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.