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Mixed Drinks, American (Real)What They Are And How To Make Them
Date: 1999/07/13 Agree? Disagree? : Have Your Say Buy Books About This Topic At: Amazon UK Amazon US Send This Article To A Friend: Email It Use Telepathy
HistoryIt is a little-known fact that mixed drinks are a fairly recent invention. Up until Prohibition (a period of from 1920-1933 when the United States of America banned all alcoholic beverages), most people in most of the world drank their liquor straight. The first cocktails had been invented in the middle 19th century, but they were simple affairs of liquor, water and bitters (bitters are combinations of herbs and spices, often having a medicinal effect; the most common nowadays are Angostura bitters). But cocktails had yet to really take off. That all changed during Prohibition. The alcohol which was smuggled in from Canada, Mexico and the more enjoyable parts of the USA was rough, raw stuff, often cut with pure ethanol and other, rather less palatable adulterants. In fact, the liquor of the time was practically undrinkable. To solve this vexing problem, people turned to mixing their liquors with various other ingredients to mask the flavour. Even after Prohibition's well-deserved end, the new cocktails remained popular. Women in particular enjoyed these sweeter, less potent beverages. Men, of course, went along with them. In time, drier cocktails such as the martini were invented. One could say that the mixed drink had matured. Theory of Mixed DrinksThe basic mixed drink consists of a liquor and a mixer in a ratio ranging from 1:1 to 1:2. More advanced drinks add more liquors and mixers and play with the proportions. The key is to have a final product which is not too strong, not too weak, not too sweet and not too dry. These qualities are greatly dependent on the drinker; a full-grown man is much more likely to prefer a dry martini than is a 12 year old girl. These also depend on when the drink is being consumed. Many people enjoy sweet aperitifs before dinner and drier digestifs afterwards. On the other hand, many times a sweet cocktail is drunk with dessert. RecipesNotesA note on using a cocktail shaker: The key when mixing drinks is that all ingredients be ice cold. If you can, refrigerate everything, including the glassware. When you use a shaker, fill it half full of ice and add the liquors and mixers. Shake very hard; a towel comes in handy if the shaker is too cold to touch -- which it should be. Immediately strain the drink out into the proper glass. A note on glassware: The proper glass is vitally important. A perfect cocktail in an ill-shaped will not taste right. A cocktail glass is the stereotypical martini glass: it looks something like an inverted triangle on a stem. A tumbler is a short wide glass often used for whiskeys on the rocks. A lowball is something like a tumbler but narrower. A highball is a standard straight-sided water glass. A Tom Collins glass is something like a highball but still narrower. Champagne is always drunk out of a flute, never out of those shallow dishes best suited for fruit salads. A note on the recipes for readers outside the US: All recipes use the standard system of units. There are several reasons for this. Perhaps the foremost is that it is rather more convenient for measuring liquids (it is based on a system of halves and doubles; these are easy to do by eye when mixing). Second is that it is what I am familiar with. Third, I have come to the conclusion, after several years of being very pro-metric, that the standard system is superior. I therefore feel no need to use it. In case some of you are not familiar, here is a quick list of the relevant units: Since a quart is just under a litre, by working backwards one finds that a cup is 0.2-0.25 litres. An ounce would be 1/8 of that, or about 30 millilitres. So if you are using metric measuring devices, use 25-30 millilitres/oz. and 38-45 millilitres/jigger. MartiniThe martini is one of the most popular of mixed drinks in the USA. It is unfortunately unknown in Europe, (I could not find a single decent martini in London, Flanders, Northern France or Paris), except perhaps in American clubs and the like [1]. A martini is in its simplest form gin and vermouth. Depending on the proportion of vermouth, it can range from rather sweet to bone-dry. The best martinis also contain other ingredients, such as bitters, onions, olives or a lemon twist. Shake gin, vermouth and bitters with plenty of ice. Pour into cocktail glass. Take lemon peel and twist until a drop of lemon oil falls to the surface of the drink. Garnish if desired. The proportion of gin to vermouth determines the style of martini. Some swear by 3:1 or 4:1, others go as high as 6:1 and 8:1. In-and-Out: pour vermouth in the glass, swirl, then empty. Add gin. On a related nore, some use Italian (sweet/red) vermouth in order to more perfectly obtain a 'sweet' flavour. This works particularly well with orange bitters (see below). In this case, a ratio of 1:1 white to red vermouth works well. An all-red vermouth martini is enjoyed by some but looked down upon by most. Chacon a son gout! Also very good are orange bitters. This boils down to personal preference. Some use olives or (rarely) cocktail onions. Olives can be enjoyable, but onions taste foul in a martini. The finest garnish remains the lemon twist. Never mix garnishes unless you be brave and don't mind ruining a perfectly good drink. Whiskey SourThe whiskey sour is a drink enjoyed by both men and women. It can be made with many liquors besides whiskey [2]. Particularly good is the amaretto sour. Shake and pour into a tumbler over ice. Variations are performed by modifying the ratio of whiskey to sour. It is a common practice to have a pre-made sour mix ready on hand, since some guests like a very sour drink whereas others prefer to merely threaten their whiskey with a whiff of lemon scent. Sugar syrup may be made by boiling 1.5-2 cups of sugar with 2 cups of water. Some add an egg white to the mixture for texture. Red DiamondShake and pour into two cocktail glasses. Perfect with a date. Maraschino is a red cherry-flavoured syrup [3]. College CappuchinoThe milk should be really hot for this one. Shake very well until the drink is full of foam. Pour into a coffee mug and drink hot. Gin-BlindShake with lots of ice, strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon (for the oil) if desired. Orange bitters are available at the larger liquor stores. Do not substitute Angostura. Admiral Schley PunchSlice lime in half & juice. Place lime, peel, pulp & all in shaker. Add liquid ingredients (including lime juice). Shake with ice, pour into goblet or large wine glass, ice and all. Garnish with mint, pineapple and the like. If out of dark rum, white will do. In this case, strain and drink as a cocktail. Traditional PunchMix together and shake with ice. Strain into a highball glass. Punch gets its name from the Hindustani 'panch,' meaning 'five' (cog. German fuenf), due to the five traditional ingredients. This punch is also excellent slightly hot. Perfect MargaritaShake well, strain and pour into a cocktail, margarita, pint or highball glass. Some coat the lip with salt, some pour over ice. Gin FizzChill the tumbler by filling with ice, shaking and pouring out ice. Add new ice and ingredients. Shake for at least one full minute. Strain into a thin goblet (or a chilled thicker goblet) and fill with club soda. Orange bitters can be used in place of orange flower water. ConclusionThese drinks should give the reader some ideas concerning what to try out. Nearly every drink idea turns out well. Don't be afraid to experiment. Just remember that no drink should be too hot (i.e. too strong) and no drink should be too weak. Strength does not necessarily come from alcohol; it also comes from strong flavours such as citrus, as well as from seltzer water.
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