Who hasn’t heard of a classic Gin Rickey? It’s a refreshing drink that’s made in a quicky. Created in D.C. in the campaign season of 1883, this refreshing way to cool off was created by campaign manager Colonel Rickey. Originally made with rye and not gin, mixed with lime juice and soda they both seem like a win. But the gin version took off and it’s been a hit since then, this is basically the drink I order again and again.

GIN RICKEY

3 oz gin

1 1/2 oz lime juice

4 oz soda water

lime wedge

In a tall glass, stir together gin and lime juice. Add ice, and top with soda water. Garnish with a lime wedge.

The best gin to use for this is a subtle gin like Malfy. I really like Hendrick’s in this too. Usually I choose Tanqueray, but not for this drink. Cin cin!

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Another drink that came from a marketing scheme? A Paloma is just such a drink - so it seems. When Squirt was invented in Texas in 1938 bartenders in Mexico created a classic that’s pretty great. Some bartenders call it Mexico’s answer to the G&T, it’s refreshingly delicious and simple as can be. Origianlly the drink is squirt, tequila and lime. But I find it classed up with grapefruit juice makes it more prime time. Equal parts and topped with soda. Make it in a pitcher and you’re ready to go-a!

Paloma

2 ounces repesado tequila

2 ounces grapefruit juice

grapefruit soda

lime wedge & grapefruit slice

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Legend holds that in the 1950’s, the marketing heads at Ocean Spray got shifty and introduced a drink. It’s a delicious way to sell and hoodwink. Originally they called the drink the Red Devil - but I think we can all agree that doesn’t sound very high level. In 1965 they renamed it in an ad - a Cape Codder sounds delightfully preppy and not at all sad.

Isn’t it fun to think some of these old staples came from a bunch of old guys sitting around marketing tables? It’s all very Mad Men-esque that such a cocktail classic was invented at a desk.

This is basically a vodka cran - ok it is exactly that. So I added a lime simple syrup to make it less flat. A simple syrup is sugar, water and lime. It actually is great to dress up a cocktail any time. Shake the ingredients so they mix up well, pour over ice and sip a drink that’s really quite swell.

Cape Codder

makes one drink

2 ounces cranberry juice (use Ocean Spray if you’re feeling nostalgic)

1 ounce vodka

1/2 ounce lime simple syrup

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain over fresh ice into a glass and serve with a wedge of lime.

LIME SIMPLE SYRUP

1/2 cup sugar

juice of one lime (about 1/4 cup)

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon lime zest

Bring all ingredients to a simmer and whisk until the sugar is melted. Let cool before using.

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How about a splash of history for this Friday? The Kir Royale has it is spades. Created in France by a priest named Kir when Nazi’s took red wine to quash French cheer. Resistance persisted and we now have a drink that’s event better than wine and delightfully pink. A dash of cassis & topped with champs, it’s a delicious FU to Nazi camps.

KIR Royale

1/3 ounce Cassis

3 ounces champagne

Pour cassis into a champagne glass and top with chilled champagne. Optionally garnish with a raspberry. Cin cin!

This drink is steeped in controversy, mostly because my friend and I have a different story of the nature of this popular drink - if it’s made with cognac or gin, like I think. At the Savoy the recipe calls for gin, in Paris it’s cognac - but both are a win!

In a shaker stir together lemon and sugar - add gin and ice & shake with vigor. Strain into a glass and top with champagne. This Valentine’s Day will be anything but plain!

Here’s a snapshot of the history

1867 Charles Dickens visits Boston and drinks “Champagne Cups with Tom Gin” (a Champagne Cup is champagne, sugar and lemon over ice)

1915 Harry’s New York Bar in Paris claims to create the drink and names it for the French 75mm field gun because of the kick.

1918 Arnaud’s in New Orleans opens and features the French 75 - made with cognac - on it’s cocktail menu

1927 The French 75 appears in print in a New York humor magazine made with gin.

1930 the Savoy publishes a recipe made with gin

1932 “The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks” insists the drink be made with cognac

French 75

3/4 ounce lemon juice

1 tsp sugar

2 ounces gin (or VSOP Cognac)

2 ounces champagne

In a cocktail shaker, stir together lemon juice and sugar. Fill the shaker with ice and pour in the gin. Shake well. Strain into a champagne glass and top with champagne. Garnish with a lemon twist.

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For Lunar New Year I’m pouring a drink that’s filled with history and delightfully pink! In public in Singapore in 1915, women could only drink fruit juice and tea. So a clever man names Ngiam Tong Boon created this drink that’s over the moon. Filled with cherry liquor and gin, it looks like fruit juice which made it a win. Ladies in Singapore could drink at the bar. Now it’s beloved near and far.

Singapore Sling

Makes 2 drinks

1 1/2 ounces gin

1 ounce benedictine

1/2 ounce cherry liquer

1 ounce lime juice

1/2 ounce grenadine

dash of bitters

2 ounces pineapple juice

4 ounces soda water

Stir together gin, benedictine, cherry liquor, lime juice, pineapple juice, grenadine and bitters. Pour into glasses filled with ice and top with club soda. Garnish with a lime and a cherry.

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The comment from last week’s cocktail fun? “Tell me about your bar full of rum!” So here’s the deal, I love a rum drink. But a good one is not as simple as you think. The best I’ve ever had is a BFRD. It’s three kinds of rum, pineapple juice and orgeat. A splash of orange liquor and a squeeze of lime, you’ll feel like you’re in Hawaii in no time. Aloha Friday and have a great weekend. I’ll see you back here next week my friend.

BFRD

Makes two drinks

one ounce white rum

one ounce gold rum

one once dark rum

half ounce orange liqour

half ounce orgeat

one ounce pineapple juice

lime wedge

cherry

In a cocktail shaker full of ice, combine all ingredients. Shake well and pour into a glass - everything! Even the ice. Garnish with a lime wedge and a cherry. Enjoy.

You all loved my barware, I felt all the love. To celebrate I’m mixing a drink that’s beyond - and above. A negroni is equal parts campari, vermouth, and gin. Stir it, don’t shake it - shaking’s a sin! These glasses I bought in Venice ages ago. One broke so I banished them all - you have to save them, you know. Then I decided, to not use is a pity. If they break, I’ll just need a trip back to the Floating City. Garnish with orange and raise a glass to cin cin! I hope you all love this drink made with gin.

Negroni

Makes one drink

one ounce gin

one ounce red vermouth

one ounce campari

Pour all ingredients into a pitcher or a tall glass and stir gently. Pour into a glass filled with ice and garnish with an orange twist.

Fall is my least favorite season. But when we start talking about things like football and apples, then I get excited about those things. Instead of thinking about how rainy and dark it is outside, I’m focusing on making the most of the best parts of fall - like this cocktail! There is no other season when a Spiced Apple Cocktail makes any sense. You cannot serve this in the height of spring. This is reserved for fall - drinking it by the fireplace with a flannel blanket with cozy wool socks on your feet.

Spiced Cider Cocktail

4 ounces fresh apple cider

2 ounces bourbon

1/2 ounce allspice dram

Fill two cocktail glasses with ice. In a pitcher, stir together all ingredients. Pour the cocktail over the ice dividing it equally between both glasses. Cin cin! 

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I can’t think of another drink that makes you think about a celebration like a margarita. We spend an unusual amount of time drinking or thinking about margaritas especially when we are in Palm Springs - which was quite often before COVID shut down our travel plans.

I used to think they were fairly complicated to make, but I think that’s because store bought margarita mix is so sweet and gross and when you get them at a restaurant, they are delish! I assumed I was doing something wrong until I figured out it was the store bought margarita mix that was all wrong. When we discovered Tommy’s Margarita Mix, our life changed. It made me realize we were over complicating things and I started a deep dive on the margarita.

As with all historied and popular beverages, the origins of the margarita are not definite. I’m so entertained by these stories. Every famous cocktails seems to have one and I can’t help but wonder if there was just a trend starting and the “original margarita” started in multiple places around the same time? If you’re curious what the stories are, they are pretty good.

One stays that the margarita was created in Galveston, Texas in 1948 for the singer Peggy Lee (Peggy being a nickname for Margaret and thus the “margarita”). The bartender created a riff on a current classic - The Daisy - using tequila instead of the gin or brandy it called for and named his “new cocktail” for her. I like this story but there’s no way it’s right. Mostly because there are rumors of the drink as early as 1937.

Here’s what I think. In the 1920’s and early 30’s prohibition was real and really reduced the amount of American booze on the market. Mexico did not have prohibition and continued making tequila through the era, which means it was readily available to bootleggers - especially those in California and Texas.

The Daisy was a popular cocktail - a shaken drink made with brandy or gin mixed with lemon juice and orange cordial. They would shake it over ice and serve it in a martini glass with sugar on the rim. If you were going to replace the gin or brandy with tequila you’d have to make a few adjustments. Tequila was commonly consumed with salt and lime, so switching the lemon for lime and the sugar for salt is a natural swap and suddenly you have a margarita.

The first published record of the margarita was in 1953 in Esquire Magazine. In that, they mix 1 ounce of tequila, a dash of triple sec, and the juice of 1/2 a lime. Then the drink is strained into a coupe glass where the edge has been rubbed with lime and dipped in salt.

In the name of research, I have spent the last few months thinking about margaritas, making margaritas and drinking margaritas. It was all so I could report to you on the best, most authentic way to consume this classic beverage. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.

The most authentic margarita is ridiculously simple. Here’s how I make it:

Margarita

makes one drink

1 ounce blanco tequila

1 dash triple sec

juice of 1/2 a lime

lime wedges

coarse sea salt

STEP 1

Rub the ridge of one glass with the lime and dip half of the rim in salt. If you dip the whole thing, you can end up with a mouth full of salt and no one needs bloated fingers tomorrow. Fill the glass with ice and set aside.

STEP 2

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, pour tequila, triple sec and lime. Shake aggressively for a few seconds. Strain the cocktail into the salted glass. Squeeze a lime wedge over the top and serve.

ALTERNATIVLY

I often will not fill the glass with ice in the beginning, but pour the ice the cocktail was shaken with into my glass. There’s a little melt that happens when you shake and I like to capture all of the flavors. But it’s not traditional, so you do you.

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