Golden Dawn

The Golden Dawn was judged "World's Finest Cocktail" in 1930. I might just have to concur. Equal parts gin, Applejack, Apry, and orange juice, with a shot of real pomegranate grenadine right down the middle. Light and dark liquors need to be mixed more often. I feel like it's pretty easy to balance as long as you have a sweet liqueur and a juice on hand. I just read in Ted Haigh's book that some recipes called for 2 parts gin and Applejack per 1 part of Apry and OJ. I will have to experiment.

The Golden Dawn (from Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails)

3/4 oz. dry gin (Beefeaters)
3/4 oz. Applejack or Calvados
3/4 oz. apricot liqueur (Marie Brizard Apry is better than anything else.)
3/4 oz. orange juice (a carton is fine, but I juiced half a clementine)
Shake. Pour into a cocktail glass. Drop some grenadine down the middle. DO NOT STIR.

The Ford Cocktail

I just read a scathing review of the new Broadway revival of Ragtime in The New Yorker. I know, Hilton Als. The music is saccharine, the characters are cardboard, it doesn't do anything near justice to E.L. Doctorow's novel, but... it's Ragtime! There's a whole song about burying your live newborn baby in your employer's backyard. It's pretty awesome. Anyway, Henry Ford is a secondary character in Ragtime so this cocktail reminded me of it. Another from Vintage Cocktails and Forgotten Spirits, it's basically a variation on a wet martini. It's a tidy, compact two ounces, and the addition of orange bitters and Benedictine add a slight spicy depth without distracting from the classic gin vermouth combination. Another spin is the use of Old Tom Gin, which is a bit sweeter than regular London Dry and was actually really popular in the 19th Century, before the dry stuff took over the market. I could honestly have several of these right now, but then I would start singing Ragtime and embarrass myself.

The Ford Cocktail (from Vintage Cocktails and Forgotten Spirits)

1 oz. Old Tom Gin (If you don't have any just add a teaspoon of simple syrup to your London Dry.)

1 oz. dry vermouth (I used Noilly Prat... refrigerated of course.)

3 dashes of Benedictine

3 dashes of orange bitters (I used Regan's.)

Shake.

Blue Paradise

Was your great-grandmother a raging drunk? If you answered yes, she probably slung back plenty of these. Another recipe from Ted Haigh aka Dr. Cocktail, I was intrigued as much by the name as the ingredients. A Blue Paradise sounds something Blanche DuBois would order, or at least Blanche Devereaux. Peacock feathers and Chinese lanterns. The drink itself is very strong and pretty sweet. Honestly I don't really like Dubonnet. By itself it tastes like stale sweet vermouth, and it sort of ruins champagne and gin. Cognac is strong enough to temper the Dubonnet and together they have a relationship similar to the whisky and vermouth in a Manhattan. And then there's the Parfait Amour. If you ever want to get a five year old wasted, whip out a bottle of this stuff. First of all it's purple, like grape soda purple. By itself it tastes like melted orange creamsicle extract and it gives the Blue Paradise a candy aftertaste and cuts through the alcohol of the cognac. And this cocktail is nowhere near blue. It's a coppery orange, the same color as a hoppy IPA. Haigh supposes it might have been named after a 1915 Broadway musical but no one really knows.

Blue Paradise (from Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails)

2 oz. cognac (I used Hennessey)

1 oz. Dubonnet Rouge

4 dashes Parfait Amour (I used a 1/2 tsp... I think that's about right)

Shake.

The Twentieth Century Cocktail

I want to christen this blog with my current favorite cocktail, the Twentieth Century. I first made this drink a couple of months ago, after buying Ted Haigh's book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. It knocked me out. It's one of those drinks where you really taste all the ingredients one at a time. Tart lemon, boozy gin, dry Lillet, then... is that CHOCOLATE? Yes. creme de cacao. Then there's the name. According to Haigh, The Twentieth Century wasn't invented until the 1930s and refers to some sort of deco train rather that the entire 100 years. But I like to sip it thinking of Adolf Hitler and Neil Armstrong, Rosa Parks and Charles Manson, Bette Davis and Andy Warhol. Complicated.



The Twentieth Century (from Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails)

1 1/2 oz. Gin. (Beefeater is perfect)
3/4 oz. Lillet Blanc.
1/2 oz. light creme de cacao. (Apparently some people like less, but really then what's the point?)
Juice of half a lemon (3/4 oz.)

Shake.