Monthly Archives: February 2010

A take on the Bee’s Knees, the Bebbo is a very satisfying cocktail.  While it may not mean the cat’s pajamas, it’s herbaceous and tart on the attack, full and round on the palate, and finishes with a lingering sweetness from the honey.

1 1/2 oz. gin (I used Seneca Drums), 1 oz. fresh lemon juice, 1/2 oz. honey, 2 teaspoons o.j.. Stir all ingredients (without ice) until honey is dissolved, add ice, shake and strain into chilled glass. Garnish with a cherry (mine sunk to the bottom).

 If you have trouble getting the honey to dissolve, you can heat it slightly before using it.  If you hadn’t guessed already, this is another drink I wanted to try from Ted Haigh’s book.

Yesterday felt like Christmas – a snow day in the middle of the week!  

On 1st Ave and 8th St. at the new “V Bar” (in the old Tribe space) we found a cozy spot with great big windows where we could enjoy the snow as well as some cocktails. 

A deep puddle of icy water was hiding under the snow on that very corner and feeling like a kid again because of the snow day, one of my favorite childhood poems came to mind:

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

Of course, this sidewalk ended with a deep pool of slush soaking the feet of unlucky pedestrians.  Remember, this is NYC.

On Tuesday afternoons, I’ll often go down to the bar and mix cocktails with Gene.  Today, I taped him making a Barbara West cocktail. 

I realize now that I should have given more commentary as he’s making the drink.  It seemed very loud in the restaurant at the time, but I come through loud and clear.

We sourced the recipe from Ted Haigh’s book:

2 oz. gin (we used Seneca Drums)
1 oz. Sherry (we used Lustau Amontillado)
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 dash Angostura bitters

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, strain into a chilled glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

I can’t seem to find much on the etymology of this cocktail, though Ted notes you could order a “Creole with bitters” and end up with a Barbara West.  On the CocktailDB, I found a recipe for a Barbara East.

Gene’s comments at the end of the video about the drink being tart are because we had just finished making a Bebbo Cocktail before taping (more on this later).  An easy way to play around with this drink would be to change the Sherry.  Amotillado is dry and nutty and worked well, but I could see substituting an East India or an Oloroso style if you were looking for a touch more sweetness.

In preparation for Saturday’s Martini Bowl at Union Square Wines, I’ve been doing some experimenting.

Which garnish will come out on top - the peel of an orange, lime or lemon or something else all together?

Which vermouth will come out on top? Notice there's no Italian representation.

It’s odd that no one can agree on the origins of the most popular cocktail.  In his latest book, David Wondrich presents four different theories, ranging from The Jerry Thomas Theory (that Jerry, while working in San Francisco, made the drink for someone headed east to Martinez who had asked for something new), dubbed “exremely unlikely” to The Judge Martine Theory (that Judge Martine invented it at New York’s Manhattan Club), which he called “possible, but not proven”.

The style of the martini has changed over the years, becoming drier over time.  Pre-Prohibition recipes were usually equal parts gin and vermouth or a 2 parts gin to 1 part vermouth ratio.  Pre-World War II recipes often called for a 4 to 1 gin to vermouth ratio, while post-World War II ratios crept up to 15 to 1. 

My Grossman’s Guide to Wines, Beers, and Spirits says that the Martinez Cocktail is the earliest martini-esque recipe they could find.

1 dash bitters
2 dashes (1 tsp) maraschino liqueur
1 pony (1 oz.) Old Tom gin
1 wineglass (2 oz.) vermouth
2 small lumps of ice

Shake thoroughly and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a quarter slice of lemon and if the guest prefers it sweet, add 2 dashes of gum syrup.

Is it better to shake or stir? Serve it up or on the rocks? Shaved ice while shaking?

You’ll have to stop by on Saturday to see what we decided to go with, but in the meantime, we can all agree on the beautiful relationship between gin and vermouth.