The Royale Bar and Grill, Tavern and Restaurant

Robert Griffin presents

Cocktail Museum Sundays
Exhibit #13 – 12/6, 9pm – WORLD AT WAR

The upcoming Pearl Harbor anniversary has us in the mood to taste some
drinks that have their roots in or are associated with wartime.
Spirits and battle have a long history… it didn’t get the nickname
‘liquid courage’ for nothing!

Victory Cocktail $5
During the two major wars of the 20th century, most distilleries were
converted to industrial use. There weren’t a lot of spirits available
and sacrifice was the word of the day, hence this liquor-free, but
elegant cocktail (note this still has alcohol in it, just no liquors).
Equal parts dry and sweet vermouths, with a bit of lemon juice, orange
juice and grenadine, up.

General Order #1 $5
This is a variation by Dale DeGroff on an old drink, General
Harrison’s Eggnog, and was created to honor soldiers returning from
the Middle East. Bulleit bourbon, apple cider, a whole egg and a
little sugar, up. Nutritious and very smooth! We’ll serve the original
(no bourbon, but hard cider) in February for Presidents’ Day.

69th Regiment Punch $6.50
This hot toddy has been associated with this unit since the civil war.
Drawing from NYC’s east side, the 69th was composed of working class,
Irish-Catholic recruits, and its punch is an accordingly spartan
affair. Equal parts Scotch and Irish whisk(e)ys (Springbank 10 &
Jameson 12), a piece of lemon, some demerara sugar and hot water. “A
capital punch for a cold night” – Jerry Thomas, 1862.

French 75 $7
During WWI soldiers in France and Belgium did not lack for gin, but
had nothing with which to mix it. There was plenty of champagne
around, however, so… problem solved! The name is a tribute to the
smooth-firing but wallop-packing 75mm artillery gun used so
extensively in that conflict. Like the gun, the drink fires smoothly
but packs a wallop. Champagne, Plymouth gin, with a touch of lemon
juice and sugar, cherry and lemon twist, up.

Churchill Martini $6
The old bugger infamously stated that it was enough to “glance at the
bottle of vermouth from across the room,” or to raise it in the
direction of France, then get on with the bloody gin. But the secret
to Churchill’s drink is that he preferred Plymouth gin – this one is a
hard go with a more traditional London dry, but more drinkable with
the softer Plymouth style. 2 ounces of chilled Plymouth gin and an
olive, up. By contrast, FDR preferred a very wet Martini, with the
gin/vermouth ratio at 2:1… they could not have been more different.

* * * * *
Plus a few drinks we served last Sunday night, but too often forgot to
put out menus for:

Floridita $7
Havana’s Bar La Florida’s Prohibition-era signature cocktail:
Matusalem Cuban-style rum, lime juice, sweet vermouth, creme de cacao,
grenadine, lime twist, up.

Jungle Bird $6
A lesser-known but mightily delicious tiki drink: pineapple juice,
Gosling’s Black Seal rum, Campari, lime juice, sugar, on the rocks.

Singapore Sling $8
Gin can be exotic, too! As created at the dawn of the 20th century by
Ngiam Tong Boon at Singapore’s Raffles Hotel: pineapple juice,
Beefeater gin, Cherry Heering liqueur, lemon juice, grenadine,
Cointreau, Benedictine, Angostura bitters, on the rocks. In your drink
calculations, this one counts as two.

next week: More Hot Drinks!
Apple Toddy (assuming it doesn’t rain), Irish Whiskey Skin, and Hot Milk Punch