Long Tom Cooler
The Juice of 1/2 Lemon. (Juice 1/2 Lemon)
1/2 Tablespoonful Sugar. (1/2 Tablespoon of Rich Simple Syrup, or to taste)
1 Glass Dry Gin. (2 oz Ransom Old Tom Gin)
(dash Angostura Orange Bitters) Shake well, strain into long tumbler, add 1 lump of ice, and fill with soda water.
Again, the Savoy editors did not do a particularly good job of translating a recipe from Hugo Ensslin’s 1916 “Recipes for Mixed Drinks”:
Long Tom Cooler.
1 pony Sugar Syrup;
Juice of ½ Lemon;
1 drink El Bart Gin. Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain into a Collins glass, add a cube of ice and 1 slice of Orange, fill up with Club Soda.
And again, moronically, I failed to look at Ensslin’s book before making the drink, or this would have looked a bit different.
Anyway, the other Savoy Night at Alembic Bar, a friend asked me for a drink that was “not too alcoholic”, and this sprung immediately to mind. Basically a dry-ish lemonade with a generous pour of soda and a splash of gin, this is a very refreshing and mild hot weather drink.
However, there may be a slight problem with serving a drink called “Long Tom” to a male customer. My advice? Don’t do it, unless you’re sure your gesture won’t be misinterpreted.
And, yes, there is basically no difference between a Long Tom Cooler and a Tom Collins, maybe the Long Tom is a bit sweeter? Anyway, for the record, while there are many similar drinks to the Tom Collins in Ensslin’s book, he does not specifically include instructions for making one.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the drinks in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, the, uh, Sauterne Cup.
Harvard Cooler
The Juice of 1/2 Lemon or 1 Lime. (Juice 1/2 very large Meyer Lemon)
1/2 Tablespoonful Sugar. (Generous TBSP Rich Simple Syrup)
1 Glass Applejack or Calvados. (2 oz Montreuil Calvados Reserve)
(2 Dashes Miracle Mile Gingerbread Bitters) Shake well, strain into long tumbler and fill with soda water.
Again, Hugo Ensslin’s 1916 “Recipes for Mixed Drinks”, “1 pony Sugar Syrup; Juice of ½ Lemon or 1 Lime; 1 jigger Applejack. Made and served same as Apricot Cooler.”
Boy, I really like this!
It’s a little weird, at first, to get your head around a mixed drink which ends up about the same strength as beer or hard cider, but once you get past that, it’s really refreshing, especially with all the hot weather we’ve been having lately.
OK, fine, it’s a lemonade with a dash of Calvados, but what’s wrong with that? I’ve been making them all week, much to the dismay of the level on the side of the bottle. The bitters were a bit of a modification, but you’ll see them in quite a few of the upcoming Coolers, along with other weird and unpredictable items.
Speaking of Coolers, as far as I can tell the only real “category” delimitations regarding Coolers are that they should be served in a tall glass, say a 14 ounce Collins Glass, and that they should be sparkling. Some have citrus, some don’t. Some have bitters, some don’t. Some have a lump or two of ice, and some don’t. One even uses Ginger Ale instead of Soda Water. As far as I can tell, as long as it is fizzy and in a tall glass, it can be called a Cooler.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the drinks in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, the, uh, Sauterne Cup.
Orange Fizz
The Juice of 1/2 Orange. (Juice 1 Tangerine)
The Juice of 1/4 Lemon or 1/2 Lime. (Juice 1 Meyer Lemon)
1 Glass Dry Gin. (2 oz Leopold’s Gin)
(1 tsp. Rich Simple Syrup) Shake well, strain into medium size glass and fill with syphon soda.
Another of the many Savoy Fizzes which seem to stem from Hugo Ensslin’s 1916 “Recipes for Mixed Drinks”, Ensslin gives the recipe as, “Juice ½ Orange; Juice ½ Lime; Juice ½ Lemon; Drink El Bart Gin. Made and served as directed for plain Gin Fizz.”
Ensslin’s Fizzes are very interesting, at least to me, for their use of multiple citrus. In this case, you’ve got Lemon, Lime, and Orange. Outside of so called “Exotic Drinks” you rarely see such variety of citrus called for in drink recipes. Interesting that Ensslin’s recipes pre-date the whole Exotic drink movement by about 30 years. Unlike Vic or Don, in 1916 New York City he probably wasn’t calling on a nostalgia for time spent in the South Sea or the Caribbean for these drinks. Makes you wonder where the inspiration came from.
I did slightly switch up the juices. I only had a Tangerine and some Meyer Lemons. Figured a whole Tangerine amounts to about the juice of a half orange.
Some friends have an enormous Meyer Lemon tree in their back yard which they think must date back at least to the 1940s. It is very nearly weighted down year round with a bumper crop of 100s of lemons. The peels are wonderfully fragrant, much more so than most super market Meyer Lemons, and the juice a tad more acidic than I usually expect from Meyers. I figured the juice of one medium size Meyer Lemon about equaled the souring power of the juice of 1/2 Lemon and 1/2 Lime.
Ensslin neglects to mention any sweetener in this recipe and I’m not sure if it is assumed from the direction, “Made and served as directed for plain Gin Fizz.”
However, I couldn’t quite hang with NO sweetener for the Orange Fizz. If you can, you’re a better man (or woman) than I.
An enjoyable, refreshing drink, I wouldn’t scold you if you embellished this with a touch of bitters, but on the other hand, with great citrus and a light hand on the soda and sweetener, it’s hard to argue with it on a hot day.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the drinks in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, the, uh, Sauterne Cup.
Get home, prep for Gemelli with Chard and Hot Italian Sausage. Prep done, whip up the New Orleans Fizz, aka Ramos Gin Fizz.
New Orleans Gin Fizz
The Juice of 1/2 Lemon. (Juice 1/2 Lemon, Juice 1/2 Lime)
1/2 Tablespoonful Powdered Sugar. (generous 1 TBSP Rich Simple Syrup)
The White of 1 Egg. (1 Egg White)
1 Glass of Dry Gin. (2 oz Plymouth Gin)
3 Dashes Fleur d’Orange. (1/2 tsp Orange Flower Water)
1 Tablespoonful of Sweet Cream. (1 TBSP Whipping Cream) Shake well, strain into long tumbler and fill with syphon soda water.
One of the most iconic drinks of New Orleans, the Ramos Fizz is just a rather elaborate Gin Fizz. Instead of just including Cream or Egg White, it includes Cream AND Egg white.
Legendarily, Henry Ramos used to have a line of drink shakers standing on hand, each to do a portion of the shaking of the drink, it needs to be shaken so well and so long.
I did my best, giving it almost a full minute of shaking, making for a somewhat tedious video.
Well, you had New Orleans legend Mr. Dave Bartholomew to listen to while I was shaking, so how can you complain too much?
Finish making pasta:
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the drinks in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, the, uh, Sauterne Cup.
First, just a reminder that Sunday, July 31, 2011, is our monthly exercise in folly, Savoy Cocktail Book Night at Alembic Bar. If any of the cocktails on this blog have captured your fancy, (they also have a great beer selection,) stop by after 6 and allow the skilled bartenders, (and me,) to make them for you. It is always a fun time.
Imperial Fizz
The Juice of 1/2 Lemon.
1/3 Rum.
2/3 Canadian Club or Scotch Whisky.
1/2 Tablespoonful Sugar. Shake well, strain into medium size glass and fill with syphon soda water.
Another Fizz from Hugo Ensslin’s 1916 “Recipes for Mixed Drinks”, Ensslin gives the recipe as follows:
1/3 St. Croix Rum; 2/3 Whiskey; 4 dashes Lemon Juice; Juice ½ Lime. Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain into a fizz glass and fill up with carbonated water or any sparkling water desired.
A few Savoy Recipes have called for “St. Croiix Rum.” I’ve never really seen much differential to using Cruzan or any other modern Rum from St. Croix. The Cruzan Single Barrel is a nice Rum, but there isn’t really anything in particular it brings to a drink. Or at least enough to justify calling for “St. Croix Rum” in particular.
However, once when I was talking to Martin Cate, (of Rum paradise Smuggler’s Cove) about this issue, he suggested he’d had good results using Spiced Rum when St. Croix Rum is called for. Well, if Martin Cate suggests it, I’ll give it a try. Besides, as this drink has no sweetener, it might be nice to use a sweetened product like most Spiced Rums.
Hey, some company promoting Kraken Spiced Rum was even kind enough to send me a bottle…
Damn! I was really hoping for a rubber squid.
Imperial Fizz
1 1/2 oz Macallan Cask Strength Scotch Whiskey
3/4 oz Kraken Spiced Rum
Light squeeze, juice 1/2 Lemon
Juice 1/2 Small Lime
Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain into a fizz glass and fill up with carbonated water or any sparkling water desired.
Yeah, that is not very sweet at all. I believe I over estimated the sweetening power of spiced rum!
And, yes, in the video you can see the problem with using a soda syphon shortly after charging it. The CO2 does not have a chance to dissolve properly, so the first squirt is always too charged.
So this is pretty, “Meh”. A definite waste of perfectly good Scotch. Even stirring a little simple syrup into this, it was pretty blah. The Kraken Spiced Rum and Macallan Scotch aren’t a particularly interesting combination.
But I was thinking about this, and thinking I was just playing it too safe. If you’re going to do something, why not do it all the way? Go Big or Go Home!
Islay Imperial Fizz
1 1/2 oz Laphroaig 10
1/2 oz St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram
Couple Dashes lemon Juice
Juice 1/2 small lime
dash Rich Simple Syrup
Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain into a fizz glass and fill up with carbonated water or any sparkling water desired.
I may be on crack, but there is some real promise here. It’s kind of like a cross between Erik Adkins’ Rhum Agricole Punch and Sam Ross’ Penicillin. This is not bad, not bad at all. It’s lacking a little in middle flavors, but the combination of Smoky, Peaty Islay Scotch and Allspice Dram is kind of awesome. Definitely worthy of further experimentation!
Music in the first video clip from Efrim Manuel Menuck’s new recording, “Plays High Gospel,” maybe my current favorite CD. Music in the second video clip is from Craig Taborn’s new solo piano CD, “Avenging Angel”.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the drinks in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, the, uh, Sauterne Cup.
Holland Fizz
The Juice 1/2 Lemon. (Juice of 1/2 Lemon, Juice of 1/2 Lime)
1/2 Tablespoonful Powdered Sugar. (Generous Teaspoon Rich Simple Syrup)
1 Glass Gin. (2 oz Bols Genever)
(Dash Miracle Mile Forbidden Bitters)
The White of 1 Egg. (Uh, oops!) Shake well strain into medium size glass and fill with sypon soda water. Add 3 sprigs of fresh Mint.
Wait, what? Egg White! Dammit, I forgot the Egg White!
Well, you will perhaps be thrilled to know that I did make this drink for a guest at Heaven’s Dog a couple weeks ago AND succeeded in including the Egg White. I hope they appreciated the effort that went into their, “Freedom From Choice: Gin, Citrus”. I will also be very happy to make it for you properly, should you happen to stop by Heaven’s Dog Saturday, July 23rd.
Even though I forgot the Egg White, I did decide to include some of the Miracle Mile Forbidden Bitters, which went surprisingly well with the Bols Genever. Note to self, Genever Old-Fashioned in my very near future with Miracle Mile Forbidden Bitters.
Oh yeah, why Genever, instead of any old Dry Gin?
Well, it is called a “Holland Fizz”, what are you going to make the Holland Fizz with OTHER than Genever?
Anyway, with or without Egg White, this is a nice drink and a pleasant change from the “Plain Gin Fizz”. Give it a try some time!
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the drinks in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, the, uh, Sauterne Cup.
Golden Fizz
The Juice of 1/2 Lemon. (Juice 1/2 Lemon, Juice 1/2 Lime)
1/2 Tablespoonful Powdered Sugar. (2 tsp Caster Sugar)
1 Glass Gin. (2 oz Ransom Old Tom Gin)
The Yolk of 1 Egg. (1 Farm Fresh Egg Yolk) Shake well, strain into medium size glass and fill with syphon soda water.
As with most of the Fizzes, the Savoy Cocktail Book editors probably got the recipe for the Golden Fizz from Hugo Ensslin’s 1916 “Recipes for Mixed Drinks”. In his book, Ensslin gives the recipe as, “Made same as plain Gin Fizz, adding the yolk of an egg.”
Here’s Ensslin’s recipe for the Gin Fizz from the Cocktail Kingdom reprint:
Gin Fizz
Juice of ½ Lime;
Juice ½ Lemon;
1 tablespoon of Powdered Sugar;
1 drink Dry Gin.
Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain into fizz glass, fill up with carbonated or any sparkling water desired.
The interesting thing about Ensslin’s recipe for the “Plain Gin Fizz” is that he uses both Lemon and Lime in the drink! Well, interesting is, I suppose, relative, but the additional tart citrus does make the sugar amounts and dilution in the Fizz recipes a bit more sensible.
Anyway, I’ve been ignoring the lemon-lime combo information up until now, (I was out of limes,) but I thought it was finally time to put it into play with the Golden Fizz.
When I mentioned this to someone they said, “Are you kidding, that’s Sour Mix!” Well, it’s not really, it’s just that Lemons and Limes bring different things to the party. Lemons are more sour, limes are more bitter and aromatic. Put them together, especially with Gin, and you get a sum greater than the parts!
You give it a try some time with a Sour or Fizz and let me know if you don’t think it elevates a somewhat plain drink.
As we discussed in the Gin Fizz post, when you add Egg White to a Fizz, you get a Silver Fizz. When you add Egg Yolk you, naturally, get a Golden Fizz. Richer, fuller, more unctuous. Not an every day refreshing fizz, to be sure, but a satisfying beverage of a different sort.
Music in the video is from the Lean Left Album, “The Ex Guitars meet Nilssen-Love/Vandermark Duo, Vol. 2″.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the drinks in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, the, uh, Sauterne Cup.
Gin Fizz
The Juice of 1/2 Lemon.
1/2 Tablespoonful Powdered Sugar. (generous teaspoon Caster Sugar)
1 Glass Gin. (2 oz Junipero Gin) Shake well, strain into medium size glass and fill with syphon soda water.
A while ago, my neighborhood blog Bernalwood was kind enough to feature one of my cocktail posts:
friscolex: “Hurray for good cocktails. I have to fight tooth and nail to get a gin fizz in SF so maybe I’ll just switch, although the Rob Roy IMO is the Perfect Manhattan.
In re: gin fizz dearth: I have tried EVERY schmancy cocktail joint and have basically given up because I inevitably get “schooled” by the bartender who gives me a Ramos fizz or silver fizz. I’ve stopped short of printing out a few copies of the recipes from a classic cocktail book because that just seems ridiculous. Luckily those bars usually have Anchor on tap!”
It’s always sort of interesting when a certain style of drink comes to represent a category and optional ingredients become de rigueur. How did muddled fruit end up in an old fashioned? Egg White in a Whisk(e)y Sour? And to the point, “How did Egg White end up the default in the Gin Fizz?”
So let’s get this out of the way, a properly made Plain Gin Fizz does not have egg white. A “Plain Gin Fizz” is Gin, Lemon Juice (maybe lime juice), Sugar, and Soda Water. If you add egg white to a fizz, you are making what is called a Silver Fizz.
A lot of people like egg white in their Gin Fizzes, and, as indicated above, some don’t.
But let’s face it, no one can know everything about drinks. But in this case, the customer seems to know more about Gin Fizzes than the bartender. But, even if the bartender was right about the default Gin Fizz having Egg White, it’s up to him (or her) to serve the customer the drink they want, not the drink the bartender likes to make. I mean, if all I did was serve drinks I like, everyone would get Beer, Manhattans, or a Slug of Booze. What fun would that be?
What I like to do, unless a drink is written on the menu as containing Egg White, is to make sure that the customer wants their Gin Fizz (or Whiskey Sour) with Egg White when they order the drink. Say something like, “The house Gin Fizz is made with Egg White, is that all right with you?” Just to be on the safe side. Alternatively, as a customer, you should be able to ask for a, “Plain Gin Fizz, no Egg White.” If you get hassled for that order, definitely stick with the Anchor Steam.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the drinks in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, the, uh, Sauterne Cup.
Cream Fizz
The Juice of 1/2 Lemon.
1/2 Tablespoonful Powdered Sugar. (Generous teaspoon Caster Sugar)
1 Glass Dry Gin. (2 oz Plymouth Gin)
1 Teaspoonful Fresh Cream. (1 teaspoonful Whipping Cream) Shake well, strain into medium size glass and fill with soda water.
Still mucking about with the iSi CO2 soda siphon. Just haven’t figured out anything better.
I tried calling and emailing Selzer Sisters a couple weeks ago, and even though I see their delivery van in Bernal Heights every night, I haven’t heard back.
A lot of friends have recommended the Soda Stream option, but it’s a bit expensive, and I don’t like the fact that the closure is a screw top instead of a valve. Once you open, you’re pretty much committed to drinking the whole liter of soda.
Another option would be buying a case of Fever Tree Soda Water. Except I haven’t found anyone selling the Fever Tree Soda Water, just their Ginger Ale, Ginger Beer, Tonic, and Bitter Lemon. And I am certainly not going to pay to have fizzy water shipped from somewhere.
So, iSi soda siphon it is. I get decent results by a) using chilled and filtered water. b) allowing it to stand overnight after charging.
On the previous Brandy Fizz and here on the Cream Fizz, I went a little light on the sugar. I am coming to the conclusion, with the dilution and slight acidity of the soda water, you really can’t do that and have the drink have a full flavor. It just tastes like watery lemonade, not appealing.
Anyway, Cream in this one, instead of egg. There are a few fizzes like that, including the upcoming Peach Blow Fizz, not sure what the appeal is. It’s not a whole lot of cream, only a teaspoon, so it’s not like having a Milk Punch or anything. But it does foam slightly and give a dairy flavor to the drink. With the lemon, it’s almost yoghurt-ish. Again, another reason not to go light on the sugar, better custard than yoghurt.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the drinks in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, the, uh, Sauterne Cup.
First, just a reminder that Sunday, June 26, 2011, is our monthly exercise in folly, Savoy Cocktail Book Night at Alembic Bar. If any of the cocktails, (they also have a great beer selection,) on this blog have captured your fancy, stop by after 6 and allow the skilled bartenders, (and me,) to make them for you. It is always a fun time.
Brandy Fizz
The Juice of 1/2 Lemon. (Juice 1/2 Lemon)
1/2 Tablespoonful Powdered Sugar. (1 tsp. Caster Sugar)
1 Glass Brandy. (2 oz Dudognon Cognac Reserve) Shake well, strain into medium size glass and fill with syphon soda water.
Source: Hugo Ensslin, “Recipes for Mixed Drinks” 1916-1917, “Made same as plain Gin Fizz*, using Brandy instead of Gin.”
*Gin Fizz. Juice of ½ Lime; Juice ½ Lemon; 1 tablespoon of Powdered Sugar; 1 drink Dry Gin. Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain into fizz glass, fill up with carbonated or any sparkling water desired.
Right, so I’m a bit of a moron, here I was saying the Albemarle Fizz was a bit sweet, when, according to Hugo Ensslin, like the Plain Gin Fizz, it should have been made with the juice of “1/2 Lime and the Juice of 1/2 Lemon”.
And again, I failed to notice when making the Brandy Fizz.
Damn.
Well, I have to say, while it might have been OK with the Raspberry flavors of the Albemarle Fizz, I don’t think lime juice would have been awesome in the Brandy Fizz.
I was perfectly happy with this drink as it is, with its Cognac Flavor flag waving proudly.
Though, to be honest, with a Cognac as fine as the Dudognon, a plain soda and Cognac Highball would have been perfectly delicious.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, its the only Brandy I have in the house at the moment.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the drinks in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, the, uh, Sauterne Cup.
