Daily Archives: September 8, 2016

Bartender, Cocktail, Legends

Jerry Thomas

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jerrythomas

THE DICTIONARY DEFINES a bartender as a person who mixes and serves alcoholic drinks at a bar.  The word was first used in America sometime during the 1830’s.  When we think of bartenders, we envision characters played by Nicholas Colasanto,Ted Lange, Woody Harrelson, and Bryan Brown.  Some of us even have a favorite real life bartender whose image comes to mind when you hear the word bartender, but who is the bartender who influenced these fictional and non-fictional bartenders?  His name is Jeremiah P. Thomas.

Jeremiah P. Thomas was born on December 15, 1830 in Sackets Harbor, New York and he is considered by most to be the Father of American Mixology.  He learned his craft in New Haven, Connecticut as a 16 year-old apprentice in 1846.  He then sailed to California as a merchant marine during the Gold Rush.  While in California, he developed his skills as a bartender and bar manager before moving to New York City in 1851.  During this time, he opened the first of four saloons that he’d run in New York during his life.  He also worked as head bartender at hotels and saloons in New Orleans, St. Louis, Chicago, Charleston, and San Francisco.  He even traveled to Europe.

Jerry, or The Professor, as he was known, was well known for his showmanship.  He owned a set of solid-silver bar tools which he used to develop elaborate and flashy techniques for mixing cocktails.  Sometimes, he was known to juggle bottles, cups, glasses, and mixing containers.  He wore flashy jewelry and had his cups and bar tools embellished with precious stones and metals.  While working at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco, Jerry earned $100 per week.  At the time, this was more than what was earned by the Vice President of the United States.

Recently, I mentioned Jerry’s book, The Bar-Tender’s Guide, in a post.  This is the first bartending book ever published in the United States.  It was a collection of recipes that had been, until the time of publication, passed on orally.  The book also included original recipes and it discussed the principles for fabricating cocktails in all categories.

As I mentioned earlier, Jerry was known for his flare.  His signature drink, the Blue Blazer, was developed while working at the El Dorado saloon in San Francisco.  It is made by setting whisky ablaze and passing it back and forth between two mixing glasses, creating an arc of flame.  I’d love to do this at a bar, but sadly, it’s illegal to set drinks ablaze in bars in Virginia.  Among Jerry’s other creations was a drink called the Martinez, which first appeared in the 1887 edition of his famous book.  Many mistakenly refer to this drink as the precursor to what we know as the modern martini.  The 1887 edition lists the ingredients as Old Tom gin, sweet vermouth, a dash of maraschino, bitters, a slice of lemon and two dashes of gum syrup.  Clearly, this is closer to a manhattan than a martini, since a martini has gin and dry vermouth garnished with an olive.

What is most remarkable about Mr. Thomas is that his life spanned the three great ages of cocktails: the archaic, the baroque, and the classic.  He was born in 1830 when Americans were enjoying punches, toddies and slings.  During his prime as a bartender, he was in the middle of the period when bartenders used an incomprehensible array of ingredients and styles to make drinks.  At the time of his death he was witness to the introduction of modern cocktails such as the martini and the manhattan.

In addition to being the father of bartending, Jerry was a husband, a father, a traveler, a gambler, a prize-fight fan, and an art collector.  He was one of the first to display the work of Thomas Nast in his saloon.  For the Thomas Nast impaired, Nast was a caricaturist and editorial cartoonist who is considered to be the Father of the American Cartoon.  Sadly, his famous drawing of Jerry Thomas in nine tippling postures colossally has been lost.

In 1885, Jerry Thomas died from what was described at the time as apoplexy.  He was 55 years old.  By then, he was pretty well known around the country.  This was evidenced by the striking number of obituaries that appeared in newspapers from New York to San Francisco.  The New York Times noted that Thomas was at one time better known to club men and men about town than any other bartender in this city, and he was popular among all classes.  That says it all.

So, there you have it — Jeremiah P. Thomas, shaken and stirred.  Keep in mind that the person you just read about died nearly 125 years ago, yet his influence can still be seen today.  Any bartender who flips bottles, sets drinks ablaze, or makes fancy drinks is emulating the style of a man who was born when Andrew Jackson was president.  He was admired and respected by everyone and he changed the way we chronicle, categorize, and create drinks.  So, the next time you’re in a bar and you hear a bartender talking about his latest creation, ask him if he’s heard of Jerry Thomas.  He most likely hasn’t, but now you have the ability to enlighten him.  As always, when drinking concoctions from the 1887 edition of The Bar-Tender’s Guide or any other bar manual, please drink responsibly!!!

Alcohol, Cocktail, Gin, Liquor

Drink Dissection: Tom Collins

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tomcollins

I LOVE THE mysterious drinks — the ones that you think you know everything about, but in actuality you know very little.  The Tom Collins is one of those mysterious drinks everyone thinks they know, but when it comes down to it, all they really know is that it tastes pretty good.  But, what else should we know?  Let’s do a little digging.

First, the Tom Collins is one of many drinks from a class of drinks known as Collinses.  A Collins, by definition, is a tall sours that is related to a fizz.  A sours is a drink made with lemon juice, sugar, and liquor.  The ingredients must be mixed in a shaker and then poured into a glass.  A fizz is a sours made using the same ingredients with the addition of soda water.  It is also shaken.  This is what gives it the fizz characteristic.  A Collins has the same ingredients as a fizz, but the ingredients are stirred in the glass rather than shaken.  It’s then garnished with a lemon wedge and a cherry.  Specifically, a Tom Collins is lemon juice, sugar, gin and soda stirred in a tall glass, known as a Collins glass, and garnished with a lemon wedge and a cherry.

The history of the Tom Collins dates back to the early nineteenth century.  It was once thought that it was created by a bartender named John Collins who purportedly worked at Limmer’s Hotel in London.  This turns out not to be true since there is no evidence that anyone named John Collins ever tended bar at Limmer’s.  What is known is that the recipe for a drink called a John Collins first appeared in Haney’s Steward & Barkeeper’s Manual in 1869.  In 1876, the Collins was introduced as a category of drinks in Jerry Thomas’ Bar-tender’s Guide.  I have a copy of the 1867 edition of Jerry Thomas’ Bar-tender’s Guide.  It lists a drink called a Gin Punch.  The ingredients are a pint of old gin, a gill of maraschino, the juice of two lemons, four ounces of syrup, and one quart of German seltzer water.  Obviously, this was intended to be served to more than one person, but it’s also obviously a Collins.  For the gill impaired, a gill is a unit of measurement equal to a one-quarter of a pint or 118.2937 ml.

You’re probably confused by the name John Collins.  This is understandable.  The original name of the drink was, in fact, John Collins.  However, over time it became Tom Collins.  The reason for this isn’t known, but it has been suggested that connoisseurs of this fine beverage preferred the name Tom Collins for their favorite cocktail and over time the name change was accepted by all.  What I believe happened is that one of the key ingredients in one of the original recipes was the catalyst for the name change.  That ingredient was Old Tom Gin, a lightly sweetened gin that was popular in 18th-century England.  It’s rarely seen today, but it is often referred to as the missing link in the evolution of gin.  It’s slightly sweeter than London Dry Gin, but slightly drier than Holland Gin.  I believe that Old Tom Gin was popular enough during the late 1800’s that, for some, it made sense to call a John Collins a Tom Collins since Old Tom Gin was what gave the cocktail its kick.  It is also thought that the word of mouth passing of the name of this popular drink somehow caused the name change.  Similar to the way the story gets changed as a rumor passes from person to person.  This is all speculation of course, but it is also very plausible.

As with all popular cocktails, the Tom Collins has evolved over time.  The first recipe for a Tom Collins that I could find was the one that I listed above.  It appeared in print in 1867 and was not called a Tom Collins.  By 1876, Jerry Thomas had introduced the Collins class of drinks and included among his recipes a Tom Collins Gin cocktail.  This cocktail was made by combining five or six dashes of gum syrup, the juice of a small lemon, a large wine-glass of gin and two or three lumps of ice into a large bar-glass.  The cocktail was shaken and then topped with soda water.

By 1878, the Tom Collins was being served everywhere.  Its popularity was unmatched and the recipe began to evolve again.  I found a recipe from 1891 that actually calls for Old Tom Gin.  It also lists a bar-spoonful of sugar rather than gum syrup and a drink of Old Tom Gin as opposed to a large wine-glass of gin.  I’m not sure what those measurements mean, but my guess is that they are both far larger than a shot.

These days, a Tom Collins consists of two ounces of dry gin, two ounces of lemon juice, one teaspoon of simple syrup, soda water, a slice of lemon and one cherry.  To make it, fill a Collins glass with ice, add gin, lemon juice and simple syrup.  Top with soda water and stir.  Use the slice of lemon and the cherry as a garnish.  It’s very simple to make and very refreshing on a hot summer day.

So, there you have it — the Tom Collins dissected.  Things are so much simpler when you break them down scientifically.  It should be noted that these days, if you order a John Collins, you will get a Collins cocktail made with bourbon rather than gin.  This is hardly the same cocktail that you would have received in 1869, but as we’ve seen, things do change over time.  As usual, when enjoying any of the Collins class of cocktails, please drink responsibly.

Alcohol, Bourbon, Cocktail, Liquor, Whiskey

Drink Dissection: The Manhattan

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manhattan

OVER THE YEARS, I’ve had several conversations that revolved around a cocktail known as the Manhattan.  Most of those conversations began with the same question:  Why can’t I find someone who makes a good Manhattan?  The simplest answer is that most of today’s bartenders don’t know or understand what it takes to make a good Manhattan.  I know of two places where I can go to get a good one, but if I go anywhere else I don’t order them.  The bartenders at those two places have a healthy respect for all things related to cocktails.  Since a Manhattan is considered a classic, you’d think that bartenders would take the time to find out what a Manhattan is and learn how to make one, but that rarely occurs.  The impetus behind these posts has always been for me to find the facts for myself and then pass them on to those who are interested.

So, what is a Manhattan?  It’s a cocktail made with whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters.  The most common whiskeys used are blended whiskey, bourbon, Canadian whiskey, rye, and Tennessee whiskey.  The proportions of whiskey to vermouth vary from 1:1 for a very sweet Manhattan to 4:1 for a very dry one.  It is most common to stir the ingredients with ice and then strain them into a martini glass.  The most common garnish is a Maraschino cherry.  It is not uncommon to serve a Manhattan on the rocks or to garnish it with a twist of lemon.  The Manhattan was the first of many cocktails that blended vermouth with a spirit and is the precursor to the king of all cocktails — the Martini.

The origins of the Manhattan aren’t clear.  One story is that it originated at the Manhattan Club in New York City in the 1870’s.  The claim is that Dr. Iain Marshall invented it for a banquet hosted by Jennie Jerome to celebrate the election of Samuel J. Tilden as governor.  Sadly, this story holds very little weight because during the time of this supposed banquet, Jenny Jerome was in France and was pregnant.  She later gave birth to one of history’s most celebrated figures — Winston Churchill.  Another story suggests that a bartender named William Black created the drink at a saloon on Bowery in the Manhattan area.  Although Black did exist and evidence of the saloon also exists, there is no evidence that the cocktail was invented there.

What is clear is that in 1873, the Galveston Daily News reported that the New York Club had a peculiar cocktail made with brandy and several different kinds of bitters.  It was shaken rather than stirred.  It also reported that Amaranth Club had a cocktail made with seltzer and the Manhattan club had invented another.  This is by no means proof that the Manhattan Club invention is the Manhattan, but there is no proof that it isn’t.  What’s odd is that if this is the Manhattan, then this is almost 10 years before cocktails made with vermouth were generally accepted.  It wasn’t until 1884 that the Manhattan even appeared in bartenders guides.

Let’s look at a couple of recipes.  In 1884, the following recipe appeared in How to Mix Drinks–Bar Keeper’s Handbook.  It’s the same recipe used at the Manhattan Club and was by far the most popular during the first twenty years of the cocktails existence.

Manhattan (circa 1884)

Two or three dashes of Peruvian bitters, 1/2 teaspoon of gum syrup, 1 1/2 ounces of whiskey, 1 1/2 ounces of vermouth.

Fill the glass three-quarters full of fine shaved ice, mix well with a spoon, strain in fancy cocktail glass and serve.

It should be noted that Peruvian bitters was an advertiser in the bar manual where this recipe appears.  Other bitters such as Angostura and Peychaud’s also advertised in bar manuals.  This suggests that you may choose your favorite brand.  Since gum syrup is difficult to obtain these days, it can be left out without affecting the quality of the finished product.  You may also notice that there is no mention of a garnish for this recipe.

Manhattan (today)

3/4 ounce of sweet vermouth, 2 1/2 ounces of blended whiskey, dash of Angostura bitters, 1 Maraschino cherry, 1 twist of orange peel.

Combine vermouth, whiskey, bitter and ice in a mixing glass.  Stir gently, Place the cherry in a chilled cocktail glass and strain the whiskey over the cherry.  Rub the cut edge of the orange peel over the rim of the glass and twist it over the drink to release the oils, but don’t drop it into the drink.

This modern version of the Manhattan is the most commonly accepted version today.  Like all cocktails, the quality of the ingredients ensures the quality of the finished product.  Italian vermouth is always a good choice although Vya is an excellent alternative.  Woodford Reserve is an excellent whiskey and a great way to enhance this recipe.  I am a fan of orange bitters. I’ve actually made my own, which I proudly use when I make a Manhattan at home.  The introduction of this flavor to the mix turns an ordinary Manhattan into a delicious drink worth savoring.  Another way to make your Manhattan stand out is to use brandy-infused cherries.  Trust me, there is no better way to finish a Manhattan than by biting into one these tasty treats.

For those who enjoy something slightly sweeter, try the following recipe:

French Manhattan

2 ounces of Woodford Reserve, one ounce of Chambord, dash of bitters.

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a martini glass.  Garnish with a cherry.

The obvious twist is that Chambord is substituted for vermouth.  It’s a neat alternative to the original and a refreshing way to end a long day.

So, there you have it, the Manhattan demystified.  Once you’ve discovered where drinks come from and understand their place in history, it’s much easier to make them and enjoy them.  I know quite a few bartenders who still don’t know how to make this time honored and delicious cocktail.  They don’t take the time to find the recipes and try them out.  Experimentation is the best way to perfect your craft.  Tasting your experiments helps give you an appreciation for the cocktail’s place in history.  It also gives you a reference when someone asks for a specific variation on the Manhattan theme.  As always, when enjoying pre-Prohibition, modern or French Manhattans, please drink responsibly.