Weekly Dig, tagged Americano, Bulletproof Cocktails, Campari, club soda, sweet vermouth on July 28, 2010| Leave a Comment »

*Recent ruminations from LUPEC Boston, in case you missed ’em in the Dig.

by Pinky Gonzalez

In the spirit of bulletproof cocktails (read: drinks very hard to fuck up), we offer the Americano. It was born in Italy, and named for us Americans. It’s a tall, soda-and-mixers drink, and you can knock back a few of ’em in the blazing heat without worrying about it going straight to your head.

Most bartenders won’t know what the hell you’re ordering if you ask for it by name, however, so do the following. Ask graciously if they are familiar with the highball Americano, as opposed to the (sans-alcohol) espresso with hot water. If not, kindly say something like, “It’s a little obscure but simple: equal parts Campari and sweet vermouth topped with soda in a tall rocks glass with an orange twist.”

Make sure it gets plenty of ice too. Some ‘tenders like to skimp on the rocks, lest they have to make (sigh, groan!) another trip to lug up more ice for their bin. Fill it with ice, pal.

Cinzano, the Italian (sweet) vermouth is preferred here. Campari is a scarlet-hued, bittersweet, Italian aperitif that is usually mixed with soda or used in Negronis. Campari was developed in Milan in 1860 by Gaspare Campari, using a secret recipe of aromatic herbs in a base spirit. Bark, cherry and orange peel often come to mind.

The Americano cocktail was originally known as the “Milano-Torino”—Campari from Milan (Milano) and Cinzano from Turin (Torino). During Prohibition, the Italians noticed a surge of American tourists who enjoyed the beverage. As a nod to their thirsty American visitors, the drink became known as the “Americano.”

CIN-CIN!

AMERICANO

Fill glass with ice, top with:

1 oz Campari

1 oz sweet vermouth

fill with club soda

garnish with orange peel

READ MORE FROM THE LADIES UNITED FOR THE PRESERVATION OF ENDANGERED COCKTAILS, BOSTON CHAPTER, AT LUPECBOSTON.COM.

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A Night at Manderley Bar*

Posted in Events, Weekly Dig, tagged American Repertory Theatre, Annie Darcy Band, cognac, Creme de Noyaux, creme yvette, dark rum, demerara sugar, dry vermouth, English Breakfast tea, Gin, Grand Marnier, grapefruit juice, La Morra, lemon juice, lemons, Lillet blanc, Manderley Bar, nutmeg, Old Etonian, Orange Bitters, orange curaçao, Orange Juice, Plymouth gin, Raspberry Syrup, Rye, Satan's Whiskers, Sleep No More, sweet vermouth on December 16, 2009| 1 Comment »

*The latest ruminations from LUPEC Boston, in case you missed ‘em in this Week’s Dig.

by Pink Lady

As members of LUPEC, we devote a good deal of time, both personally and professionally, to breeding, raising and releasing endangered cocktails into the wild. It’s arduous work, but someone’s gotta do it. Every now and then, we like to take a little break from the cause and diversify our activities. What better way to do so than with a night at the theater?

We were thus utterly delighted when the folks at Manderley Bar invited us to participate in the immersive theater experience Sleep No More. Produced by award-winning British theater company Punchdrunk in conjunction with the American Repertory Theater and La Morra restaurant, this performance has been making headlines since it opened in Boston in October. A cursory read of the details leaves no question as to why:

• The show takes place in an abandoned elementary school in Brookline, where each room has been transformed into that of a 1930s-era home. (Except the bathrooms, where the stalls are still portioned for little people and hark eerily back to second grade.)

• It’s theater … kind of. More precisely, the show is an installation of scenes designed to intimate the story of Macbeth told in the framework of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.

• The audience dons masks and moves through the set among the actors, experiencing the performance on a sensory level as they choose what to watch and where to go—from pine-scented rooms full of Christmas trees to a hallway that reeks of mothballs, to room after room of props you can actually touch.

• A ’30s-era jazz club, the Manderley Bar, acts as home base for the show, where a swinging jazz quintet, the Annie Darcy Band, performs standards post performance as you mix, mingle, debrief and drink.

• The entire experience is creepy as hell but with Manderley Bar as home base, you can pop in for a tipple at any point during the show, and return to experience more art through a slightly rosier lens.

LUPEC Boston will join the staff at Manderley Bar behind the stick tonight pouring a special cocktail list inspired by the performance, including Satan’s Whiskers (Curled or Straight) and our favorite punch, David Wondrich’s Fatal Bowl, among others. These will be served in addition to the Manderley’s excellent classic menu, which features gems like this one, the Old Etonian. Mix one up at home as you toast the coolest interpretation of Macbeth to hit Boston in some time—and buy tickets online before the show ends on January 3rd.

OLD ETONIAN

1.5 oz Plymouth Gin

1.5 oz Lillet Blanc

Add two dashes each of crème de noyaux and orange bitters.

Shake with ice; strain into your favorite vintage cocktail shaker. Garnish with a twist of orange peel.

Drinks from the LUPEC Boston menu at Sleep No More are below:

SATAN’S WHISKERS (Curled or Straight)
.5 oz gin
.5 oz dry vermouth
.5 oz sweet vermouth
.5 oz orange juice
2 tsp orange curacao
1 dash orange bitters
Shake, strain up, garnish with orange twist. For straight, sub Grand Marnier for curacao.
From Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail Book, published in London in 1930. “We sip our Satan’s Whiskers curled if it’s still light outside and straight if it’s not.”

BLUE MOON
2 oz Gin
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 oz Crème Yvette
Shake and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass
Lemon twist

THE BLINKER
2 oz rye
1 oz grapefruit juice
2 barspoons raspberry syrup
Shake with ice, strain into a chilled vintage cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon twist.
First appeared in Patrick Gavin Duffy’s The Official Mixer’s Manual, circa 1934. Blinker was another term for the blinders worn by working horses to help keep their eyes on the road.

THE FATAL BOWL (aka The Wallop Bowl)
Recipe by David Wondrich
4 lemons
1 cup demerara sugar (or Sugar in the Raw)
4 English Breakfast Tea bags
1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 1/2 cups Cognac
1 1/2 cups Dark Rum
fresh nutmeg
Remove the peel from 4 lemons with a vegetable peeler, and place in a large punch bowl. Pour demerara sugar over the lemon peels and muddle to release the lemon oils from the peel.
Boil 2 cups of water and steep the 4 tea bags for 5 minutes. Add hot tea (tea bags removed) into the lemon and demerara mixture. Let cool for 20 minutes, if possible.
Add Cognac, Dark Rum, and fresh squeezed lemon juice. Place large chunks of ice, of an ice mold into the punch. Top with grated nutmeg.

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