What We're Drinking: Summertime means Bucks, Rickeys, Fizzes, and Collins

Gin Rickey

When it comes to summer cocktails I have been following the gospel of drinks writer David A. Embury. Mr. Embury, an attorney by trade, wrote a cocktail book called The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks in 1948 that in my view is required reading for anyone desiring a serious understanding of how to mix cocktails.

Cocktails are seasonal like food. In the summer, your drinks should be light and thirst quenching. For starters, there should be less alcohol in the drinks and more refreshing modifiers such as citrus juice, effervescent sodas, and fresh fruits. So there is no need to order heavier Manhattans, Side Cars, and their cool weather ilk. Embury understands this and devotes an entire chapter of his book to the quintessential summer cocktails genres: Bucks, Rickeys, Fizzes, and Collins

Bucks are a cousin of the highball cocktail and are generally constructed with a base spirit (such as Whiskey, Gin, Rum), a splash of lemon juice, and ginger ale over ice. The Gin Buck was the original version from Prohibition days when masking bathtub gin developed into an art form which generated hundreds of cocktails. We like Rye whiskey and adding a splash of lemon to the highball recipe makes a wonderful buck indeed.

Whiskey Buck
3 oz Old Overholt Rye Whiskey
Juice from 1/4 Lemon slice
4 oz Pale Ginger Ale

Squeeze a quarter lemon into a Highball glass and add then Whiskey. Add large ice cubes and then top off with pale ginger ale. Stir and serve.

Embury Suggests: "An interesting variation of the Rum Bucks may be had by adding a few dashes of Cointreau or orgeat when using Cuban rum and a few dashes of falernum when using Jamaican rum."

Another variation of the Buck is the Presbyterian which is enjoying a resurgence in popularity no thanks to the efforts of Sasha Petraske of Milk & Honey. This version has has both ginger ale and club soda.

The Presbyterian
2 oz Rye Whiskey
3 oz Ginger Ale
3 oz Club Soda
Juice of a quarter lime wedge
Candied Ginger

Add Rye to Highball glass, squeeze in a lime wedge, then add equal parts ginger ale and club soda. Garnish with candied ginger.

Where to get it: Weather Up (589 Vanderbilt Ave, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn)

Rickeys are very simple yet classic summer cocktails that used to be popular with the sporting set. Essentially, they are the base spirit (we suggest gin or rum), the juice of one lime, and a teaspoon of sugar or other sweetener. A key difference from a regular fizz or collins is that the Rickey should be served in a shorter 8 oz glass. It is a short drink meant to be imbibed quickly for faster refreshment.

Gin Rickey
2 oz Dry Gin
Teaspoon of simple syrup
Juice of one lime
4 oz club soda

Combine Gin, Simple, and lime juice in an frosted 8 oz glass, add large ice cubes, then top off with club soda.  Garnish with lime wedge.

Another one of our favorite Rickey is a Rum version I developed called the:

Velvet Rum Rickey
2 oz Flor de Cana 4 year Extra Dry white rum
1/4 oz John C. Taylor Velvet Falernum
Juice of one lime
4 oz of club soda
Orange peel

Combine Rum, Falernum, and lime juice in an frosted 8 oz glass, add large ice cubes, then top off with club soda.  Garnish with orange peel. This would work very well with Jamaican rum too.

Where to get a great Gin Rickey: The Jakewalk (282 Smith Street, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn)

Embury suggests: serving the Rickey "with stirring rod or small bar spoon."He also advises that using the basic formula above, one can make the following: Applejack Rickey, Sloe Gin Rickey, Bourbon Rickey, Southern Comfort Rickey, etc.

Fizzes are made the same way as the Collins, indeed Embury goes on at some length about their similarity. The key difference is that the Collins is constructed in the tall "Collins" glass while a fizz is born in cocktail shaker and "thoroughly frappeed with fine ice" and then strained into a short glass (6-8oz). Then club soda or charged water is added, which provides the cocktail with effervescence.  Fizzes can be served over ice or stand alone. The summer fizz does not need egg white, I consider the Ramos Gin Fizz and it's derivatives heavier cocktails more suitable for cooler climate. Our favorites for the summer are below:

Sloe Gin Fizz
1 oz Plymouth Gin
1 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
Club Soda

Combine Gin, Sloe Gin, Lemon, and simple in a shaker, add ice and shake rigorously until chilled. Strain into a short glass and top off with club soda. Garnish with lemon peel.

A favorite variation of the fizz was country club favorite in the 1950s called the Southside. The drink originated at the 21 Club in New York during Prohibition where it was the house cocktail for many years. It is built like a mojito but with Gin instead of rum. The principal difference is the Southside should be shaken over ice to blend the lime juice, simple, and Gin and break the mint into small particles.

Southside
2 oz London Dry Gin
1 oz Lime juice
3/4 oz Simple syrup
6-8 Mint leaves
Club Soda

Gently muddle mint in bottom of bar glass, add simple syrup, lime juice, and gin. Add ice and shake until chilled. Then strain into a iced goblet filled with crushed ice. Top off with club soda and garnish with a mint sprig.

Where to get an excellent Southside: Clover Club (210 Smith Street, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn)

Collins is a type of "sour" with soda or charged water served in a tall Collins glass instead of a rocks or highball glass. Embury insists the original Tom Collins is a (1) made with Old Tom Gin  - a sweetened gin and (2) it is stirred otherwise it would certainly be another type of Fizz. These days many bartenders shake the ingredients, then strain into a Collins glass, and then add soda. This tall drink is meant to be drank over a long time so the charged water needs to filter through the whole drink not merely provide fizz.

Original Tom Collins 
3-4 oz of Old Tom Gin
3/4 oz Lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup
Club soda

Combine gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup with ice in a Collins glass. Stir well and add 4-6 ice cubes. Top off the club soda. Garnish with orange slice and Luxardo maraschino cherry.

Another version of the Collins family which we  enjoy was passed onto me by barkeeper Henry Lopez of Court & Spark in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

Cherry Collins
2 oz of Old Tom Gin
3/4 oz Lemon juice
1 oz Cherry Heering liqueur
Club soda

Combine gin, lemon juice, and cherry Herring in Collins glass. Add ice and then stir in the club soda.  Garnish with Luxardo maraschino cherry and lemon peel.

Enjoy these Summer Cocktails. They are easy to make and will enhance any summer BBQ or outdoor party. Tom Collins base mixture can be batched ahead of time and then added over ice then topped with chilled cold club soda. Gin Rickeys take no more time to make than a Gin & Tonic.

Oh, and let me know your summer cocktail favorites. I am always open to new refreshing recipes!

- Fredo

What We're Drinking: Embury's Old Fashioned De Luxe and other recipes

"Water, either plain or charged, has no more place in an Old-Fashioned than it has in a Manhattan or Martini."- David A. Embury, The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks

The Old Fashioned is considered among many as the world's first cocktail. In it's purist form, the drink is a jigger and a half of a base spirit, sugar, and bitters, garnished with a lemon or orange peel or both.  Unfortunately, the recipe has been bastardized since its' invention* at the Louisville, Kentucky's Pendennis Club in the late 19th century.  Today, the method most bartenders employ to make an Old Fashioned is to muddle pieces of fruit, typically orange rind, maraschino cherry, and lemon, with sugar and bitters. Then they shake the ingredients with Bourbon and ice and pour the concoction (ice and all) into a rocks glass. The drink is then topped off with club soda and garnished with cherry, orange slice, etc. In my opinion,  this drink appears to be a type of cloudy bourbon fruit fizz and not technically an Old Fashioned.

I have search my library of cocktail literature and cannot pinpoint exactly what year or time period the Old Fashioned became a fizz.  I surmise this transformation happened during Prohibition when the taste of bootlegged or home distilled whiskey was masqueraded by the addition of fruit to the recipe. They did this with gin but again I have no written proof, just conjecture.

We know that by the 1950s,  drinks writer and aficionado, David A. Embury rails against water or soda in the drink and calls excessive fruit decoration "garbage." Embury includes the Old Fashioned in the six basic cocktails that everyone should master in his must have book, The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. His recipe for the quintessential Old Fashioned is the one I use religiously. My spirit of choice is an 80 proof Rye such as Pikesville Supreme Straight Rye Whiskey or Old Overholt.

Embury's "Old-Fashioned De Luxe"
2 oz American Whiskey (Bourbon or Rye)
1-2 tsp simple syrup
1-3 dashes Angostura bitters

"Pour into each glass 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls simple syrup and add 1 to 3 dashes of Angostura. Stir with a spoon to blend the bitters with the syrup. Add about 1 oz whiskey and stir again. Add 2 large cubes of ice, cracked but not crushed. Fill glass to within about 3/8" of top with whisk(e)y and stir again. Add a twist of lemon and drop the peel in the glass. Decorate with a maraschino cherry on a spear. Serve with a short stir rod or Old-Fashioned spoon."

Embury adds that the recipe is not written in stone. He encourages experimentation using different base spirits such as Applejack, Rum, Gin, Brandy, and Scotch. He is not shy with adding modifiers either, suggesting Chartreuse, Cointreau, and curacao, amongst others.

Taking this advice to heart, these Old Fashioned recipes are currently on rotation at my home bar:

Tequila Old Fashioned
Partida Anjeo or Reposado Tequila
1 cube of raw Demerara sugar
2 dashes of Bittermans Xocolatl Mole Bitters

Muddle sugar and bitters in a bar glass, ad the tequila. Stir ingredients over ice, then strain over a large ice cube in an Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with lemon peel.

Scotch Old Fashioned
1 1/2 oz Compass Box Asyla or Bowmore Legends Scotch
2 bar spoons of Simple Syrup
Dash of Bittermans Grapefruit Bitters
Dash of Peychauds bitters

Stir ingredients over ice in a bar glass, then strain over a large ice cube in a rocks glass. Garnish with an orange peel and a grapefruit peel. The inspiration for this cocktail is the Young Laddie developed by Joaquin Simo of Death & Company in New York. Joaquin uses Bruichladdich Scotch in his complex yet refreshing masterpiece.

Go back to basics. Rediscover the Old Fashioned and mix it up using other base spirits. Add a variety of modifiers, different types of bitters, and sweeteners. Mastering the Old Fashioned is not only the way to "roll" better drinks, as Mr. Embury is fond of saying, but also an excuse to experiment and expand your palette by understanding the building blocks of cocktails. 

- Fredo

* According to drinks historian David Wondrich's Imbibe! Chicago politician Samuel Tilden mentions the old-fashioned cocktail in an 1880 speech, The Pendennis Club was not opened until 1881. Thus, one can infer that the cocktail did not originate at the club that has claimed this honor for over a century. 

(Correction: In 1880 Samuel Tilden, a New York politician, Governor, and Presidential candidate, gave a speech in which he declares he will not to run for President again. He references the Old Fashioned in the final toast to fellow Democrats encouraging them to drink, "Hot-whiskies ... sour mashes and old-fashioned cocktails." - Imbibe! page 197.)