Hanky Panky

I wanted to get back to exploring real vintage cocktails, so I made one from the beginning of the 20th century, the Hanky Panky:

• 1.5 ounces gin
• 1.5 ounces sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes Fernet Branca

Stir well with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist a small swathe of orange peel over the surface of the drink.

When this cocktail was named, “hanky panky” wasn’t yet a term for sexual mischief. Instead it referred to black magic. When you read the ingredients for this cocktail you might think “bah, it’s just a sweet martini” but, oh, it is so much more. The magic comes from how superb this drink is compared to its simplicity.

The Fogcutter (Trader Vic’s)

Having just received my Fee Brothers Orgeat Syrup I decided to try The Fogcutter again, using the recipe from Trader Vic’s:

• 2.0 ounces light Puerto Rican rum
• 0.5 ounce gin
• 1.0 ounce brandy
• 1.0 ounce orange juice
• 2.0 ounces lemon juice
• 0.5 ounce orgeat syrup
• 0.5 ounce sherry

Shake with cube ice, strain into a glass, and fill with crushed ice.

First off, this is a huge cocktail. Most of the cocktails I’ve been making have around one and a half to two ounces of spirit. This has close to four. I had to change the glass I was planning to serve this in to leave room for ice.

Back Porch Lemonade

This is another favorite of mine from bluezoo, and thanks to Chad Lobner I’m able to share the recipe for Back Porch Lemonade:

• 2.00 ounces Troy and Sons moonshine
• 1.50 ounces Sour Mix
• 0.75 ounce Ginger Syrup
• Lemon wedges

Muddle the lemons and add rest of ingredients. Shake and strain over a crushed ice filled mason jar rimmed with sugar.

Moonshine is a spirit made from corn that is popular in the Appalachian region of North Carolina, which is near where I live. While North Carolina doesn’t really have the whiskey tradition of Tennessee or Kentucky, we do take our moonshine seriously. I grew up in a “dry county” – one in which it was illegal to sell alcohol – but there were always places people “in the know” could go to find “white liquor”. Quite frequently it was sold in the same jars used for canning, normally made by Mason or Ball.

The Moscow Mule

For a recent party I bought some spicy Jamaican-style ginger ale, so I thought it was time to try The Moscow Mule:

• 2 ounces vodka
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• Ginger beer or ginger ale

Squeeze lime juice into a Moscow Mule mug. Drop the spent lime shell into the mug. Add ice cubes and the vodka, then fill with ginger beer.

Almost every time we go to the Oak Leaf for lunch, my friend Ben gets a Moscow Mule. I thought it was because he really likes them, but at the party he told me it was because they are usually on special. (grin)

Ginger Syrup

Simple syrups are usually just equal parts sugar and water, plus something to flavor it. Ginger syrup is pretty much the same, but its preparation is a little different.

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cups water
• ginger, peeled and cut into chunks

Combine sugar and water and simmer until the sugar dissolved and the liquid becomes clear. Add the ginger and continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced down to a third. Strain.

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The Fogcutter

Dr. Cocktail lists only a single vintage recipe that uses sour mix, and since I had some on hand I decided to try The Fogcutter:

• 1.0 ounce white rum
• 0.5 ounce gin
• 0.5 ounce brandy
• 0.5 ounce Sour Mix
• Two dashes simple syrup

Combine with ice and blend. Pour into goblet. Add a float of cherry-flavored brandy on top.

This drink had a lot of firsts for me. It was my first cocktail to feature rum. It was the first cocktail to be blended. It as also my first cocktail in the “tiki” tradition made famous by Trader Vic’s.

Harvest Rye

When the year end holidays roll around, I start to look forward to the Harvest Rye cocktail:

• 2 ounces High West Double Rye
• 1 ounce Sour Mix
• 1 ounce Apple Shrub
• Cider Foam
• Fresh nutmeg

Shake the first three ingredients in an iced shaker and pour into a cocktail glass. Top with cider foam and fresh nutmeg.

My first trip to the bluezoo restaurant at Walt Disney World in Orlando was formative in my desire to make cocktails. Not only do they revive vintage cocktails, they make a number of delicious new ones. When I first had this one, it was so new it didn’t even have a name. Chad Lobner, the General Manager, was kind enough to share some of their recipes with me. He works hard at trying to preserve the spirit behind the classics but adding new twists such as as the use of infusions, gels and foams.