Eric Felten on the famous bartender Jerry Thomas and the one cocktail that was truly his creation in yesterday's Wall Street Journal (sub req):
Because Thomas was the first to write most American drink recipes down, he was mistakenly credited with having invented many of them (it was a mistake that Thomas did his best to encourage). But Mr. Wondrich is able to identify with confidence only one cocktail as having originated with the Professor himself -- the Japanese Cocktail, a drink that the Minneapolis Tribune, in 1885, would label a "liquid attack of spinal meningitis." Thomas created the mix of brandy, orgeat and bitters in 1860 to commemorate the ballyhooed and bibulous visit of the first Japanese embassy to America.
2 oz Cognac
¼ oz orgeat (almond syrup)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 slice lemon peel
Muddle lemon peel in orgeat and bitters in the bottom of a short tumbler. Add cognac and ice, stir, and serve. Or, shake all with ice and strain into a stemmed cocktail glass.
Do you have the backbone to try one?
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