Classic Cocktail Bar

Posted by Nostalgiaholic | on April 16, 2008

A tipsy trip back through time to when happy hour was anytime you wanted (even during work) , and the cocktail was the drink of choice! Includes recipes and memories of the classiest cocktails from Hollywood’s golden age.

Here, lemmie set the tone for tonight’s little episode of nostalgia-flavored binge drinking:

Stock pic of liquor

“The man of the house returns home after a hard day at the rat races. He tosses his wrinkled flannel overcoat over the armoire, and lands his Stetson fedora atop the family radio. As a red-blooded American man, he wants to unwind after a hard day at the office, so he bee-lines straight to the liquor cabinet where he swirls himself an old fashioned. Nothing like a cocktail to take the edge off.”

Throughout the first half of the 1900s, into the 60s and 70s this was the roaring norm. Cocktails were an enormous part of social, domestic, and yes, even professional culture. People were going about their day imbibing before (”Hair of the dog“), during (”How’s about the ‘ol three martini lunch ?“), and after work (”Were gonna swing by the men’s club to discuss things“). Kinda makes you wonder how any work got done at all when even offices had built-in mini bars. Households always had a decanter of hard liquor on hand in case company came over for dinner, and the universal greeting of the 1950s seemed to be “Care for a drink ?”.

Nothing reflected America’s obsession with spirits more then classic TV shows and movies. On television sets all over the country everything from the Dick Van Dyke Show, to I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched featured the free-flowing family attitudes towards booze. “Hawkeye” Pierce from M.A.S.H. loved his liquor so much he had a functioning Gin still in his army tent, for making Martinis… And he was in the middle of the Korean War !!!

The big screen had it’s own share of barflys and lost weekends as well. In fact, bars and speakeasies were the traditional locales for major plots twists in the romance, mystery, and political thrillers of Hollywood’s golden age. Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Sean Connery, Marilyn Monroe, and Sinatra’s Rat Pack were just a handful of the actors famous bringing the cocktail culture to the people. Watching movies like Casablanca (1942) and The Thin Man (1934) are the equivalent of a Community College bartending course. Continue your studies with any one of the James Bond 007 films and you’ll be ready for Tom Cruise’s bottle-tossing final exam; Cocktail (1988).

Rick’s Cafe American pic Impress your friends by getting behind a vinyl-wrapped mini-bar and start slinging seltzer instead of boring old table wine at a retro-themed party! It’s easy! Get the men in suits and the ladies in ballgowns, throw on some Lounge Music, and imagine yourself at Rick’s Cafe American or shooting craps in Vegas with some cool cats….. So then Frank says, “I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re gonna feel all day !” Ha! Classic!

Hey bartender ! I’ll have another…

Sazerac

Created in New Orleans sometime in the early 1800s, the Sazerac has to be mentioned first because it very well may be Sazerac America’s first ever cocktail. Originally made with Cognac, this subtle yet heady sipper is mentioned (and consumed) frequently in the Frank Capra film State of The Union (1948) starring Kathrine Hepburn.

1 Sugar Cube
2 Dashes of Bitters
2 oz. Rye Whiskey
2 dashes Absinthe or Pernod
Lemon curl

Soak the sugar cube in the bitters and mash into a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the Rye and shake it like you mean it. Pour the Absinthe (or Pernod) into a chilled rocks glass and swirl it around to coat the inside edges of the glass evenly. Strain the contents of your shaker into the glass and garnish with the lemon curl.

Martini

Bettie Davis

The iconic Emperor of Cocktails ! Made traditionally with Gin and olives, it has moved into the modern ear and you’ll now find just as many Vodka Martini’s with a twist of lemon. Included below are a couple of additional ways to serve a classic Martini (each with it’s own name). Practically every movie and TV show made between 1930 and 1970 featured someone drinking a Martini, but for some reason I always think of Bettie Davis in All About Eve (1950) and her famous line “Fasten your seat belts. It’s gonna be a bumpy night!”.

2 oz. Gin or Vodka
1/4 oz. Dry Vermouth
2 Olives

Fill half a cocktail shaker with ice and shake or stir the Gin (or Vodka) and the Vermouth according to the wishes of the well-dressed secret agent who wants it. Strain into a chilled Martini glass and garnish with the Olives skewered on a Martini pick.

Wet : Add more Vermouth

Dry : Add less Vermouth

Dirty : Swirl some of the brine from the olive jar into the Martini glass, then pour out before pouring the drink itself.

Burnt : Swirl a wee bit ‘o Scotch into the Martini glass before pouring the drink itself.

Gibson : Garnish Martini with a pearl onion instead of olives.

007 Martini (The Vesper)

Sean Connery as James Bond

Now this is a cocktail made by someone who really knows his alcohol! James Bond, English secret agent and liquor aficionado concocted this exact recipe in Ian Lemming’s novel “Casino Royal”. Bond has been immortalized by many actors (Sean Connery being the best) in many movies, but the character’s trademark line “Shaken, not stirred” has never changed.

3 oz. Gordon’s Gin
1 oz. Vodka (preferably from grain, not spudz)
1/2 oz. Kina Lillet Aperitif
Lemon curl

Fill half a cocktail shaker with ice, add all ingredients minus the lemon peel. Shake it until it’s ice-cold, strain into a deep Champagne flute and garnish with the lemon curl.

Black Velvet

Man with Golden Gun pic

Francisco Scaramanga, the titular assassin from one of my favourite James Bond flicks The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) took time out of his busy schedule to drink this particular cocktail with oysters… and his buddy Knick-Knack is so badass !

5 oz. Guinness Stout
5 oz. Champagne

Make sure both are chilled. Pour the Guinness first into a Champagne flute, then slowly add the Champagne. The Champagne should rest on top of the denser Stout until the flute is tipped to drink.

Old Fashioned

Derwood… errrr Darrin, the buggy-eyed husband of Samantha on the long-running TV show Bewitched was an old fashioned man in more ways then one. In just about every episode Darrin or his equally alcoholic boss Larry Tate were dashing to the bar or their office liquor cabinet for much needed work incentive. Of course, Darrin probably wouldn’t have needed to down so many cocktails if members of Samantha’s magically-endowed family weren’t always turning him into animals and ruining his business meetings. Darrin and Larry from Bewitched

1 Sugar Cube
2 Dashes of Bitters
1/2 oz. Water
2 oz. Rye Whiskey
Maraschino Cherry
Orange Curl

Mash the sugar, bitters and water in a rocks glass until the sugar is dissolved. Fill half the glass with ice and pour in the Rye. Garnish with the cherry and the orange curl…. or just get Samantha to make it for you.

Champagne Cocktail

Humphrey Bogart with Martini

Make it two, please… I insist. This particular libation featured prominently in one of my all-time favourite classic films, Casablanca (1942). A truly refined drink for exotic tavern owners, black market businessmen, or freedom fighters on the run from Nazis.

1 Sugar Cube
2-3 Dashes of Bitters
1 oz. Brandy
Champagne
Orange Slice

Soak the suagr cube in the bitters and brandy, and place in the bottom of a Champagne flute. top with Champagne and garnish with an orange slice.

Manhattan

If the Martini is the Emperor of Cocktails, drink to dilettantes and super-spies, then the Manhattan is without a doubt the Mafia boss, libation to outlaws, hardened working men, and the women who love ‘em. Speaking of, Marilyn Monroe was a fan of the Manhattan, showcasing it in the comedy Some Like It Hot (1959).

2 oz. Rye or Bourbon Whiskey
3/4 oz. Sweet Vermouth
Maraschino Cherry

Fill half a cocktail shaker with ice and shake or stir the Rye or Bourbon and the Vermouth until just chilled. Strain into an equally chilled Martini glass and garnish by sinking the cherry to the bottom.

Stinger

Sammy Davis Jr. Pic

For some reason, this cocktail always makes me think of the Las Vegas Rat Pack. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr and all the rest sauntering around neon formica Las Vegas palaces smoking cigarettes and oozing cool. In the movie/musical High Society (1956), Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and even Louis Armstrong sing, dance, and drink Stingers and Champagne till morning. By the way, the name “Stinger”should be pronounced with a decidedly Sammy Davis Jr. accent, ie. “Stingahhhhh baby”

1 1/2 oz. Brandy
1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. White Creme de Menthe
Mint Leaf

Fill half a cocktail shaker with ice, add all ingredients and shake it until it’s ice-cold. Strain into a rocks glass and garnish with a mint leaf.

Well, happy pouring, and if your still thirsty for classic cocktail info and the movies that made ‘em famous, slide on down the bar to Miss Charming’s Silver Screen Cocktails, and the Make Mine a 007. Both sites were indispensable resources of liquid info for this post.

Much love.

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