Cocktail Musuem Sundays- 9pm Exhibit #15: Spirits of Xmas Past

December 27th, 2009

Tom & Jerry $6

Martell VSOP cognac, Pusser’s & Appleton rums, T&J batter, hot water, grated nutmeg.

Christmas Bowl of Bishop $5

Warre “Warrior” Porto mulled with cloven roasted lemons, spices, water and sugar.

“Life in London or, the Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, esq., and his elegant friend, Corinthian Tom, accompanied by Bob Logic, the Oxonian, in their rambles and Sprees through the Metropolis” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue the same way as “Titanic” or “Harry Potter,” but was a phenomenon of that stature in the early 1820s. The author of the book, Pierce Egan, was a sporting man (drinking, horses, boxing) whose book detailed the adventures of that life dosed with up to the minute period slang. In America, the story was presented on stage for several years as “Tom and Jerry, or Life in London” and the very phrase Tom & Jerry quickly took root as a catch all term for any sort of mischief-making, especially the alcohol-fueled sort. And then there’s the drink itself, created by Egan to promote his franchise. Americans cottoned to “the preparation” straight away, with both the drink and the phrase living on long after Egan’s book and several stage adaptations were forgotten. That’s right, the names given to that cartoon cat and mouse we all know … that was no accident!

Tom and Jerry remained a popular cold-weather drink throughout most of the 19th century, then began to atrophy into a holiday drink as time went on. At this point it is mostly unknown outside the upper midwest, where the batter is still sold in groceries during the holidays. This “dope,” as it is still known in northern Michigan and Wisconsin bars, is a mixture of eggs, seperated, beaten, then recombined with sugar, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and a little rum. A tablespoon of the resulting batter is added to an ounce each cognac and rum, hot water and grated nutmeg.

“I’ll raise your salary, and endeavor to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon over a bowl of Smoking Bishop, Bob!” So says Scrooge after his transformation, and in his offer of a bowl of punch, the change is revealed as a fundamental one. In the 18th century mind generosity was often measured in bowls of punch, the drink itself being communal by nature. Like any holiday drink, variations are not hard to find, nor are they all of the modern variety. We’ll be serving the Bishop in Oxford style, with roasted lemons instead of Seville oranges, as Dickens and most Londoners drank it. They also liked to set it on fire – there’s that “smoking” part – but I suspect today’s port is not quite as vigorous as yesteryear because it doesn’t light very easily, if at all. As to the “Bishop” – it was custom to associate different varieties of wine with clerical names, often corresponding to colors worn by the clergy in the Anglican church: Pope for burgundy, Cardinal for champagne, Archbishop for claret, and Bishop for port.