The Mixology Lab

This month’s Mixology Monday is hosted by Joe and Dinah (aka Metagrrrl) at Bibulo.us, and our topic is 19th Century Cocktails.  When I saw this, I thought, “Awesome – This is right up my alley.”  You see, I’m a history nerd at heart.  I’ve got both a BA and an MA in American History, with a concentration in 19th Century American History, so you’ll understand my excitement.  

After paging through David Wondrich’s Imbibe!, a great book on the early history of American cocktails, I came upon the Prince of Wales Cocktail.  With a great backstory and promising flavors, I had to try it.  

His Highness Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, was the son of Queen Victoria.  He was born on November 9, 1841, and ascended to his title on December 8, 1841.  As the son of one of the longest living monarchs in Great Britain’s long and storied history, one could say that the guy had some time to kill before he could become king.  59 years, in fact.  So, with that much time on his hands, and with mom not allowing you to do anything related to the governance of Great Britain, you’d probably end up doing exactly what he did – become a playboy and travel the world on the family fortune.  

 In 1860, the Prince became the first member of the British royal family to visit North America.  His charm and affable nature attracted huge crowds wherever he went.  He stayed with President James Buchanan in the White House for three days, saw Niagara Falls, and visited New York City.  Although we don’t know the exact provenance of the Prince of Wales Cocktail (of which there are many variations), perhaps he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Jerry Thomas during his trip to the United States.  

The Prince of Wales Cocktail
from Imbibe!, David Wondrich 

• 1.5 oz rye whiskey
• 1/4 tsp. maraschino liqueur
• 1 tsp. bar sugar
• 1/2 tsp. water
• 1/8th of a ring of Pineapple
• lemon zest
• 1 dash of Angostura bitters
• 1 oz Champagne

L and I have had a nerve-wracking few days, for various reasons.  We both decided that we needed something to soothe our nerves and, if you will, “take the edge off.”  

I thought, “Hmmm, what’s the most powerful, yet tasty drink I know?”    

A voice cried out in the wilderness, “Make a Tiki drink – preferably a Zombie.”

But there are so many recipes, I thought.  Which one to make?  There’s only one way to solve this dilemma – a Zombie-off. 

Challenger #1 (from Cocktail DB)

Challenger #2 (from The Joy of Mixology, Gary Regan)

• 1/2oz lime juice
• 3/4oz pineapple juice
• 1/4oz apricot brandy
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 2oz anejo rum
• 1oz light rum
• 1oz dark rum
• 1/4oz 151-proof rum

Both cocktails are shaken and strained into a 10oz glass filled with ice and garnished with cherries.  

L tried Zombie #2 first.  ”WHOA – that’s strong. (cough cough).”  
Zombie #1 was next:  ”Mmmm, that’ll do nicely.” 

I found Zombie #1 to have a nice balance of sweet, citrus, and rum.  Zombie #2, with its comparative lack of citrus, tastes a bit like a glass of cold sweetened rum.  

Ok, so this isn’t a booze post, but I couldn’t resist talking about this.  Besides, good alcohol and good food go hand in hand, so it’s topical.   Speaking of topical, I played around with a bottle of Pimento Dram last night that I picked up in a recent trip to New York.  Interesting stuff.  I’ll talk more about that later.  Back to the subject to the post! 

Over at Very Good Taste, Andrew posted a list of 100 foods that, as he says, “every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life.”  Here’s my version of the list.   

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar    (Surprisingly not – ed.)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more   
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse   (Not just Horse, but Horse sashimi.  I don’t recommend it. -ed.) 
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

That’s it – I’ve had 71 out of the 100.  Not bad.  The only thing that maybe I wouldn’t eat is Roadkill, but I’d eat it under certain proscribed circumstances.  Think about it, the meat may be safer than some of the questionable street food you’ve eaten – Thank you, El Calle Cholera in Monterrey.

The latest Mixology Monday topic is hosted by Kevin at Save the Drinkers.  Our topic for the 30th edition of MxMo is Local Flavor.  Here’s how Kevin describes the challenge:  

Option 1: Gather ingredients that are representative of the culture/geography/tackiness of your respective cities and make a drink with a truly place-based style. For example, huckleberries are native to the geographical area where I live, as are elderflowers, potatoes, and extremely conservative, closet-case politicians. (I’m just saying!)

Option 2: Dig up an old drink that came from your city and revive it! If you can find the original bar, that would be even more interesting.

As luck would have it, there was a recent article in the Washington Post on The Lime Rickey, one of the few cocktails to have originated in Washington, DC.  As David Wondrich writes in Imbibe!, the Rickey was named after Col. Joe Rickey, a Confederate Army veteran and well known lobbyist in the 1880s.  Joe was a regular man about town, and had a particular affection for a whiskey cooler of his own invention, which he proceeded to instruct every bartender in town as to its construction.  It became so popular that the Washington Post mentioned the drink in a story in 1889.  The original drink was pretty straight forward:  a measure of whiskey (maybe bourbon, maybe rye) was added to a tumbler filled with crushed ice and the juice of 1/2 of a lime, and topped off with club soda.  The observant reader will note the absence of any sweetener, whatsoever.  This was due to a peculiar belief of the Colonel that the presence of sugar in a drink “heated the blood” while his beverage, with the cooling properties of the lime juice, was highly beneficial to the constitution.  

My MxMo contribution stays fairly close to the Colonel’s original recipe.  (Not that one…)  It uses Maryland “style” rye in a nod to my home state.  I say “style” because there’s no authentic Maryland rye whiskey produced anymore in the State of Maryland.  Up until Prohibition, Maryland and Pennsylvania were the rye whiskey capitals of the United States, with each state having its own distinctive style.  Unfortunately, the Volstead Act killed most of these distilleries, and with it the spicy Pennsylvania Rye and the softer Maryland Rye. The Pikesville Supreme Straight Rye Whiskey I used in my drink is distilled by Heaven Hill in Kentucky, but I think that it does justice to the style.  

The Old Line Rickey

1.5 oz Pikesville Supreme Straight Rye Whiskey
1/2 lime
Club Soda or Seltzer
Rich Simple Syrup (optional)

In a highball glass, squeeze half a lime (approximately 3/4 of an ounce) and fill the glass with crushed ice.  Add the rye whiskey and stir.  Top off with club soda or seltzer.  

When I tasted this mixture, it was good, but tart.  I added a generous dash of Rich Simple Syrup (2 parts Demerara Sugar to 1 part water), and it rounded out the flavors.  Maybe not what the good Colonel would have preferred, but a fine beverage none the less.