The holidays have begun, the season of family and friends reconnecting. Everyone is heading home, which means drinks and memories will be shared. People discover pictures of themselves playing pool with their buddies in the obnoxious geometric ski sweaters of the 80’s drinking cheep beer, their parent’s wedding toast complete with a tailcoat and corset bound dress, even a faded picture of their great grandparents celebrating their newfound home in America, and many more priceless moments in between. All of the reminiscing makes us wonder what it would be like to raise a glass in the past. Well let’s take a walk through the generations with and get a taste for it with a retro twist, shall we?
Naturally we will start with the American Prohibition of the 1920’s and moonshine with the Gold Rush:
1 ½ oz Onyx Moonshine
1 ½ oz Lemon Sour Mix
½ oz Maple Syrup
Olde Burnside Ten Penny Ale (or any darky, malty ale)
Combine first three ingredients over ice and shake well. Pour into glass and top with ale.
Thankfully they had the Ramos Gin Fiz during the Great Depression:
3 parts dry gin
1 part lemon juice
1 part lime juice
A dash of cream
1 egg white
A dash of seltzer
A teaspoon of powdered sugar
3 dashes of orange flower water
Combine all ingredients over ice and shake well. Pour into glass.
As if life could not get any harder, along came WWII and the Manhattan:
Ice
2 parts whiskey
1 part sweet vermouth
1 to 2 dashes bitters, such as Angostura
Orange peal
Real Maraschino Cherries
Place ice in a cocktail shaker. Add the whiskey, vermouth and bitters. Rub the orange peel around the rim of the cocktail glass. Strain the drink into the glass. Add 1 to 2 Maraschino Cherries.
The Jazz Age tooted its horn with its enthusiasm for gin and the Perfect Martini:
Ice
6 parts gin
3 parts sweet red vermouth
2 parts dry vermouth
3 parts orange juice
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain the drink into a martini glass.
Postwar, Russian influence led to the adoption of vodka in America like the Moscow Mule, which was invented in 1941:
1 part vodka
3 parts ginger beer
A dash of lime juice
A dash of sugar
Mint
Lime Wedge
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake and pour over ice. Garnish with a sprig of mine and a lime wedge.
That’s all for now folks! Check back in next week for a continued journey through the decades.