Tavern Tipples . . . Acidulated cocktails are all the rage now and it is most likely to do with bartenders trying to create something new and different. Although, vinegar based drinks have been around since the 18th century when the season for berries and fruits was so brief that vinegar was used to help preserve them. The resulting liquid was then used in many different ways to concoct delicious drinks.

Think of it it this way, vinegar is just another acid that can be used in mixing a drink rather than the “same old” ubiquitous lemon or lime.

America’s “Big Race” the Kentucky Derby, was held on Saturday, May 2nd at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The Derby’s official bourbon supplier for the Early Times “Mint Julip” is Woodford Reserve. Incidentally, a 50-1 longshot gelding named “Mine That Bird” won the 135th Kentucky Derby, ridden by jockey, Calvin Borel.

The Mint Julep
The main ingredient in a Mint Julep is Kentucky bourbon with a mix of sugar, mint and lots of crushed ice. It became the Kentucky Derby’s official drink in 1938 and has been served ever since at Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky.
The Ideal Vessel: Use a metal julep cup to prevent the ice from melting too fast. Some aficionados use a special thin straw also fashioned from metal.

Recipe to make a Mint Julep:

Drop 6-8 fresh mint leaves into a silver or metal Julep Cup and muddle with a pestle. Add one to two ounces of simple syrup or to taste (made by boiling equal parts of hot water and sugar and stirring, allow to sit and cool down). Add crushed ice to the top.  Use a generous amount of Kentucky Bourbon or a Tennessee Sour Mash such as: Maker’s Mark, Jack Daniels, Gentleman Jack, or finest single barrel varieties, such as: Blanton’s or Knob Creek. Garnish with sprigs of fresh mint and serve with a silver straw.

This is the recipe for the famous aperitif Vermouth Cassis that Au Petit Café in Hollywood introduced to the United States in 1963; previous to this recipe and even today there are other versions of the aperitif that use Creme de Cassis instead of Sirop de Cassis however, this changes the taste of the drink completely. As a matter of interest we boosted the sales of Cinzano Dry Vermouth to spectacular levels as we were ordering at least 10 cases or more of it every month. The national distributor was so amazed, as before we introduced this drink, they were lucky to sell one bottle per restaurant every six months as only a drop or two was used for the Dry Martini Cocktail. Au Petit Café was the largest consumer of the dry vermouth in the country. With all the clones of Au Petit Café the distributor was doing very good business, so much so, that they printed our recipe on the back of the bottle in those days so that others would follow.
Although the recipe is very simple, as with most things, it is the ingredients and little details that make the difference. When I first opened Au Petit Cafe in the early 60’s, I used the Cinzano Dry Vermouth imported from Italy, until I found during the 70’s that it just did not not taste the same, after close inspection of the bottle I found (in very small print) that they were now making the product in California. So then the job of tasting every vermouth available on the market began and I settled on Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth (made in France), it was the closest in taste to the original Cinzano (made in Italy) but not exactly the same, in any case, I changed to that brand. The next ingredient is the Cassis and probably the most important. You must use the Sirop de Cassis that is lighter and does NOT contain alcohol; Creme de Cassis does contains alcohol and gives the drink a stronger, more concentrated flavor. I am using Monin (black currant syrup) from Dijon in Bangkok. Of course, I could only find the Creme de Cassis here, so I found the Monin Sirop in Tokyo and I hand carry it back. As long as you use a Sirop de Cassis from Dijon, France you will be all right.

Preparing the Vermouth Cassis:

1. Use small ice cubes or cracked ice not large cubes (I am using the clear ice cubes from Mt. Fuji, Japan)
2. Peel the yellow skin from a lemon, being careful to eliminate the white pith, by using a potato peeler, and with one stroke peel from the top to the bottom of the lemon and you will wind up with one strip about three inches long.
3. Pour the Cassis Syrup into the vermouth (use Cinzano or Martini Dry Vermouth from Italy or Noilly Prat from France) until a pink color is achieved and stir well to mix the ingredients (the color should not be too pale and not too red it must be PINK)
4. You will then take the lemon strip and with two hands squeeze it lengthwise with the outer side facing downwards into the glass to extract the oil from the lemon into the Cassis & Vermouth mixture and then drop it into the drink.

Mai Tai

To build this drink:
Fill a double Old Fashioned Glass (15 ounces) with shaved ice
1 1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz Orange Curacao
1/2 oz candy syrup
1/2 oz Orgeat (essential)
1 oz dark Jamaican rum
1 oz Martinique rum
Hand shake in glass shaker
Decorate with half lime shell, fresh mint, and fruit stick (usually fresh pineapple)

Navy Grog

This drink came about thanks to Don the Beachcomber who opened on McCadden Place in Hollywood in 1934. This is my favorite tropical drink due mainly to its relative dryness compared to other exotic cocktails.

Fill a double Old Fashioned glass with shaved or cracked ice
1 1/2 oz dark Demerara rum from Guyana or dark *Rhum Barbancourt from Haiti
1 1/2 oz light rum
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 orange juice
1/2 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz guava nectar
1/4 oz Falernum
Decorate with mint sprigs, lime shell and a sugar swizzle stick

*Rhum Barbancourt is a superior premium dark rum distilled twice in copper pot stills. It is then barrel aged in white oak barrels. Unlike other Caribbean rums, Barbancourt is made directly from sugar cane juice, pressed from hand-cut locally grown cane then aged for 8 years.