Ahh, summer; the joyous squealing of children in a pool, the soft thwack-thwack of the pickleball court, the warmth of the day subsiding while enjoying cocktails on the lawn.
Cocktails are largely considered an American invention, the first recorded use of the word occurring in a spoof editorial in The Farmer’s Cabinet in 1803, referring to a cocktail as something one would drink to overcome a hangover! The recipe was pinned down in an 1806 edition of The Balance and Columbian Repository of Hudson, New York, where it was described as “a stimulating liquor composed of any kind of sugar, water, and bitters.”
The alcohol we drink is made by yeast converting glucose (C6H12O6) into ethanol (C2H5OH), in order to release the energy it needs to grow. To make spirits, this process is usually done on a mash of sugar containing vegetation; for example, wheat, corn, or even potatoes. When fermentation is complete, the mix is filtered to remove all the solid matter. After this, the liquid is then condensed in a process known as distillation. For the final step, the purified ethanol is diluted slightly and sold as a
clear spirit.
Clear spirits are not particularly palatable so further flavoring is usually done. Some spirits may go off to be flavored with other oils from perhaps a wooden barrel, as in whiskeys, or botanical herbs, like gin. Vodka is mostly pure ethanol and a little water, which makes it excellent to add flavor to, and so is the base for many cocktails.
Our locale here offers many different places to enjoy cocktails, and one of the newest is The Benjamin. Resident mixologist, Everett Taylor-Troup, spoke to me about the artistry involved in amplifying a drink so that it is much more than liquor, sugar, water and bitters; “You can’t just be a bland person! A really good mixologist is like a great chef, they put things together that seem strange but then you taste them and you go ‘ooooh, OK!’” says Taylor-Troup. “For me, I love to cook, and I am often in my kitchen playing with recipes, and that’s what I like to do with my cocktails in the bar – my liquid kitchen. What can I use that the chef has this week, or taking a whiskey sour and elevating it, by maybe changing the (fruit) acid or adding something new to the simple syrup?”
Taylor-Troup takes his inspiration from the crazy cocktails created by some of the mixologists in New York City, but refines them for our local palate. This doesn’t stop him from using some of the more fashionable elements, like the addition of wood smoke to his winter smoked peanut butter old fashioned, or egg whites to maintain the foam on his summer roasted pineapple sour.
I asked Taylor-Troup what is his favorite cocktail that he has created. His answer – a cucumber basil watermelon julep. “What better drink on a hot summer day than cooling cucumber vodka, refreshing watermelon juice with the zingy herbaceousness of basil?” Not much, for sure – bottoms up!
