Tales of Cocktails!

Joydip Sur

From the relentless persecution of Protestants in Turkey with the deadly Molotov to the clinking of crystal in the high-rises of Manhattan, and from the foggy settings of Long Islands to the essence of the fluffy socialite Margarita, each cocktail has a tale to tell. And what better time than having a sip of it from the glass and soaking in the old world charm of these absolute classics with a winter chill for company? For those of you, who are or will be partying indoors during the Christmas – New Year season, there are some easy-to-make cocktail tips in this issue. So get set and let us take you on a trip to tipple town.

Bloody Mary:
Created in 1921 by Fernand Petiot at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, the Bloody Mary was originally called a Bucket of Blood. A few years later, when Fernand became the head of cocktails at the King Cole Bar in New York, he pepped up this cocktail, by adding spices and Worcestershire sauce to create a new Bloody Mary.

Many say that he named the cocktail in honour of Mary Pickford – the screen goddess. Though some think that it has been named after Queen Mary -1, whose relentless persecution of Protestants earned her the nickname ‘bloody Mary’.

The celery stick garnish dates back to 1960 when a lady at the Ambassador Hotel in Chicago used a stick of celery to stir her drink. Fernand Petiot noticed and started the fashion.

Ingredients
Tomato juice
60 ml Worcestershire Sauce
8-10 drops of Tabasco sauce
Vodka

Preparation
Rim the glass with salt. Fill it with ice cubes. Drop in the spent shell. Add all ingredients except the vodka and stir. Gently slide in the vodka to form a clear layer. Place the lime slice over the rim and use the celery stick or green chilly in place of a stirrer.

Garnish
Salt Rim, Spent Lime Shell, Lime Slice, Long Celery Stick or Green Chilly.

Glass Type
Old fashioned

Manhattan:
The Manhattan is believed to have first been created at the Manhattan Club in New York in 1874 for Lady Randolf Churchill, American mother of Winston Churchill. Others claim that a man called Black who ran a salon on Broadway invented it. Either way, it’s a pure classic.

Ingredients
45 ml Rye/Bourbon whisky
15 ml sweet Vermouth
Dash of Angostura Bitters
Ice

Preparation
Put all the ingredients along with ice in a mixing glass, mix them nicely, and serve in a pre-chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish
Maraschino cherry
or Orange peel

Glass Type
Martini

Mai Tai:
In 1934, Victor Jules Bergeron who later came to be popularly known as Trader Vic, opened his first restaurant in Oakland, San Francisco. He served Polynesian food with a mix of Chinese wood-fired ovens.

He created Mai Tai in this restaurant in 1944. He tested the drink on two friends, Ham and Carrie Guild from Tahiti. After the first sip, Carrie exclaimed, Mai-Tai-Roa Ae, which in Tahitian means –‘Out of this world- the very best!’ So Bergeron named his drink Mai-Tai.

Ingredients
1 lime
15 ml orange Curacao
20 ml Rock candy syrup
20 ml Orjeat syrup

Preparation
Cut the lime in half, squeeze the lime juice over shaved ice in a double old fashioned glass, save one spent shell. Add remaining ingredients and enough shaved ice to fill glass. Stir it nicely.

Garnish
Decorate with spent lime shell, fresh mint and a fruit stick.

Glass Type
Tall glass

Long Islands Iced Tea:
Belonging to the prohibition era, Long Island Iced Tea was originally made with whatever spirit that was available. The cocktail looks like iced tea – disguising its contents, hence the name. Loads of spirits with citrus and mixer formula has spawned a host of variations.

Ingredients
15 ml Vodka
15 ml Gin
15 ml Light Rum
15 ml Tequila
15 ml Lemon Juice
15 ml Orange Liqueur
Cola to top up

Preparation
Mix Vodka, Gin, Rum, Tequila, Orange liqueur, lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Strain into a Collins or tall glass full of ice and top up with cola.

Garnish
Lime wedge
and cherry

Glass Type
Collins

Tom Collins:
Created by John Collins, a bartender at Limners Hotel, London around 1800, this was originally made with genever, but the drink has spawned an entire family of variants (Tom Collins with Old Tom Gin) John Collins (with London Dry Gin), Sandy Collins (whisky), Pierre Collins (brandy), Pedro Collins (with rum). A classic combination of spirit, lemon and lime.

Ingredients
60 ml Gin
15 ml Lemon Juice
15 ml Sugar Syrup
Soda to top

Preparation
Stir the ingredients in a Collins glass with ice and then top with soda.

Garnish
Lemon Slice

Glass Type
Collins

Margarita:
There are countless versions on how a margarita was invented and here are two of the most popular accounts.

In 1948 a socialite called Margaret Sames was hosting a party at her cliff side house in Acapulco, Mexico. Among her guests was Conrad ‘Nicky’ Hilton of the famous Hilton hotel clan. Looking for something to pep up the party, Margaret began to experiment at the bar and created the first Margarita.

Pancho Morles, a bartender from Juarez, Mexico was asked to make a Magnolia but couldn’t remember the exact ingredients so threw something together. Although it wasn’t what the lady asked for but she loved it – her name was Margarita and hence the name of the drink.

Ingredients
45 ml Tequila
15 ml Triple Sec / Grand Marnier
15 ml Lime Juice

Preparation
Run the rim of a cocktail glass with lime juice and dip in salt. Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into a margarita glass and serve.

Garnish
Lime slice

Different Styles
Straight Up: Combine ingredients with ice in a shaker. Shake 20-30 times then strain into chilled margarita glass. Garnish with lime wheel.
On The Rocks: Combine ingredients with ice in a shaker and pour into glass filled with ice. Garnish with a lemon wheel.
Frozen: Combine ingredients in blender with one cup of ice. Pour into large margarita glass and serve with lime wedge.

Glass Type
Margarita

Mojito:
Between the wars and especially during prohibition, Cuba had a thriving international bar culture. In fact on the day that prohibition was announced, numerous companies outfitted ferries for the overnight booze cruise to the island. At the heart of this bar culture were their highly trained professional bartenders, many of them trained at the Association Cantineros Cuba – the legendary Havana Bar School. The Mojito was probably invented after Americans introduced the locals to the Mint Julep.

Ingredients
45 ml light rum
1 bar spoon superfine sugar
6 Lime wedges
8 to 10 Mint leaves
10 ml Lime juice (if required)
10 ml Sugar syrup (if required)

Preparation
Muddle mint leaves, superfine sugar and lime in a mixing glass. Add 45 ml light rum and ice in a cocktail shaker and shake. Strain the mixture into a tall glass and top with club soda.

Garnish
A sprig of mint

Glass Type
Tall glass

Cosmopolitan:
The Cosmopolitan appeared sometime in the 1980s – exactly who and where is unknown. Many believe it originated from the gay scene in Massachusetts, Minnesota or San Francisco. Although Cosmo’s originator is unknown, Dale De Groff can rightly claim to have popularised the drink and adjusted the recipe.

Ingredients
45 ml Vodka
15 ml Triple Sec
45 ml Cranberry Juice
Splash of fresh lime juice

Preparation
Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish
Orange slice

Glass Type
Martini

Moscow Mule:
In 1941, John G. Martin of Heublein, a spirit and food distributor and Jack Morgan, owner of the Cock ‘n’ Bull Bar in Sunset Strip, Hollywood met in a bar in Los Angeles. Together they invented the Moscow Mule by mixing Morgan’s ginger beer with Smirnoff Vodka and lime in order to market the proprietor’s struggling Cock ‘n’ Bull’s ginger-beer franchise.

They ordered specially engraved copper mugs and Martin set off to market it in the bars around the country. He bought one of the first Polaroid cameras and asked barmen to pose with a Moscow Mule copper mug and a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka. Then he would leave one copy of the photo at the bar and take a second copy to the bar next door to show them that their competitors were selling their concoction. Smirnoff Vodka sales soared thanks to their efforts.

Ingredients
60 ml Smirnoff Vodka
90 ml Ginger Beer
1 tsp Sugar syrup
15 ml Lime juice
1 slice of cucumber

Preparation
Pour vodka over ice in a copper mug. Add sugar syrup and lime juice. Top with ginger beer and stir.

Garnish
Cucumber Slice

Glass Type
Moscow Mule Mug

Screwdriver:
In the dimly lighted bar of the sleek Park Hotel, Turkish intelligence agents mingled with American engineers and Balkan refugees, were first spotted drinking the latest Yankee concoction of Vodka and orange juice, called a Screwdriver.

The drink got its name because the American engineers surreptitiously added Vodka to small cans of orange juice and stirred the mixture with their screwdrivers.

Ingredients
60 ml Vodka
150 ml Orange Juice
Dash of lime juice

Preparation
Mix both the ingredients in a highball glass with ice.

Garnish
Slice of orange.

Glass Type
Highball