RECIPES
Excerpt from THE UNITED STATES OF COCKTAILS (Spring 2020)
Pennsylvania Cocktail
WILLIE STARGELL
Pennsylvania is known for the Whiskey Rebellion in the 1700s for the locals having nothing to do with the new taxes subjected to whiskey. Whiskey sours were very popular post-Prohibition. Pittsburgh baseball legend Willie Stargell famously said, “When they start the game, they don’t say ‘Work ball!’ They say ‘Play ball!’” I created this sour cocktail in honor of the late baseball season and Indian summers, when I’m craving cherries, maple syrup and something ginger-y but still refreshing. Drink up and play ball.
Serves 1
1½ ounces Whiskey (If you have Wigle’s Rivers and Mountains Whiskey, huzzah, but any whiskey will do)
¾ ounces Cherry Heering
¾ ounces fresh Lemon Juice
Combine ingredients in a shaker and strain over ice. Top with 1 ounce of Fever Tree Ginger Beer; lightly stir and serve.
Garnish: Lemon
Washington Cocktail
CLEAN SLATE (Jermaine Whitehead, Deep Dive, Seattle)
Have you heard of Amazon? Word on the street is they have money. And lots of employees. And in Seattle, on the ground floor of Amazon’s headquarters, there is Deep Dive, where Jermaine Whitehead is running things with historic reckoning and attention to detail. This low-alcohol, nutty and refreshing Clean Slate recipe was first published in Imbibe 2019. Seattle’s Scrappy’s makes some of the best bitters in America. (Love you, Celery). Manzanilla sherry is not only a wonderful and underappreciated cocktail ingredient, I will happily visit your home if you keep a bottle in the fridge. (P.S., your fridge is the large white box in your kitchen next to all the empty, flattened Amazon boxes you need to recycle.)
Serves 1
1 ounce Manzanilla sherry
1 ounce bianco vermouth (Whitehead uses Mancino, but Carpano or Dolin Blanc work)
¼ ounce Salers aperitif (Lillet also works)
2 dashes Scrappy’s Orleans Bitters (or substitute Peychaud’s)
Combine and stir all ingredients with ice to chill. Strain into a chilled glass.
Garnish: Edible Flower (Whitehead uses nasturtiums, which grow with abundance)
Excerpt from THE BLOODY MARY (Spring 2017 - Ten Speed Press)
CLASSIC BLOODY CAESAR (1969)
Serves 1
According to history, the delicious Caesar was not invented overnight, but rather developed over months before achieving its modern-day legendary status. Bar Manager Walter Chell was asked to create something special, and so he mashed clams and engaged clam juice with tomato juice, embracing the philosophy of “If it’s good enough to eat, it’s good enough to drink.” The name Caesar came from Italian influence, notably spaghetti alla vongole, or spaghetti and clams.
Since its 1969 debut at the Calgary Westin Hotel (if you’re any good at sleuthing, there is a definitive pattern with Bloodys and hotels) the Bloody Caesar skyrocketed into popularity by the mid-1970s, becoming Canada’s most popular cocktail. Originally, making clam juice had been a sore spot for bartenders, until a company started the Mott’s company started bottling their own. Speaking as someone who would rather engage the guests than break my elbows mashing clams and tomatoes for hours, we salute the good people of Clamato, with our healthy elbows, which we need for high-fiving friends, strangers and playful dogs. And so should every other bartender alive!
CLASSIC BLOODY CAESAR
1½ ounces vodka
4 ounces tomato and clam juice (aka Clamato)
2 dashes Worcestshire
1 barspoon horseradish
2 pinches of black pepper to 1 pinch each celery salt and salt
Garnish with Celery Stalk and Oyster
WHEN THE QUINN CRIES MARY
Serves 1
I have a friend named Quinn. I hope each and every one of you do as well.Quinn and I have known each other our entire adult life. He worked with me at my first bartending gig and opened Fedora with us in 2011, and when he left, we decided to put on a Quinn-named cocktail, and there has been one ever since.Dr. Quinn: Medicine Morman (as Quinn was raised Mormen), Quinneth Paltrow, Quinnie The Pooh, Quinnside The Actors Studio, you get the picture.
This recipe also combines Ancho Reyes Ancho Chile, a fairly new liqueur I celebrate in any Bloody Mary variation, along with Hella Bitters Smoked Chili bitters from our friend Tobin, a dear friend and former Fedora bartender. Always great to support such good people.
When The Quinn Cries Mary was our first Bloody Mary at Fedora in New York City. It’s an easy build for the home bartender, and I hope it makes you smile when drinking as Quinn or any friend often can when they’re in the same room.
WHEN THE QUINN CRIES MARY
¾ ounce option of one of the following: vodka, mezcal, or cachaça (I prefer mezcal or Yaguara cachaça in this recipe, as they both elevate the influence of Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur)
¾ ounce Ancho Reyes Ancho Chile Liqueur
¼ ounce soy sauce
2 ½ ounces tomato juice
Pour ingredients in mixing glass; roll three times; strain over fresh ice in a half-rimmed salt-pepper-celery salt rocks glass.
Top with four dashes Hella Bitters Smoked Chili Bitters
Garnish with olive and lemon
Certain mezcals will provide an extra layer of heat and spice to this little sassafras, whereas cachaça contributes fruity, earthy, velvet pepper roundness.
While sipping, think of something funny to text your friend Quinn. Most likely a photo of a kid crying over spilled cereal or ice cream, informing him it reminded you of something Quinn-related – but be vague, in hopes of giving your Quinn friend a complex.