Happy Repeal Day!
The thirteen years of Prohibition were a dark time for the United States, as the criminalization of alcohol led not only to a rise in civil delinquency and organized crime, but also to the loss of customs associated with the production, preparation, and consumption of alcohol.
We celebrate Repeal Day because December 5th marks a return to the rich traditions of craft fermentation and distillation, the legitimacy of the American bartender as a contributor to the culinary arts, and the responsible enjoyment of alcohol as a sacred social custom.
In honor of Repeal Day, we’ve decided to put an AITA twist on a few classic prohibition era cocktails!
Mary Pickford
Along with her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, the golden-haired Mary Pickford was at the pinnacle of the first generation of movie royalty. This 1920s Cuban concoction does her honor.
Stir well with cracked ice:
3 parts SNAP
2 parts unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon grenadine
Strain into chilled cocktail glass and drop in a maraschino cherry.
Whiskey Old-Fashioned
The Old-Fashioned was around before Prohibition and it was around after Prohibition, but never was it more needed than during Prohibition—there being no better way invented to improve the taste of indifferent liquor.
3 parts ROOT
1 sugar cube
1 teaspoon water
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Muddle 1 sugar cube with a teaspoon of water and 2 dashes of Angostura bitters in the bottom of an Old-Fashioned glass until the sugar dissolves. Add 3 parts ROOT and stir briefly. Then add 2-3 ice cubes, stir some more, squeeze a large swatch of thin-cut lemon peel over the top and drop it in. This drink is always best if you let it sit for a minute or two before sipping it.
Colony Cocktail
New York’s Colony was no ordinary speakeasy. It was where Vanderbilts and Windsors went to dine in a civilized manner, and if that included a drink or two, then bartender Marco Hattem would provide one, no questions asked.
Shake well with cracked ice:
3 parts RHUBY
1 part grapefruit juice
2 tsp maraschino
Strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Sidecar
This French creation became the defining cocktail of the era.
Shake well with cracked ice:
3 parts SNAP
1 part Cointreau
1 part fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
Strain into chilled, sugar-rimmed cocktail glass
French 75
Named after an hard-hitting World War I artillery piece, the French 75 is, as far as can be determined, the only cocktail invented in the United States during Prohibition to become a classic.
Shake well with cracked ice:
3 parts RHUBY
1 part fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 parts simple syrup
2 parts Champagne
Strain into highball glass full of cracked ice and top off with chilled Champagne.
Cocktails adapted from recipes compiled by David Wondrich.
