The Jerry Thomas Project – What Jerry calls a Cocktail.

The Jerry Thomas Project is the re-creation of all of Jerry Thomas’ cocktails from Jerry Thomas’ Bar-Tenders Guide: Receipts for Mixing in their purest form. Jerry Thomas is considered America’s father of mixology publishing the first cocktail book in 1862.

I was lucky this weekend to have some extra help behind the bar as it allowed me to make all of the Jerry Thomas “Cocktails” – which was no small feat as there are twenty of them. The drinks are all quite simple, the term cocktail appears to just mean that a couple ounces of spirit gets a dash or two or gum syrup or Maraschino and a dash or two of Angostura or Boker’s Bitters (which I used Dr. Adam Elmegirab’s Boker’s Bitters). For the most part, adding a dash or two of sweetness and a dash or two of bitters added a tiny nuance that made the drink more interesting and sweet – but not such a dramatic difference that I would go through the process of making gum (gomme) syrup (see that post here) or buying or making Boker’s bitters (see that post here). Jerry reccommends that you shake with shaved ice, but I ended up putting some shaved ice in a couple of the drinks rather than straining them off. We actually have a new muddler that looks like a police baton – scary, but it makes really awesome crushed ice and honestly, the shaved ice really makes these drinks a lot more special. Anyhow, enjoy!

A couple of these drinks I’ve made before and blogged about them, but I thought it would be nice to keep all the “cocktail” drinks together, so I made them again.

Bottle Cocktail

Take an empty brandy bottle

Add one ounce Boker’s Bitters
Add two ounces of gum (gomme) syrup
Add a half ounce of orange curaçao
Fill it two thirds of the way with brandy
Add five ounces of water
Fill to the top with your choice of brandy, whiskey, or your choice of gin

Brandy Cocktail

2 ounces of brandy
1 – 2 dashes of orange curaçao
2 dashes of bitters (either Boker’s or Angostura)
3 – 4 dashes of gum (gomme) syrup

Fill the glass one third of the way with shaved ice, shake well, and strain into a cocktail glass. Serve with a lemon twist.

Champagne Cocktail
1 lump of sugar
1 – 2 dashes of Angostura bitters (I personally like a lot more than that)
1 small lump of ice (I’d never put ice in a champagne cocktail until today)
5 ounces of sparkling wine

Drop the sugar cube to the bottom of the glass, drip the Angostura bitters on the cube, slowly add the wine (as it is going to want to spill over)

Coffee Cocktail
1 ounce of brandy
2 ounces of port wine
1 fresh egg (If you use the entire egg, make sure that it is really fresh or you will find that this drink is terribly disgusting. If you don’t have uber fresh eggs, just use the white.)
1 teaspoon powdered white sugar
2 to 3 lumps of ice

Break the egg into the glass, put the sugar, port wine, brandy, and ice in the glass. Shake up and strain. Grate a little nutmeg on the top.

I’ve made this drink before, and I still don’t get why it is called Coffee Cocktail. Even Thomas states, “The name of this drink is a misnomer, as coffee and bittes are not to be found among its ingredients, but it looks like coffee when it has been preoperly concocted, and hence probably its name.” Just so you know, it doesn’t look like coffee.

Also I don’t know if you really need the egg in this drink, it’s not really adding much – especially if you can’t get really fresh eggs and you are just using the white. As the drink has no citrus, it doesn’t get really frothy.

Fancy Vermouth Cocktail (make it with both sweet and dry, liked it better with dry)

2 ounces of vermouth
1 – 2 dashes of Maraschino
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
1 quarter slice of lemon

Fill the glass one third of the way with shaved ice, shake well, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the lemon.

Gin Cocktail
2 ounces of gin
1 – 2 dashes of orange curaçao
2 dashes of bitters (either Boker’s or Angostura)
3 – 4 dashes of gum (gomme) syrup

Fill the glass one third of the way with shaved ice, shake well, and strain into a cocktail glass. Serve with a lemon twist.

Improved Brandy Cocktail

2 ounces of brandy
1 – 2 dashes of Maraschino
1 dash of Absinthe
3 dashes of bitters (either Boker’s or Angostura)
3 – 4 dashes of gum (gomme) syrup

Improved Gin Cocktail

2 ounces of Holland gin (if you didn’t know, Bols Genever is now available in Oregon)
1 – 2 dashes of orange curaçao
2 dashes of bitters (either Boker’s or Angostura)
3 – 4 dashes of gum (gomme) syrup

Fill the glass one third of the way with shaved ice, shake well, and strain into a cocktail glass. Serve with a lemon twist.

Improved Whiskey Cocktail

2 ounces of whiskey
1 – 2 dashes of Maraschino
1 dash of Absinthe
3 dashes of bitters (either Boker’s or Angostura)
3 – 4 dashes of gum (gomme) syrup

Fill the glass one third of the way with shaved ice, shake well, and strain into a cocktail glass. Rim glass and serve with a lemon peel.

Japanese Cocktail
2 ounces of brandy
2 dashes of Boker’s Bitters
1 tablespoon of orgeat (almond) syrup
1 or 2 pieces of lemon peel

Fill the glass one third of the way with shaved ice, shake well, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the lemon peel.
Not quite sure why Thomas thought this should be Japanese Cocktail, suppose it is because of the orgeat syrup.

Jersey Cocktail (Temperance drink)

5 ounces of cider
1 teaspoon of fine white sugar
2 dashes of bitters (either Boker’s or Angostura)
3 or 4 lumps of ice

Manhattan Cocktail

1 ounce of rye whiskey
2 ounces of vermouth (I used sweet and dry, preferred it with the sweet)
3 dashes of Boker’s bitters
2 small lumps of ice

Shake and strain. Garnish with a quarter piece of lemon. Can sweeten it with gum (gomme) syrup.

Martinez Cocktail

1 ounce of Old Tom gin
2 ounces of Vermouth (I used dry)
2 dashes of Maraschino
1 dash of Boker’s Bitters
2 small lumps of ice

Shake and strain. Garnish with a quarter piece of lemon. Can sweeten it with gum (gomme) syrup.

Morning Glory Cocktail

1 ounce of brandy
1 ounce of whiskey
1 dash of Absinthe
2 dashes of Boker’s Bitters
2 dashes of orange curaçao
3 dashes of gum (gomme) syrup

Stir thoroughly and remove the ice. Fill the glass with soda water, stir with a hint of sugar and garnish with a lemon twist.

Old Tom Gin Cocktail

2 ounces of Old Tom gin (I personally love The Ransom Old Tom style gin made in Portland)
1 – 2 dashes of orange curaçao
2 dashes of bitters (either Boker’s or Angostura)
3 – 4 dashes of gum (gomme) syrup

Fill the glass one third of the way with shaved ice, shake well, and strain into a cocktail glass. Serve with a lemon twist.

Saratoga Cocktail

1 ounce of brandy
1 ounce of whiskey
1 ounce of vermouth (I used sweet)

Shake and strain. Garnish with a quarter piece of lemon.

Soda Cocktail (Temperance drink)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 dashes angostura bitters
1 bottle plain soda
3 or 4 lumps of ice

Vermouth Cocktail (make it with both sweet and dry, liked it better with dry)
2 ounces of vermouth
2 dashes of Boker’s bitters
1 quarter slice of lemon

Shake the vermouth and bitters. Strain, add the lemon as garnish. If you like it sweeter, add a couple of drops of gum (gomme) syrup.

Whiskey Cocktail

2 ounces of whiskey (I used the Maker’s 46, just because it’s the newest thing on the shelf – perhaps some sort of crazy dichotomy)
1 – 2 dashes of gum (gomme) syrup
2 dashes of Boker’s Bitters
3 – 4 dashes of gum (gomme) syrup

Fill the glass one third of the way with shaved ice, shake well, and strain into a cocktail glass. Serve with a lemon twist.

To check out other Jerry Thomas Project recipes – click here.