How to Mix Drinks or The Bon Vivant's Cocktail Guide E-Book

Jerry Thomas

• Herausgeber: Hesperus Press Ltd.
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

First published 150 years ago, Jerry Thomas's Original Cocktail Guide marks the first time today's classics were set down in print. From old standards to mixes invented by Thomas himself (including Thomas's signature drink, the Blue Blazer, which involves lighting whiskey and passing it back and forth between two mixing glasses, creating an arc of flame), the book contains guides for mixing drinks of all categories - including sours, fizzes and highballs. Along with instructions on using various bartending tools, from jiggers to ponies and beyond and a glossary to help all bon vivants remember their demijohns from their drachms, this is a nostalgic and delicious homage to a drinking era that is gone but not forgotten.

Leseprobe

How to Mix Drinksor The Bon Vivant’s Companion

Jerry Thomas

With contemporary illustrations

CONTENTS

Title PagePreface to the First EditionHow to Mix DrinksPunchPrepared Punch and Punch EssencesCocktailsPrepared Cocktails for BottlingCrustaFancy DrinksMiscellaneous DrinksEggnogsJulepsNegusMullsFlipsFizzesSmashesShrubsCobblersDaisiesTom CollinsFixesSoursToddiesSlingsSangareesSkinsSyrups, Essences, Tinctures, Colorings, etc.Temperance DrinksNotesGlossaryBiographical noteCopyright

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

In all the ages of the world, and in all countries, men have indulged in ‘social drinks’. They have always possessed themselves of some popular beverage apart from water and those of the breakfast and tea table. Whether it is judicious that mankind should continue to indulge in such things, or whether it would be wiser to abstain from all enjoyments of that character, it is not our province to decide. We leave that question to the moral philosopher. We simply contend that a relish for ‘social drinks’ is universal, that those drinks exist in greater variety in the United States than in any other country in the world; and that he, therefore, who proposes to impart to these drinks not only the most palatable but the most wholesome characteristics of which they may be made susceptible, is a genuine public benefactor. That is exactly our object in introducing this little volume to the public. We do not propose to persuade any man to drink, for instance, a julep, or a cocktail, who has never happened to make the acquaintance of those refreshing articles under circumstances calculated to induce more intimate relations; but we do propose to instruct those whose ‘intimate relations’ in question render them somewhat fastidious, in the daintiest fashions thereunto pertaining.

We very well remember seeing one day in London, in the rear of the Bank of England, a small drinking saloon that had been set up by a peripatetic American, at the door of which was placed a board covered with the unique titles of the American mixed drinks supposed to be prepared within that limited establishment. The ‘Connecticut eye-openers’ and ‘Alabama fog-cutters’, together with the ‘lightning-smashes’ and the ‘thunderbolt-cocktails’, created a profound sensation in the crowd assembled to peruse the Nectarine bill of fare, if they did not produce custom. It struck us, then, that a list of all the social drinks – the composite beverages, if we may call them so – of America, would really be one of the curiosities of jovial literature; and that if it was combined with a catalogue of the mixtures common to other nations, and made practically useful by the addition of a concise description of the various processes for ‘brewing’ each, it would be a ‘blessing to mankind’. There would be no excuse for imbibing, with such a book at hand, the ‘villainous compounds’ of barkeeping Goths and Vandals, who know no more of the amenities of bon vivant existence than a Hottentot can know of the bouquet of champagne.

‘There’s philosophy,’ said Father Tom in the drama, ‘even in a jug of punch.’ We claim the credit of ‘philosophy teaching by example’, then, to no ordinary extent in the composition of this volume; for our index exhibits the title of eighty-six different kinds of punches, together with a universe of cobblers, juleps, bitters, cups, slings, shrubs, etc., each and all of which the reader is carefully educated how to concoct in the choicest manner. For the perfection of this education, the name, alone, of Jerry Thomas is a sufficient guarantee. He has travelled Europe and America in search of all that is recondite in this branch of the spirit art. He has been the Jupiter Olympus of the bar at the Metropolitan Hotel in this city. He was the presiding deity at the Planters’ House, St Louis. He has been the proprietor of one of the most recherché saloons in New Orleans as well as in New York. His very name is synonymous, in the lexicon of mixed drinks, with all that is rare and original. To The Wine Press, edited by F.S. Cozzens, Esq., we are indebted for the composition of several valuable punches, and among them we may particularize the celebrated ‘Nuremburgh’, and the equally famous ‘Philadelphia Fish-House’ punch. The rest we owe to the inspiration of Jerry Thomas himself, and as he is as inexorable as the Medes and Persians in his principle that no excellent drink can be made out of anything but excellent materials, we conceive that we are safe in asserting that whatever may be prepared after his instructions will be able to speak eloquently for itself. ‘Good wine needs no bush,’ Shakespeare tells us, and over one of Jerry’s mixtures eulogy is quite as redundant.

How to Mix Drinksor The Bon Vivant’s Companion

PUNCH

To make punch of any sort in perfection, the ambrosial essence of the lemon must be extracted by rubbing lumps of sugar on the rind, which breaks the delicate little vessels that contain the essence, and at the same time absorbs it. This, and making the mixture sweet and strong, using tea instead of water, and thoroughly amalgamating all the compounds, so that the taste of neither the bitter, the sweet, the spirit, nor the element, shall be perceptible one over the other, is the grand secret, only to be acquired by practice.

In making hot toddy, or hot punch, you must put in the spirits before the water: in cold punch, grog, etc., the other way.

The precise proportions of spirit and water, or even of the acidity and sweetness, can have no general rule, as scarcely two persons make punch alike.

1

BRANDY PUNCH

Use large bar glass

One teaspoon of raspberry syrup

Two tablespoons of white sugar

One wineglass of water

One and one-half wineglasses of brandy

One-half small-sized lemon

Two slices of orange

One piece of pineapple

Fill the tumbler with shaved ice, shake well, and dress the top with berries in season. Sip through a straw.

2

BRANDY PUNCH

For a party of twenty

One gallon of water

Three quarts of brandy

One-half pint of Jamaica rum

Two pounds of sugar

Juice of six lemons

Ice, and add berries in season

Three oranges sliced

One pineapple, pared, and cut up

One gill of curaçao

Two gills of raspberry syrup

Mix the materials well together in a large bowl, and you have a splendid punch.

3

MISSISSIPPI PUNCH

Use large bar glass

One wineglass of brandy

One-half wineglass of Jamaica rum

One-half wineglass of Bourbon whiskey

One and one-half tablespoons of powdered white sugar

One-quarter of a large lemon

One-half wineglass of water

Fill a tumbler with shaved ice

The above must be well shaken, and to those who like their draughts ‘like linked sweetness long drawn out’, let them use a glass tube or straw to sip the nectar through. The top of this punch should be ornamented with small pieces of orange, and berries in season.

4

HOT BRANDY AND RUM PUNCH

For a party of fifteen

One quart of Jamaica rum

One quart of Cognac brandy

One pound of white loaf sugar

Four lemons

Three quarts of boiling water

One teaspoon of nutmeg

Rub the sugar over the lemons until it has absorbed all the yellow part of the skins, then put the sugar into a punchbowl; add the ingredients well together, pour over them the boiling water, stir well together; add the rum, brandy and nutmeg; mix thoroughly, and the punch will be ready to serve. As we have before said, it is very important, in making good punch, that all the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated; and, to ensure success, the process of mixing must be diligently attended to. Allow a quart for four persons; but this information must be taken cum grano salis;1 for the capacities of persons for this kind of beverage are generally supposed to vary considerably.

5

SCOTCH WHISKY PUNCH

Steep the thin yellow shavings of lemon peel in the whisky, which should be of the best quality; the sugar should be dissolved in boiling water. As it requires genius to make whisky punch, it would be impertinent to give proportions.

6

WHISKEY PUNCH

One wineglass of whiskey (Irish or Scotch)

Sugar to taste

Two wineglasses of boiling water

Dissolve the sugar well with one wineglass of the water, then pour in the whiskey, and add the balance of the water. Sweeten to taste, and put in a small piece of lemon rind, or a thin slice of lemon.

7

COLD WHISKEY PUNCH

Use large bar glass

One tablespoon of powdered white sugar dissolved in a little water

Juice of half a small lemon

One and one-half wineglasses of Irish or Scotch whiskey

Fill the glass with shaved ice, shake well, and dress the top with two thin slices of lemon, and berries in season. Serve with a straw.

This beverage ought always to be made with boiling water, and allowed to concoct and cool for a day or two before it is put on the table. In this way, the materials get more intensely amalgamated than cold water and cold whiskey ever get. As to the beautiful mutual adaptation of cold rum and cold water, that is beyond all praise, being one of nature’s most exquisite achievements.

8

IRISH WHISKEY PUNCH

This is the genuine Irish beverage. It is generally made one-third pure whiskey, and two-thirds boiling water, in which the sugar has been dissolved. If lemon punch, the rind is rubbed on the sugar, and a small proportion of juice added before the whiskey is poured in.

Irish whiskey is not fit to drink until it is three years old.

9

GIN PUNCH

Use large bar glass

One tablespoon of raspberry syrup

Two tablespoons of white sugar

One and one-half wineglasses of gin

One-half of a small-sized lemon

Two slices of orange

One piece of pineapple

One wineglass of water

Fill the tumbler with shaved ice. Shake well, and ornament the top with berries in season. Sip through a glass tube or straw.

10

GIN PUNCH

From a recipe by Soyer2

One-half pint of old gin

One gill of maraschino

The juice of two lemons

The rind of half a lemon

Four ounces of syrup

One quart bottle of German seltzer water

Ice well

11

CHAMPAGNE PUNCH

One quart bottle of wine

One quarter pound of sugar

One orange, sliced

The juice of a lemon

Three slices of pineapple

One wineglass of raspberry or strawberry syrup

Ornament with fruits in season, and serve in champagne goblets

This can be made in any quantity by observing the proportions of the ingredients as given above. Four bottles of wine make a gallon, and a gallon is generally sufficient for fifteen persons in a mixed party. For a good champagne punch, see Rocky Mountain Punch, No. 43.

12

SHERRY PUNCH

Use large bar glass

Two wineglasses of sherry

One tablespoon of sugar

Two or three slices of orange

Two or three slices of lemon

Fill tumbler with shaved ice, shake well, and ornament with berries in season. Sip through a straw.

13

CLARET PUNCH

Use large bar glass

One and one-half tablespoons of sugar

Two or three slices of orange One slice of lemon

Fill the tumbler with shaved ice, and then pour in your claret, shake well, and ornament with berries in season. Place a straw in the glass. To make a quantity of claret punch, see Imperial Punch, No. 41.

14

SAUTERNE PUNCH

Use large bar glass

The same as claret punch, using sauterne instead of claret.

15

PORT WINE PUNCH

Use large bar glass

The same as claret punch, using port wine instead of claret, and ornament with berries in season.

16

VANILLA PUNCH

Use large bar glass

One tablespoon of sugar

One wineglass of brandy

The juice of one-quarter of a lemon

Fill the tumbler with shaved ice, shake well, ornament with one or two slices of lemon, and flavor with a few drops of vanilla extract.

This is a delicious drink, and should be imbibed through a glass tube or straw.

17

PINEAPPLE PUNCH

For a party of ten

Four bottles of champagne

One pint of Jamaica rum

One pint of brandy

One gill of curaçao

Juice of four lemons

Four pineapples sliced

Sweeten to taste with pulverized white sugar

Put the pineapple with one pound of sugar in a glass bowl, and let them stand until the sugar is well soaked in the pineapple, then add all the other ingredients, except the champagne. Let this mixture stand in ice for about an hour, then add the champagne. Place a large block of ice in the center of the bowl, and ornament it with loaf sugar, sliced orange, and other fruits in season.

Serve in champagne glasses.

Pineapple punch is sometimes made by adding sliced pineapple to brandy punch.