Gentleman's Companion Day 14 - Santiago Nightcap

by Fredo

Tonight is the last night of my two week journey tasting cocktails from Charles H. Baker, Jr.'s Gentleman's Companion: Vol II. So why not end it with a proper nightcap, one that Baker claims to have imbibed during "a stay in Santiago de Cuba, in early spring of 1930." The Santiago Nightcap.

Mr. Baker continues his free publicity for the Bacardi company in his description of this fin de nuit potable. The recipe has been passed down to him by "Senor Facundo Bacardi" via a field representative. I decided to stick with authentic Cuban rum.

SANTIAGO NIGHTCAP
1 1/2 jiggers (2 oz) of Gold Seal Bacardi (I used Havana Club Anejo 5 year)
1 pony (1 oz) of orange curacao
yolk of one egg

Shake hard with cracked ice and strain into a large saucer champagne glass (I used a chilled coupe).

The drink is the color of vanilla pudding and the consistency of a flip. At first sip, one gets the orange curacao, the slight bitterness of the orange like flavor mix with the caramel, and molasses of the aged Rum. It goes down creamy and smooth.

Where to get a Santiago Nightcap? Heaven's Dog in San Francisco has a Charles H. Baker. Jr influenced cocktail menu. I am very sure their barkeepers could whip one up for you before you call it a night.

I have certainly learned from my endeavor. My favorites where his Cuban drinks. The Daisy de Santiago, The Remember the Maine, the Hotel Nacional Special top the list. There are so any others I didn't chronicle but drank during my quest, including the Ramos Fizz and the Pan American Clipper. I highly encourage you to buy Jigger, Beaker, & Glass: Drinking Around the World, which is the republished version of the Gentleman's Companion: Vol II, and sample some of these 267 exotic drinks from the golden era of cocktails.

Gentleman's Companion Day 13 - The Athol Brose

I am nearing the end of my two week journey into the world of Charles H. Baker, Jr. cocktails. There are still many great cocktails to sample. So I am ending with two classics. For Day 13, I am mixing up a Scottish classic called the Athol Brose.

Mr. Baker documents three types of Athol Brose drinks. He writes of the drink, "an odd Scottish institution which, like many things Scottish, is founded on mighty good reason, & is guaranteed to profit its user." The ingredients and proportions are nearly identical in all three versions, the only difference being preparation and service. Athol Brose No I, he instructs to mix well, warm slightly to make smooth." This can be achieved by dry shaking first and then adding ice and shaking. This version is served up.

The Athol Brose No II needs one "heaping" tsp of strained honey versus one part, 4 jiggers (6 oz of Scotch), pored into a tumbler (or two), then fill tumbler with heated milk. Cool before serving. This seems like it would be a good winter night's potation. Maybe spiked with a bit of Drambuie.

The third iteration of the Athol Brose is a carbon copy of the second but advocates a 1/2 part strained honey. I imagine it is imbibed like egg nog or a winter punch, so I would used a small glass.

Mr. Baker specifies using "ancient scotch" but I think a decent blend like Famous Grouse works quite well. I have had the Number One at several reputable cocktail establishments so I went with that recipe.

ATHOL BROSE

1 part Really old Scotch (I used 2 oz of my standard blend, Famous Grouse)

1 part strained honey (I used honey syrup)

1 part heavy cream

Method: Dry shake, then shake rigorously over ice, then double strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish necessary.

I enjoy the layering of flavors in the Athol Brose. First you get the creamy honey of the thick head on the drink. Then the scotch's peaty and robust taste. It goes down fast and should be imbibed as a night cap or right before a meal.

Where to get this cocktail? I recently had a expertly made Athol Brose at Milk & Honey in New York.

- Fredo

Gentleman's Companion Day 12 - The Porto Flip

by Fredo

For the delicious Porto Flip, I decided that a trip to Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn was in order. St. John Frizzell the proprietor of the new cocktail destination is known to make delicious Charles H. Baker, Jr. cocktails. I sampled several including the Remember The Maine and the Daisy de Santiago. So when it came time for a nightcap, I had to go with this gem that Mr. Baker imbibed at the Army & Navy Club, in Manila, Philippines back in 1931.


PORTO FLIP
Port Wine, 2 jiggers
Egg, fresh essentially, 1 whole
Thick cream, 1 pony
Cognac, 1 pony
Sugar, 2 scant tsp
Chartreuse, 1 tsp (though the color is not specified, St. John used Green - clearly he knows Baker very well!)
Grated nutmeg

Mix the concoction over ice, shake hard, and serve in a small goblet, floating the Chartreuse on top with a bar spoon, then dust with grated nut meg.

Smooth, well balanced, with significant kick and layering of flavors. This was the best flip I ever had. Perfect capper for a crisp Autumn night.

I also wanted to add a Happy Birthday to our pal Morey who made his Red Hook debut thanks to a sold out Burlesque Festival and a Big Grazie Mille to St. John Frizzell who indulged our merry band with lovely cocktails and hospitality!

(Photo courtesy of Morey Kunin)

Gentleman's Companion - Day 11 - The Cuba Libre

by Fredo

OK. I know what you are thinking. Fredo is taking the easy way out. Well, in a way I am. I was rushed for time, but still had to adhere to the Charles H. Baker, Jr. regiment, so I am taking a freebie - THE CUBA LIBRE. Actually, Mr. Baker goes into this drink at some length in his book. He is pissed off about how he can get these "Kooba Lee-brays" all over the country. The problem with this drink is "that it started by accideent and without imagination, has been carried along by the ease of its supply. Under any condition it is too sweet."

So to improve this situation, Mr. Baker offers an Improved version of the recipe:

1 big jigger (I interpret this as 2 full ounces) of Rum (Barcardi white was my choice)
the juice of 1 small green lime and the lime peel after squeezing. Put in Collins glass, muddle well, add ice and fill with Coca-Cola. Stir once and imbibe!

I agree. What started as a freebie turned into a refreshing tropic cocktail with a kick. Rum and coke it ain't - sorry haters!!!

Gentleman's Companion - Day 10 - The East India House Cocktail

by Fredo

Mr. Baker says of THE EAST INDIA HOUSE COCKTAIL "being one for any man's book, & garnered in the Royal Bombay Yacht Club, India, 1932.." He rambles on about something around a fiancee and Delhi but I have no doubt she was forgotten by Morning tea. Especially, after a few of these great cognac cocktails.

THE EAST INDIA HOUSE COCKTAIL
1 1/2 jiggers of Cognac (I used Hennessey)
1 tsp of pineapple syrup (I added pineapple juice to simple syrup formula - tasted about right)
2/3 tsp of Maraschino (Luxardo)
1 tsp of orange Curacao
3 dashes of orange bitters (Regan's)

Mr. Baker suggests shaking the ingredients with "lots of ice and strain into Manhattan glass, twisting a bit of lime peel on at the last." I didn't feel this drink warranted shaking. The pineapple juice is slight at best. I stirred and strained the drink into a sherbet glass, garnished with lemon peel in lieu of lime. I really like this drink and I will investigate how to make proper pineapple syrup. Salute.

Gentleman's Companion - Day 9 - Admiral Schley Punch

by Fredo

A nautical drink to help me wind down another choppy day on the line. Mr. Baker doesn't offer much history or details around this thirst quencher, besides:

"This is supposed to have been named after the American admiral and we shouldn't mind such a pleasant piece of business being called after us."

ADMIRAL SCHLEY PUNCH
St. Croix rum, 1/2 jigger (3/4 oz of Cruzan Black Strap from St. Croix)
Bourbon, 1/2 jigger (Buffalo Trace 90 proof Bourbon)
Sugar, 1 tsp
Lime, peel and juice, 1

Shake with fine ice, and turn into goblet - ice and all. Garnish with sprigs of mint, a stick of ripe pineapple, and so on. (I skipped the pineapple but the mint made it julep-esque). Delicious cocktail, sweet, sour, and a bit boozy, ahoy there!

*Admiral Winfield Scott Schley (Oct 9, 1839 - Oct 2, 1911) According to wikipedia - Schley was commissioned Commodore on 6 February 1898, and on 24 March, although lowest on the list of Commodores, he was put in command of the Flying Squadron, with Brooklyn (CA-3) as his flagship, for service in the Spanish-American War. He was made Rear Admiral in 1899.

Gentleman's Companion - Day 8 - The Daiquiri

by Fredo

I chose the "immortal DAIQUIRI" as my drink this evening for several reasons. One, Autumn is about to get in full swing, so this is the last chance for a tropical drink. And two, I have procured a bottle of five year old Havana Club Anejo Rum. So I really didn't have a choice.

Charles H. Baker, Jr. holds the Daiquiri in the same league as "the Martini, Manhattan, Side Car, and other immortals." He claims to have imbibed this cocktail in such famous Cuban haunts as "the Havana Yacht Club, Country Club, Hotel Nacional -between revolutionary bombings-Sloppy Joe's, La Florida, the Bacardi Building..." and it seems every place in between New York and Shanghai. Have Daiquiri ingredients, will travel should have been Mr. Baker's mantra.

Baker credits the invention of the Daiquiri to one Harry E. Stout and an engineer named Mr. Jennings Cox. This momentous occasion occurred during the summer of 1898 in the village of Daiquiri in Oriente province. The Yellow fever was rampant and one couldn't drink the water. So these two Yanks tinkered around with boiled water and rum, then added lime, dropped the water, added a sugar to "modify the acid." And voila! While Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders took San Juan Hill, Messieurs Stout and Cox were throwing back Daiquiris. Therefore, Mr. Baker advocates the "original Harry Stout-Jennings Cox mixture for the Original Cuban Daiquiri":

The DAIQUIRI
1 whisk(e)y glass level full of Carta Blanca or Carta de Oro Bacardi rum (I used 2 oz of Havana Club Anejo)
2 tsp of sugar (I used 1 oz of demerara simple syrup)
the juice of 1 1/2 small green lines (about 1/2 oz fresh lime)

Shake very hard over cracked ice and pour ice and all into a tall flute cocktail glass. (I strained out the ice, I like my Daiquiris up)

Baker warns not to make the drink too sweet. So ease up on the sugar, use simple syrup. The sour lime juice flavor with just a hint of sweetness, mixes perfectly with the chilled aged Rum. If using dark or aged rum, use less sugar. White rum, more sugar.

Where to get a great Daiquiri? The JakeWalk on Smith Street in Brooklyn. Barkeeps Ari Form and Matt Devriendt use Zacapa 23 Year Rum from Guatemala, serve it in a vintage crystal goblet, and leave you with the best Daiquiri north of the Tropic of Cancer.

Gentleman's Companion - Day 7 - Mid-Ocean Highball

by Fredo

Tough day at work and I'm in the mood for a stiff drink with a splash of effervescence. I leafed through The Gentleman's Companion: Vol II and found just what I was looking for, THE MID-OCEAN HIGHBALL. Mr. Baker refuses to acknowledge this drink as a "highball", he writes "contrary to native title is a legitimate fizz, being an exotic from Bermuda." He is partially right. I wouldn't classify this cocktail as a fizz anymore then I would call it a highball. There is no citrus and only chilled soda to taste. Also the gin, cognac, and vermouth seems wasted in a highball glass. So I went with serving the "highball" err I mean "fizz" in a chilled coupe.

THE MID-OCEAN HIGHBALL
1 jigger of old Tom gin (I used Hayman's Old Tom Gin)
1/2 jigger cognac (I used Hennessey)
1/2 jigger of French vermouth (Noilly Pratt)
2 dashes of orange bitters (Regan's)
Club soda

Shake well with cracked ice, strain into chilled highball glass and add chilled club soda to taste. Twist on a bit of green lime peel. (I stirred the drink).

Where to get this drink? Good question. I have never seen it on a local cocktail menu; I assume they still serve it at the Mid-Ocean Club in Hamilton, Bermuda. However, if you aren't game to hop the Pan American clipper, there is one place one could ask for the Mid-Ocean and get served proper - St. John Frizzel's Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The man knows his Baker cocktails.

Gentleman's Companion - Day 6 - New Orleans Fizz

by Fredo

Tonight, I am capping off the weekend with a NEW ORLEANS FIZZ No. I, with old Tom gin and Kirschwasser*. This cocktail is a cousin of the Ramos Gin Fizz (which I will be drinking in a week or so)with a slight bouquet of cherries.

NEW ORLEANS FIZZ
1 1/2 jiggers (2 oz) of gin (I used Hayman's Old Tom Gin)
1 pony of thick cream (I used heavy cream)
The white of one egg
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 1/2 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of kirsch (I used Hiram Walker)
Splash of club soda

Combine in Shaker over cracked ice, and strain into goblet (I used a chilled high ball glass)and top off with club soda.

*Kirschwasser is a German cherry brandy made from fermented black cherries and distilled in wood containers.

Gentleman's Companion - Day 5 - The Astor Hotel Special

by Fredo

To celebrate five days of Charles H. Baker, Jr. cocktails from the Gentleman's Companion, Vol II: The Exotic Drinking Book, I decided on a drink that travels the same way as our protagonist - first class. Mr. Baker describes the cocktail, THE ASTOR HOTEL SPECIAL as" from Shanghai, during a Trip around the word in the Year 1926, & on the occasion of our becoming marooned in that city, with our own ship & personal belongings gone on to HongKong, & with a delightful young maiden by whom we were later rejected in marriage, & who later distinguished herself by espousing a very nice gentleman whose main claim to fame is that he was once kidnapped by Karpis* prior to the latter's entering his suite in Alcatraz."

Can you imagine being "marooned in Shanghai" at, God Forbid - The Astor Hotel? So naturally they went right for the Cognac and Absinthe. Proposed to some dame at the bar (I'm sure there were others)who later became entangled with a victim of the Ma Barker gang. Some life this guy is leading. He is the Indiana Jones of pre-second world war cocktails.

THE ASTOR HOTEL SPECIAL
Cognac, 1 jigger (I used Hennessey VS)
Maraschino, 1 tsp (Luxardo)
Egg white, 2 tsp (in retrospect I should have used a whole small egg)
Absinthe, 1/2 jigger (Pastis 51 instead)
Lemon juice, strained 1/2 tsp (I followed the recipe but 1/4 oz would due)
Club soda (splash at the end)

Shake well with cracked ice, strain into a tall wine goblet (I used a coupe) then top off with chilled soda.

Make no mistake, you taste the 3/4 ounces of anisette flavor regardless if using pastis or absinthe. The cognac takes a back seat. I think more cognac (2 full ounces), lemon and egg white would have embodied the cocktail with a more robust flavor and lessened the effect of the anisette. I like this drink, for sure, however, I wanted a hint of pastis not a full palate of the flavor.

* Karpis - Alvin "Creepy" Karpis (1907 -1979), a member of the notorious Barker gang of the 1930s who kidnapped millionaire William Hamm, a Minnesota brewer. (source: Wikipedia)

Gentleman's Companion - Day 4 - Hotel Nacional Special

by Fredo

I would have to say that there are easily a dozen cocktail recipes from Cuba in the Gentleman's Companion, Vol II. Charles H. Baker, Jr. must have spent many years there in a pickled haze. That said my next drink was one of Baker's trifecta* of "Bacardi Drinks", Wil P. Taylor's HOTEL NACIONAL SPECIAL.

Wil P. Taylor is apparently a fellow bon vivant that Baker and his crowd encounter on a trans-Atlantic cruise several years before. Taylor ends up managing the grand Hotel Nacional in Havana around the time of the Revolution of 1933 that brought Generalissimo Batista out of the barracks and into the Presidential Palace. He is another Bacardi-phile and basically adds apricot brandy and pineapple juice to the Daiquiri, hold the sugar, and successfully keeps the sweetness.

HOTEL NACIONAL SPECIAL
Carta de Oro Bacardi, 1 jigger (I stuck with the Serrellas Don Q Gold)
Lime juice, 1/2 (jigger I assume)
Fresh pineapple juice, 1 jigger (I used Dole canned juice)
Dry Apricot brandy, 1 tsp (I used Rothman & Winter Apricot liqueur)

Shake with cracked ice, stain, serve in tall cocktail glass (I went with a coupe glass)with a stem.

The pineapple juice provides a really nice foam that one would usually need egg white to create. It also brings in a sweetness that doesn't overwhelm the citrus of the lime or the hint of apricot. A refreshing rum cocktail as we say adios to summer.

You can get your own Hotel Nacional Special at Clover Club in Brooklyn, NY. I believe it is on their latest menu.

*Winning is the DAISY de SANTIAGO, Placing is the DAIQUIRI.

Gentleman's Companion - Day 3 - Daisy de Santiago

by Fredo

From Bombay back to Cuba, this time to the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, for Charles H. Baker, Jr.'s DAISY de SANTIAGO which the world traveling journalist characterized as,"..a lovely thing introduced to us through the gracious offices of the late Facuno Bacardi, of lamented memory."

Baker goes on to laud the Bacardi people, crediting them with the "immortal" Daiquiri and going on about the free booze at their tasting location in Havana. I can't really imagine Mr. Baker or his entourage ever really had to pay for liquor, whether that be in the Pearl of the Antilles or elsewhere in their travels.

Though Bacardi, specifically Carta de Oro is clearly Baker's first choice for most rum drinks, I did not have any at the home bar. So I substituted Serralles Don Q Gold from Puerto Rico, which was given to me at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans by the distiller. The recipe:

DAISY de SANTIAGO
1 1/2 jiggers of Rum
The strained juice of 1 green lime
1 - 1 1/2 tsp of bar syrup (I used simple syrup rather than gum)
1/2 jigger of yellow Chartreuse (float)
Splash of club soda

Fill big thin goblet to the brim with shaved ice (I used a chilled high ball glass). In a bar glass, add the Rum, lime, syrup, stir well and pour over the ice into the glass, stir once more, garnish with mint and fresh fruit (I skipped the fruit), and float the yellow Chartreuse. A splash of club soda "adds a sparkle."

The Daisy is reminiscent of the Daiquiri, yet is sweet and fizzy. Slightly tart at the beginning thanks to the lime, as Baker points out, the yellow Chartreuse sweetens up the drink. The splash of soda adds effervescence to an already refreshing cocktail.Salud!

Where to get a DAISY de SANTAIGO? Try The Varnish in Los Angeles, California.

Gentleman's Companion - Day 2 - Turf Cocktail No 2

by Fredo

I bet you thought I'd quit after that Remember the Maine huh? Well not even a late night at the office job can stop me and besides it is only day 2 forchrisake. So for the second act, I decided on another favorite, the TURF COCKTAIL No. II

Charles H. Baker, Jr. describes this cocktail as coming "from the Taj Mahal Hotel, on Apollo Bundar, Bombay, Saturday February 14th, 1931, to be exact; served after the running of the Maharajah of Rajpipla Gold Cup at the Western India Turf Club."

After winning 67 rupees, Baker and his cohorts decided they wanted something other than scotch, and after the staff whipped up this delicious cousin of the gin martini which lives on to this day in fine cocktail parlors:

1 jigger of dry gin (I went with Beefeater, only because I was out of Plymouth)
1 pony of French Vermouth (I used the Noilly Pratt)
1 tsp of Absinthe (I used Pernod)
1 tsp of Maraschino (I used Luxardo)
dash of orange or Abbots bitters (I used Regan's)

Stir in bar glass "like a Martini and serve in Manhattan glass, ungarnished" check and check.

Bartender Giuseppe Gonzalez made me a Turf No 2 several months ago and his rendition is clear. The Noilly Pratt gave my version a yellow color, so I am curious to know what type of vermouth he used. But the taste is unmistakable. A medley of botanicals from the maraschino and absinthe mixes with vermouth. Beefeater, a tough as nails gin, stands up well to the flavor assault.

Where to get this cocktail, try Dutch Kills in Long Island City, Queens, NY.

The Gentleman's Companion - Day 1 - Remember The Maine

by Fredo

"We are still heartily of the opinion that decent libation supports as many million lives as it threatens; donates pleasure and sparkle to more lives than it shadows; inspires more brilliance in the world of art, music, letters, and common ordinary intelligent conversation, than it dims." - Charles H. Baker, Jr.

To kick off my favorite season, sweet, sweet Autumn, I am embarking on a trip in renown tippler and world traveler Charles H. Baker Jr.'s shoes. For the next two weeks, I will enjoy one cocktail daily from The Gentleman's Companion: Volume II originally published in 1939. I know this type of trip has been done before. I am not doing this to be original but rather as a challenge to my palate and cocktail knowledge. It will require fortitude, discipline, and a cast iron liver at times. There will be no repeats and though I have never attempted a cocktail marathon I've been training for years.

My first drink is the REMEMBER THE MAINE.

Baker describes the drink as "a hazy memory of a night in Havana during the unpleasantness of 1933*. when each swallow was punctuated with bombs going off on the Prado, or the sounds of 3" shells being fired at the Hotel Nacional, then Haven for certain anti-revolutionary officers."

REMEMBER THE MAINE
1 jigger (1 1/2 oz) of good rye whiskey (I used Rittenhouse Rye 100 proof)
1/2 jigger (3/4 oz) of Italian vermouth (I used Carpano Antica formula)
1 to 2 tsp of cherry brandy (I used Cherry Herring)
1/2 tsp of absinthe (I substituted Pastis 51)

Stir briskly in a clock-wise fashion and serve in up twisting a curl of green lime or lemon peel. (We went with lemon.)Though Mr. Baker suggest serving into a chilled saucer champagne glass, I decided to go with a chilled highball glass.

This cocktail is quite potent so I substituted Pastis 51 instead of Absinthe which would have put it over the top. It reminds me of a Manhattan cocktail but sweeter thanks to the cherry herring and yes has the unmistakable hint of anisette flavor due to the Pastis. The recipe would probably is better with a lemon peel but lime could also do the job of adding a bit of citrus to cut the sweetness.

Other places that I recommend to enjoy this authentic Charles H. Baker, Jr. cocktail: Fort Defiance and Clover Club in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

* Baker refers to the Revolution of 1933 in his description of Remember the Maine. Out of the "unpleasantness" came Fulgencio Batista, the strong man who would rule Cuba on and off until being deposed by Fidel Castro in 1959.