Category Archives: Drinks

Ye Gods

The history of cocktails has much in common with those who share an excessive fondness for such libations: It’s cloudy on details; foggy rumors and half-baked theories are frequently stated as absolute fact; flights of boastful table-thumping are not uncommon; and, more often than not, large swaths of vital information are simply lost in a… Continue Reading

Make Yourself Comfortable

Like most booze geeks, the drinks I typically prefer are those that are more complex and esoteric–give me the aroma of anise and spice rising off a Sazerac, or the puzzle-box of flavors in a Floridita or a Ramos Gin Fizz, and I’m a happy lush. But on the list of drinks that have earned… Continue Reading

Respect Your Elders

On the family tree of drinks, the Improved Holland Gin Cock-Tail is written near the top of the page. Nearly two hundred years ago, when cocktails were first defined as a spiritous liquor, sweetened with sugar, fortified with bitters and softened with water, the gin cocktail was one of the first ones out of the… Continue Reading

In Praise of Difficult Drinks, Part I: The Ramos Gin Fizz

In a world of drinks populated by bottles of cheap lager, vodka and Red Bull and anything-and-Coke, it would seem that the Ramos Gin Fizz is destined for extinction. With its long list of ingredients–including cream and raw egg white, plus the difficult-to-find orange flower water–and the physical effort involved in its mixing–most bar manuals… Continue Reading

Longevity

On the back cover of the 1937 bartending manual Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ‘Em, by Stanley Clisby Arthur, there’s a bit of drinking-related doggerel attributed to George C. Wailes, entitled Longevity. After two days of television images depicting rising flood waters, devastated cityscapes and a complete breakdown in civil order, this… Continue Reading