Historical Approach to Cocktails
Posted on June 1, 2009
Filed Under T. Marshall Fawley III | Leave a Comment
Marshall Fawley is the co-author of Scofflaw’s Den, an “online speakeasy of potent potables and other pabulum.”
One of the most fascinating aspects of the resurgence of cocktail culture is the emphasis on the history surrounding everything. The history of various ingredients, collecting ancient tomes of recipes, and learning about the early bartenders (whose work in the late 19th century influences countless bartenders in the present) are just a few topics that professionals and home enthusiasts can spend hours discussing.
But what happens when the classic tomes offer slight variations of the same drink? How can a modern practitioner replicate a cocktail when the methods, or oftentimes particular ingredients, are obscure or unclear? Should today’s drink-slinger try to understand the original intent of those early authors in order to, if not identically replicate a cocktail, at least come close and add an extra tool to one’s bag of tricks?
These questions and more will be discussed at the Historical Approach to Cocktails seminar at this year’s Tales of the Cocktail. The session is moderated by one of Washington, DC’s top craft bartenders and jack of all trades, Derek Brown. The panelists are a who’s-who of cocktail historians including international mixologist Fernando Castellon, creator of Bar Expertise Company and a student of drinking in various cultures; Phil Greene, a founding member of the Museum of the American Cocktail, cocktail writer and historian and a descendant of Antoine Amédée Peychaud, the creator of Peychaud’s Bitters; and David Wondrich, author of Imbibe! From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to Professor Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar.
The seminar is intended to further the appreciation of classic cocktails and their contribution to today’s cocktail culture. Brown states that he hopes attendees will “appreciate the history of great cocktails and how understanding the author’s intent and reasons for their choices we can re-imagine those cocktails, or in some cases, reclaim the methods used to make them.” To illustrate the historical points during the session, Brown and the panelists will discuss and demonstrate the Gin Cocktail, the Rickey, the Sidecar and the Sazerac.
Says Brown, “It sounds a bit dry but it should be a lively debate and very relevant to craft bartending today. No matter how geeky we get, we know the point of cocktails are to enjoy oneself.”
I don’t think I could have said it better!
Historical Approach to Cocktails takes place Saturday, July 11, in the Queen Anne Ballroom at the Hotel Monteleone. Tickets may be purchased here.
