Drinking history: The Clover Club Cocktail

Pity the poor Clover Club cocktail. Going from a mainstay of any self respecting early 20th century drinking man's repertoire to becoming the Cosmo of it's day. This was a traditional tipple of turn-of-the-(last) century cocktail culture, mentioned in cocktail books going back to 1911, and ordered by a person described thusly 55 years ago in Jack Townsend's The Bartender's Book (thanks to Cocktail Chronicles): "The Clover Club drinker is traditionally a gentleman of the pre-Prohibition school. He may not necessarily be one of the legal, literary, or business figures who were members of the club of that name. He may never have been in the bar of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia where the Clover Club members foregathered and the drink originated. But he belongs with that set." From that to the favored drink of post-WWII Carrie Bradshaw's?! How could such a thing happen?

That's what I set out to find, when in a fit of election news induced thirst (probably after listening to Ms. Civics Lesson, Sarah Palin try to describe what the vice-president does, and failing miserably...again). And being secure enough in my masculinity not to be threatened about being a Gilded Age sissy, I grabbed the requisite tools of cocktail investigation, the most important being a bottle of gin and a cocktail shaker, and delved into the mystery. Some gin was spilled, eggs were cracked, citrus was squeezed, and there was a certain amount of straining done to come to the conclusion that the forgotten, formerly respected then spurned Clover Club Cocktail is one kick ass concoction! The Cosmo of its day? Maybe, but it is a great cocktail for our day! I can't wait to make this for friends. Rich with body from the egg white, with a nice balanced sweet-tart flavor, I dare you not to like this one!
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Clover Club Cocktail
adapted from Jason Wilson/The Washington Post

There are innumerable recipes for the Clover Club available. I liked the sound of this one from Jason Wilson, the Post's spirits columnist. I also read others where raspberry syrup (like Torani or Monin) can be subbed for the grenadine. I also would play around with the citrus ratio. But all in all, this was a pretty damn tasty drink as is! -bb

1 serving

ingredients:
Ice
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce grenadine (4 dashes)
Juice of 1/2 medium lemon (2 tablespoons)
1 large raw egg white

method:
Fill a tall mixing glass two-thirds with ice. Add the gin, grenadine, lemon juice and raw egg white. Shake vigorously for 30 to 60 seconds to form a good froth. Strain into a martini glass and serve immediately.

A toast to well being!

You know how certain things just make you feel comfortable and enhance your sense of well being? A comfy cashmere sweater. A fuzzy puppy. A warm feather comforter on a cool autumn evening. A $200 Nordstrom gift card. A confident bartender who really knows his way around a bottle of gin. Okay, maybe that last one speaks more to me and my needs, but hey, this is my blog, so there ya have it!

Every time I walk into Portland's Ten-01 and see their master mixologist Kelly Swenson behind the bar, I know things are going to get cozy and my personal well being is about to get a lift. We stopped by for some happy hour nibbles and libations yesterday when I took the afternoon off from the wine shack to celebrate w's birthday weekend. There's a sort if illicit thrill that goes with having cocktails out at 3:30 in the afternoon, and I can think of no better place than Ten-01. Besides Kelly's mad skills behind the bar, they have way above average cheap bites (those are their crispy Thai ribs at right) from 3-6. We ordered a couple of drinks...a Paloma for w (that put my attempt to shame and I'm stealing his version) and Kelly's Martini 1812 (pictured above) for me. I asked Kelly about the name and he said that is the year it was invented. Now Kelly forgotten more about making drinks than I'll ever know, so it sounded good. But I did further Googling this morning and found what I think may be the real reference to 1812, which is the year Alessandro Martini, who founded the Martini and Rossi vermouth company, was born. Whatever the reason for the name, this was an outstanding, exquisitely balanced cocktail. A three-to-one mix of gin and Carpano vermouth, with a drizzle of Maraschino liqueur and a dash of orange bitters and an amarena cherry for garnish, this also had a lovely golden tint that made it perfectly matched to the cool fall afternoon outside. So a toast to Alessandro and Kelly, two people who continue to enhance my world!
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Martini 1812
From Kelly Swenson of Ten-01

ingredients:
Three parts gin
One part Carpano Antica vermouth
1 teaspoon maraschino liqueur
Dash orange bitters
Preserved amarena cherry for garnish

method:
Fill cocktail mixer half full of ice. Add gin, vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and bitters. Stir to combine and chill. Drop cherry into martini glass and strain cocktail into it. Enjoy!

Sipping it with the old school!

Now this is old school. The recipe for the Bijou cocktail first appeared in Harry Johnson’s Bartender’s Manual in 1882! Bijou is also the French word for jewel. Various sources have it named after the colors of the various intoxicants it contains: green Chartreuse for emeralds; gin for diamonds; and sweet vermouth for rubies. Isn't that precious (no pun intended)?

All I know is this was a really nice drink. Kind of the French version of a Negroni with the Chartreuse subbing for Campari. Very balanced, perhaps a bit sweet for some, as is the case with a fair number of Chartreuse drinks. I did see another recipe that added a splash of lemon juice, which I think would be a great counterbalance. All in all, a nice nod to the old classics and absolutely worthy of further exploration!
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Bijou Cocktail

makes one cocktail

ingredients:
1 ounce gin
1 ounce Green Chartreuse
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 dash orange bitters

method:
Fill cocktail shaker half full with ice. Add ingredients. Stir well (all the recipes I saw called for stirring, not shaking) and strain into a martini glass.

Late winter warmth..aka: the Manhattan Cocktail

Late winter...well, with the temp actually early spring here in PDX, so before the big switchover, there's still time. No, I'm not talking the whole "spring forward" thing from last week (imo...the only thing Bush did right in the trainwreck that is his presidency). And not the wardrobe switchover to warmer weather gear. This is a food and drink blog after all, not a fucking fashion report (although you can bet I've got some opinions on that subject!). I'm not even talking the switch from braising season to grilling season. What is happening is the seasonal change in drinking that happens at my home bar...or any bar I happen to slink in to for that matter...where winter's darker libations are slowly being put to rest for summer's lighter, more gin-y choices. So last night I thoroughly enjoyed the feelings of warmth and well-being of what may well be one of my last Manhattans for a while.

The Manhattan is one of the oldest "original" cocktails, reputedly invented in the 1870s at the Manhattan Club in NYC "where it was invented for a banquet hosted by Jennie Jerome (Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston's mother) in honor of presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden. The success of the banquet made the drink fashionable, later prompting several people to request the drink by referring to the name of the club where it originated — the Manhattan cocktail." That's the story from Wikipedia (don't worry wiki-skeptics, it's also confirmed on a couple of other cocktail history sites, too).
So, in honor of Jennie Jerome and her boy-to-be Winston, might I offer you the perfect Manhattan......
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Manhattan Cocktail

ingredients:
2 oz Rye Whisky
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
Dash Angostura Bitter
Maraschino cherry (and optional orange peel for garnish)

method:
Fill cocktail shaker 1/2 full with ice cubes. Add whisky, vermouth, and bitters. Shake vigorously. Strain into martini glass and garnish with cherry and orange peel.
**Bartenders note: I know a lot of you always order the Maker's Mark Manhattan, and I certainly have a strong appreciation for that choice. But I read an article a couple of months ago from Jason Wilson in the Washington Post where he recommended using rye (with Wild Turkey being a reasonably priced option), and I have to say I'm hooked. The rye is smoother and richer that the Maker's, without any sort of "bite". But don't think I'll ever turn down the offer of a Maker's Manhattan!