Sunday, July 5, 2009

July 4th Cocktails - The 1920

Last week, I happened by White Star, a fairly new cocktailian (and absinthe-centric) lounge that's right across the street from our apartment - at 21 Essex - and that's Essex Street just after the trees in the photo, looking west from our kitchen window.

Asking the tender for a "Manhattan-like" cocktail, he (Kelvin) was kind enough to stir me up a 1920 cocktail - and it made my night. I'd never had one before, and since K. was nice enough to share the formula with me, I got to make one at home to celebrate the 4th.

Actually, I liked it so much that I immediately had to share it with friends of mine. Jude and Jeff, whom I've posted about before, really enjoy their cocktails. I shot an email off to them, and they tried it and liked it so much, that Jude blogged about it too! As she writ:


The “1920” is a hook up between a Manhattan and a Sazerac and the recipe goes like this: 2 parts rye, 1 part sweet vermouth, absinthe rinse in the glass and a dash or so of orange bitters, stirred, never shaken.


And that's what it is. The absinthe rinse is what separates that 1920 from a Manhattan. Here are a couple of tips to make an excellent cocktail:

1) It's always good to keep your cocktail and mixing glasses in the freezer. It's really good.

2) To "rinse" is just to pour a teaspoon or so of spirit into the frozen cocktail glass (in this case, absinthe), swirl it around and pour what's left into the sink. It leaves just a hint of spirit in the glass, and is a great technique. Do this right before pouring your cocktail.

3) Lots of cracked ice in that mixing glass. Stir the shit out of it.

4) Enjoy rather quickly - (as you should all cocktails.) No matter where you are, it's a damn good drink.

9 comments:

  1. Also good is a Third Degree: a dry Martini with an absinthe rinse.

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  2. Oh, that sounds nice. I suppose a perfect Manhattan with an absinthe rinse would be good too.

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  3. That sounds absolutely delicious! When can I come have one??

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  4. you know if leave out the rye, vermouth, and bitters, you still have a really good drink-only you'll need to increase the amount of absinthe. Although you can still use that absinthe rinse to gargle with instead of tossing it down the sink

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  5. @Rebecca - soon as you recover from the Miller High Life weekend.

    @Arto - have you been drinking the absinthe again?

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  7. Hey Tasty-How many of these do you drink when you watch the Mets? I'm guessing more than one, sucker!

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  8. @ Manny - They go really nicely with the 'roid juice.

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  9. Nice photo, Mitch!
    So, am I understanding this correctly... you told me to make one before you even tasted it? So, I'm the guinea porchetta??

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