Early Years History Flashcards
Sherry Cobbler
Cobblers date back to at least 1809, when a “sherry cobbler” was mentioned in Washington Irving’s publication, History of New York.
Cobblers were originally wine-based drinks, and the sherry cobbler thus seems to be the original. However, a cobbler soon became a category of cocktail in which any base spirit or liqueur could be used.
The Sherry Cobbler was the most popular drink in America during the 1830s.
First appeared in a cocktail book in Jerry Thomas’ book How to Mix Drinks: The Bon Vivant’s Companion in 1862.
Fish House Punch
In 1732, a fishing and hunting club (founded by thirty of William Penn’s followers) was established on the banks of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and its members declared themselves independent from the other colonies. The “State in Schuylkill” had its own governor, coroner, sheriff, and code of laws.
The drink was named after their fishing house, dubbed the Castle, where every two weeks they would assemble and make their famous libation.
It was said that after George Washington visited and gave thirteen toasts of the punch (one for each colony), he couldn’t bring himself to write a diary entry for the following three days.
The first written reference to the punch appeared in 1794.
Original recipe: Oleo Saccharum of 1 Cup Sugar and the Skin of 6-8 Lemons. Let sit overnight, then add 3½ Cups Water, 1½ Cups Lemon juice, 1 750ml bottle Jamaican Amber Rum, 12 oz Cognac, 2 oz Peach Brandy (the eau-de-vie distilled from peaches, not the liqueur). Mix in a Punch Bowl, and a large Ice Block, and Garnish with Lemon slices.
Brandy Julep
Julep History
Exact origin unknown, but was likely created in the Southern United States in the mid- to late-eighteenth century.
First record of it dates back to 1784 in the Medical communications: Volume 1 by the Society for Promoting Medical Knowledge, stating in “sickness at the stomach, with frequent retching, and, at times, a difficulty of swallowing. I then prescribed her an emetic, some opening powders, and a mint julep.”.
First appeared in print in a book published by John Davis of London in 1803, where it was described as “a dram of spirituous liquor that has mint steeped in it, taken by Virginians of a morning.”
It was one of the most popular drinks in America from the early-1800s up to the Civil War.
According to the Derby Museum, the Mint Julep became The Kentucky Derby’s (at Churchill Downs) signature drink in 1938 when they started to serve the drink in souvenir glasses for 75 cents a drink. Today Kentucky Derby serves more than 80,000 juleps over the two-day event.
The word Julep comes from the Arabic words, Julab and Gôlab, meaning “rose water.”
The original Mint Juleps used Cognac as their base spirit (possibly with a little float of Jamaican Rum on top), although Genever, Rum, and Whiskey Juleps were also popular. It is not until the early-1900s until the Bourbon Mint Julep begins to take off.
Brandy Julep History
First appeared in Jerry Thomas’ book How to Mix Drinks: The Bon Vivant’s Companion in 1862.
Milk Punch
First recorded in William Sacheverell’s travelogue of the Scottish isle of Iona in 1688. Later accounts attributed its spread, if not its origin, to Aphra Behn.
The earliest printed recipe was found in a 1711 cookbook.
Originally served in a punch bowl, early recipes resembled a posset and syllabub in the use of curdled, strained cream, leaving only milk whey and lactic acid. This technique aimed at food stability, a quality that made it popular as a bottled drink.
There are two kinds of milk punch. The first, typically called Brandy Milk Punch or Bourbon Milk Punch, is popular in New Orleans, LA. It is citrus-free, and includes milk, almost like an Egg Nog without the whole egg. The second type, often called English Milk Punch or clarified Milk Punch, involves the clarifying of the whole punch by combining all of the ingredients, then curdling the milk in the punch by heating it, adding alcohol and citrus, then straining everything through the milk curds to condense all of the solids and filter them out, resulting in a crystal clear punch that has a silky mouthfeel due to the fact that it is full of the leftover milk whey.
Martinez
Thought to have been created in the 1860s by Jerry Thomas, while he was working at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco, CA, for a guest traveling to Martinez.
Another theory is that it was invented in the mid-1870s by Julio Richelieu, who owned a bar on Ferry St. in Martinez, CA in exchange for a golden nugget. The drink became popular when he moved his bar to Market Street in San Francisco.
The Martinez is thought to be one of the, if not THE, precursor to the Martini.
Note: The original Martinez had a 2:1 ratio of Sweet Vermouth to Old Tom Gin.
Manhattan
It is believed that the drink was created by a bartender simply named “Black” at a bar on Broadway near Houston Street in Manhattan in the late-1860s.
A popular, but false, story suggests that the drink originated at the Manhattan Club in NYC in 1874, where it was invented by Dr. Iain Marshall for a banquet hosted by Jennie Jerome (wife of Lord Randolph Churchill, who gave birth to Winston Churchill) in honor of Samuel J. Tilden’s election as governor of New York. However, this story has been proven false due to the fact that Lady Randolph was in England and France, and pregnant (with baby Winston), at the time of the banquet.
Although Rye whiskey was thought to be the original whiskey used in the drink, the majority of the early written recipes for the Manhattan simply call for Whiskey (i.e. American Whiskey). In the northeast, that generic term “whiskey” would generally be considered as Rye, but any American Whiskey could be used and still be regarded as true to the original formula. On that note, the earliest recipes mention no garnish for this drink, but before long, you start to see recipes with either a cherry or a twist of orange or lemon.
First appeared in O.H. Byron’s book, The Modern Bartenders Guide: How to Mix Fancy Drinks, in 1884.
Sazerac
1838 Antoine Amedie Peychaud created Peychaud’s bitters. For a number of years, Peychaud sold this proprietary elixir out of his pharmacy, which also included a little brandy, a dash of water, and was served in an egg cup, also known as a coquetier.
In 1850, a man named Sewell T. Taylor sold his bar, The Merchant’s Exchange Coffee House, and began importing Sazerac de-Forge et Fils cognac.
At the same time Aaron Bird took over the Coffee House, re-named it the Sazerac House, and began serving a new drink using Peychaud’s bitters (since Antoine’s pharmacy was right down the street), Sazerac Cognac, and a touch of Sugar, Water, and Absinthe.
In 1870, Thomas Handy purchased the Sazerac House, as well as the rights to Peychaud’s bitters.
In 1873, as the phylloxera epidemic was devastating France’s grapes and, thus, its supply of Cognac, Handy decided to replace the Sazerac Cognac with Rye Whiskey.
First appeared in print in William T. Boothby’s book, The World’s Drinks and How to Mix Them, in 1908 (though his recipe called for Selner bitters, not Peychaud’s).
Blue Blazer
Created by Jerry Thomas while working at the El Dorado in San Francisco, CA in 1849 (during the Gold Rush).
Rumor has it that Thomas would only make the drink if it was below 50˚F or if the person ordering was suffering from a cold or flu.
