The Cocktail
Born and Raised in The South—The Cocktail
Written by Melissa Corbin
Meant to lift your spirits, cocktails are an American original. Steeped in history, these concoctions’ nomenclature prove a bit hazy, with its most popular lineage tracing back to a docked horse. Horse’s tails were often docked, or cocked as it were. These short-tailed horses often appeared more spirited than others, thus inspiring an adulterated spirit otherwise known as the cocktail. Born and raised in the South, the Thoroughbreds of all cocktails are made with bourbon offering an American experience of discernment.
Sazerac
As legend has it, this boozy elixir emerged as the world’s first known cocktail. Known as a digestive, bitters is at its roots. When Antoine Amédée Peychaud immigrated to New Orleans from Haiti because of the violence between slaves and French colonists, he opened up an apothecary on Royal Street where he developed a bitters mixed with his favorite French brandy, Sazerac-de-Forge et fils, as a hair of the dog for those “bitten” earlier in the evening. Eventually, American rye whiskey replaced the brandy. And, Mixologist Leon Lamothe added a dash of Absinthe in 1873. But, when Absinthe was banned in 1912, Peychaud’s Bitters replaced the alleged hallucinogenic. The city of New Orleans invites you to sip on their official cocktail at the Sazerac Bar inside the infamous Roosevelt Hotel. And, for that matter, any mixologist of note knows cocktail by heart. This recipe courtesy of Belle Meade Bourbon offers a taste of Tennessee while paying homage to the grandmother of them all.
Belle Meade Sazerac
This spirit-forward, flavorful cocktail is the perfect showcase for Belle Meade Reserve. Plenty of bitters, lemon and an absinthe rinse are vital supporting roles in this classic Sazerac. Feel free to either discard the absinthe used for rinsing your class or add it to a sidecar to sip alongside your drink.
Creator: Rachel Ramirez
1.5 oz Belle Meade Reserve
.5 oz Copper & Kings American Craft Brandy
.25 oz demerara
2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Absinthe rinse
Lemon peel
Chill a rocks glass by placing it in the freezer or filling it with crushed ice. While the glass is chilling, add bourbon, brandy, demerara and bitters to a mixing glass. Express the oils from a lemon peel into the mixing glass and drop peel into the glass. Add ice and stir. Add two to three dashes of absinthe to your chilled rocks glass and turn to coat the inside of the glass. Shake out the excess absinthe and strain the cocktail into the seasoned rocks glass.
Old Fashioned
DSP-KY-5 is the government-issued number to James E. Pepper Distillery, and designates this historic icon as the oldest Bourbon distillery still in operation. Flamboyant in promoting their brand in the late 19th century, Colonel Pepper and his wife, Ella, traveled the country in a decked-out train car he called “Old Pepper.” During their visits to New York, often at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, the Colonel was known to socialize with other American captains of industry, including John D. Rockefeller, Theodore Roosevelt. It was at the Waldorf that Colonel Pepper is credited with introducing the world to the “Old Fashioned” cocktail, which was said to have been invented in his honor by a bartender at the famed Pendennis Club in Louisville. It is also one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury 's The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks , widely considered the bible of mixology. Today, you can visit the distillery campus in Lexington, where the original recipe is housed in the distillery’s museum.
Insert the recipe from the Waldorf bar book here.
Mint Julep
The term “julep” comes from Spanish and Persian descent as a sugary vehicle for medicine. First mentioned in a satirical play by Richard Mumford entitled The Candidate in 1770, the Mint Julep eventually became a Virginian legacy in 1820 with its first acknowledged master, a freed person of color by the name of Jasper Crouch from Richmond. Virginian born and Kentucky US State Senator Henry Clay added Kentucky to the syrupy cocktail’s heritage when he introduced it to the Round Robin Bar inside the Willard Hotel during his Washington D.C. residency. Today, the Mint Julep is the official cocktail of the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks where more than 120,000 are sold at Church Hill Downs Racetrack, requiring 10,000 bottles of Old Forester Mint Julep Ready-to-Serve Cocktail, 1,000 pounds of freshly harvested mint and 60,000 pounds of ice.
The Old Forester Mint Julep Recipe ( sourced from kentuckyderby.com )
- 3 oz. Old Forester Mint Julep
- 0.75 oz. Simple Syrup
- 8-10 mint leaves
- 3 mint sprigs, far garnish
Pack mint julep cup with crushed ice. In a mixing glass, combine bourbon, syrup, and mint leaves. Lightly bruise mint leaves with a muddler, strain contents into julep cup. Garnish with 3 generous sprigs of mint. *Make sure to slap mint and insert straw into ice near mint.
