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I was skimming through the Ardent Spirits Newsletter and thought that this subject might be a good one to start.
"There are exceptions, mind you, when it comes to garnishes - some adornments are an absolute must to complete specific drinks. A gin and tonic with no lime wedge, for instance, is unthinkable. And if the bartender hooks it over the rim of the glass, thus leaving me to do the squeezing, then said bartender's tip is automatically reduced by a minimum of 25 percent. This decision is usually reached when I'm washing the lime juice from my hands in the men's room." Gary Regan
I have always put the wedge on the glass and in most every bar I have been to ( except http://tv.accessvegas.com/play.php?id=36&vid=68) that has been the case. I would hate to insult someone buy giving them the option to squeeze or not. What is the correct aproach? I have seen many a discarded lemon, would I have ruined their drink had I squeezed and droped. Is it correct for a customer to judge my service and professionalism by such a detail?
What other details in service should be considered?
One lesson is that if Gary Regan's at the bar, put the lime wedge in his G&T. ;)
Yeah, Dave told me about this last night, & I find it odd Gary would insist on this, & so strongly. Some folks just don't want to have lime in their G&T, so it should be their discretion. Oh, & if you have it w/ Teardrop's Q, we won't even let you have a lime, so there!
reg eje's comment----
I really shouldn't have said, "old-fashioned,"
as it is stirred and served up. I suppose
"Fancy Tequila Cocktail," as in Jerry Thomas,
would be a better classification.
Or maybe even "Improved Tequila Cocktail"
since it has two liqueurs and sweetener.
I love the classification conversation. It leaves me purplexed
and motivated to have a greater understanding of a subject I
have bypassed in the past. Time to revisit it. How do you feel
about Gary Regan's explanation in The Joy of Mixology.
Is Jerry Thomas the best resorce for classification?
Are there others?
In Imbibe, Wondrich divides the "Cocktail" into several basic families which can be made with any type of spirit.
"Original Cocktail" which is exactly that as given in the Balance article. Water, Spirits, Sugar, and bitters with a nutmeg garnish.
"Plain Cocktail" which is Gum Syrup, Bitters, Spirits, Curacao served on the rocks with a lemon peel as garnish.
"Fancy Cocktail" which is Gum Syrup, Bitters, Spirits, and Curacao, stirred with ice and strained into a cocktail glass. Lemon Peel garnish.
"Improved Cocktail" which is Gum Syrup, Maraschino, Absinthe, Spirits, stirred with ice and strained into a cocktail glass. Lemon Peel Garnish.
"Old-Fashioned Cocktail" which is Sugar, water to dissolve, bitters and spirits, stirred with ice and served in the glass with a lemon peel garnish.
Then he goes on to the more individual cocktails and what he calls "Evolved" cocktails.
I like Regan's book a lot, but I think his classification system is more of a mnemonic device than anything else. You memorize which drinks fall into which families, then you base the ingredients and ratios of the drink you need to remember on the family it falls in. When you look at historical recipes, it usually isn't that neat and clean.
Cocktails don't have a real DNA, you know? You can't send them off to the lab to find out who their Dad is. Any attempt at a classification system is fraught with exceptions and problems.
Not to mention the frame of classification: Historical? Ingredients? Ratios?
Even with the advent of DNA familialhood, Biological classification has multiple methods and their proponents (and critics).
I have my own method of classification based on ingredients that I only use internally, to help remember drinks. It leads me to an armchair guesswork about the evolution of a drink method, but without research I'm not about to push that classification as anything other than how I internally think about cocktails. It still makes me curious, though. This MxMo I'm going to bring up the connections between some carribbean rim cocktails and variations thereof; perhaps someone can help point me in certain directions for further research after the post? Basically, Rum -> Grog -> Daquiri, Caipirinha -> (+ Julep) -> Mojito etc.
I think the first thing to examine about classification are the goals: Why are you classifying? What are the goals, what do you expect the system to help you better understand?
The classification system is a critical piece of the cocktail renaissance, & it's this sort of dialogue that helps explain why "renaissance" is not a bloated or self-aggrandizing term. It's a very aristotelian search for first principles, the guiding parameters of a discipline that aid/permit its progression. I use many different systems to help build a new cocktail, including original definitions, culinary techniques & the palate's arc employed primarily in wine tasting. But the inherent dialectic of looking to original sources+ how those inspirations got lost &/or muddied along the way + what we've learned from those disciplines (i.e., cooking) to which the world of cocktails ceded dominance for a century, this informs the craft in very specific ways. & then remembering that any craft is discipline + artistic inspiration, you can make those first principles work for you. I know many of us were simply making variations on a lemon drop for years; getting back to its ancestors helped to open whole new worlds within the glass, as we moved from the one-dimensional nature of the LD to the suprisingly unique balance of its forebears.
As you point out, Craig, the unification that happens w/ a cocktail book brings together distinctly separate groups to inform one another, & this sort of cross-pollination then helps to exploit the inherent qualities within each; so, caipirinha learns from juleps, smashes learn from slings learn from fizzes ad nauseum (esp. nauseum if consumed in one night).
This talk makes me think of philology, with cocktails instead of language: an exciting prospect!
If cocktail recipes were written on stone walls, I believe there would be a worth while endevor in finding the familial tree of a vodka soda. However even the books that were published by Ashbury, Embry, Barker...etc we're all subject to interpretation. I know alot of these guys measured by ponies, jiggers, half wineglasses, parts...etc. There are also inconsistencies in the spirits that were used to mix with 80 years ago. The recipes are related yes...but the flavors may not be. I think they intended to make good tasting drinks...and if it tastes good...drink it. Find a common recipe of you favorite historical bartenders and makem. What do they taste like? How are they different? Which is better?
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