Otto e Mezzo – World's Best Cocktail Menu - Tales of the Cocktail
Otto e Mezzo – World's Best Cocktail Menu - Tales of the Cocktail
Otto e Mezzo – World's Best Cocktail Menu - Tales of the Cocktail
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Prices HK$ 130 in<br />
Hong Kong <strong>Menu</strong><br />
and RMB¥ 80 in<br />
Shanghai <strong>Menu</strong><br />
AVIATION<br />
Gin-Maraschino-Crème de violetteemon juice<br />
e Aviation was created by Hugo Ensslin, head<br />
bartender at <strong>the</strong> Hotel Wallick in New York, in<br />
<strong>the</strong> early twentieth century. e rst published<br />
recipe for <strong>the</strong> drink appeared in Ensslin's 1916<br />
Recipes for Mixed Drinks. Ensslin's recipe<br />
called for 1½ oz. El Bart gin, ¾ oz. lemon juice,<br />
2 dashes maraschino liqueur, and 2 dashes<br />
crème de violette, a violet liqueur which gives<br />
<strong>the</strong> cocktail a pale sky-blue color.<br />
Harry Craddock's inuential Savoy <strong>Cocktail</strong><br />
Book (1930) omitted <strong>the</strong> crème de violette,<br />
calling for a mixture <strong>of</strong> two-thirds dry gin,<br />
one-third lemon juice, and two dashes <strong>of</strong> maraschino.<br />
Many later bartenders have followed<br />
Craddock's lead,leaving out <strong>the</strong> dicult-to-nd<br />
violet liqueur.<br />
BRONX<br />
Gin-Sweet Vermouth-Dry Vermouth-Orange<br />
juice<br />
e Bronx <strong>Cocktail</strong>, strange to say, was invented<br />
in Philadelphia, <strong>of</strong> all places! ere it might<br />
have remained in obscurity had it not been for<br />
one Joseph Sormani, a Bronx restaurateur, who<br />
discovered it in <strong>the</strong> Quaker City in 1905.<br />
te original recipe has been greatly distorted<br />
brandy,<br />
in <strong>the</strong> course <strong>of</strong> years, but here's <strong>the</strong> original to<br />
guide you and to compare with <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r recipes<br />
being used: Four parts <strong>of</strong> gin, one part <strong>of</strong><br />
orange juice and one part <strong>of</strong> Italian Vermouth.<br />
Shake thoroughly in ice and serve.<br />
SAZERAC<br />
Rye-White Sugar-Peychaud bitters-Absin<strong>the</strong>-<br />
Lemon peel<br />
is American classic is a sublime sipping<br />
drink. Legend has it that its origins began in<br />
Peychaud’s Pharmacy, New Orleans where<br />
Peychaud himself, a young Creole apo<strong>the</strong>cary,<br />
would serve a drink based on cognac mixed<br />
with his proprietary bitters to treat stomach<br />
aches and o<strong>the</strong>r illnesses, <strong>the</strong> brandy and bitters<br />
buzz caught on with Peychaud’s friends and<br />
<strong>the</strong>n in <strong>the</strong> coee houses. In 1853 <strong>the</strong> Sazerac<br />
Coee House opened in a rough back street<br />
known as Exchange a Alley. e Coee House<br />
made <strong>the</strong> Brandy cocktails a rage and ingredient<br />
that give it its name as <strong>the</strong> bar’s cognac, exclusively<br />
imported from France, Sazerac de Forge<br />
et ls. Around 1870 <strong>the</strong> cognac was replaced<br />
with Rye whiskey, probably due to phylloxera<br />
epidemic that devastated <strong>the</strong> European vines<br />
and production <strong>of</strong> Cognac, and a taste <strong>of</strong> Absin<strong>the</strong><br />
was added.<br />
B&B <strong>Cocktail</strong> Brandy and Benedectine<br />
A classic mix <strong>of</strong> fell by <strong>the</strong> wayside, perhaps<br />
because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> contemporary crisis <strong>of</strong> aged<br />
brandies and liqueurs, supplanted in consumer<br />
preferences, <strong>the</strong> so-called white products and<br />
tropical avoring.<br />
e Benedictine monastery <strong>of</strong> inspiration is a<br />
liqueur made from 27 herbs, post infusion in<br />
French cognac, from <strong>the</strong> areas less suitable for<br />
Bois. is liquor was mixed with <strong>the</strong> excellent<br />
in <strong>the</strong> early 30’s, a barman from <strong>the</strong><br />
famous local “21” on Broadway in New York.<br />
Nothing more simple, even obvious reasoning<br />
that led to <strong>the</strong> invention <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Rusty Nail,<br />
combined with <strong>the</strong> ease <strong>of</strong> running for beginners,<br />
but that was an incredible success, perhaps<br />
because <strong>the</strong> consumer decides his favorite<br />
brandy or cognac to “dilute” <strong>the</strong> Liquor… Such<br />
was <strong>the</strong> success that he decided to produce <strong>the</strong><br />
Benedictine cocktail “ready to drink” already<br />
full, but that did not succeed just because he<br />
lost his admirer <strong>the</strong> pleasure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> choice <strong>of</strong><br />
dilution.<br />
e drink is <strong>of</strong>ten used in a balloon from<br />
Cognac with crystalline ice and playing on <strong>the</strong><br />
sugar level lies on <strong>the</strong> distilled liquor, to achieve<br />
<strong>the</strong> bi-layer, typical <strong>of</strong> Pousse café. Optionally<br />
<strong>the</strong> customer can also be drunk straight and<br />
mixed in <strong>the</strong> tumbler.<br />
A popular variation <strong>of</strong> this cocktail is <strong>the</strong> Kentucky<br />
Colonel, which sees <strong>the</strong> replacement o<br />
brandy with <strong>the</strong> bourbon, in an amount slightly<br />
higher, brining <strong>the</strong> basic alcoholic and Benedictine<br />
4.5 cl 1.5.<br />
GARIBALDI<br />
Campari-Orange juice<br />
Ano<strong>the</strong>r great classic <strong>of</strong> mixing, encoded within<br />
<strong>the</strong> 60 classic IBA. e drink is named in<br />
honor <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> hero <strong>of</strong> Two Worlds and craftsman<br />
Unit Italy, precisely in 2011 that saw its 150th<br />
anniversary. e color draws <strong>the</strong> red shirts <strong>of</strong><br />
Garibaldi and it is a wise and symbolic union<br />
<strong>of</strong> Italy, from <strong>the</strong> two ingredients <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> drink,<br />
<strong>the</strong> Milanese Campari and blood orange juice,<br />
for which Sicily is known throughout <strong>the</strong> world.<br />
e name <strong>of</strong> its creator is not given to know,<br />
nor <strong>the</strong> place <strong>of</strong> its creation, what is certain that<br />
<strong>the</strong> drink, never as in 2011, will be revived and<br />
promoted.<br />
t<br />
GIN & IT<br />
Gin-Sweet Italian red Vermouth, known at <strong>the</strong><br />
time, as Vermouth <strong>of</strong> Turin<br />
e drink was invented by <strong>the</strong> bartender at <strong>the</strong><br />
American Cherley Rachet Club <strong>of</strong> New York<br />
in <strong>the</strong> 30’s, when <strong>the</strong> wine-based products were<br />
almost completely absorbed <strong>the</strong> shock <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
devastation <strong>of</strong> phylloxera. e drink, in fact a<br />
variant <strong>of</strong> Gin & French that he saw <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong><br />
French dry vermouth, has a precise meaning<br />
in his name. e work “IT” stands for “Italian<br />
vermouth”, <strong>the</strong> inimitable Vermouth <strong>of</strong> Turin,<br />
which was invented by Antonio Benedetto<br />
Carpano in his bakery and bar in <strong>the</strong> center <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> city <strong>of</strong> Savoy.<br />
Angelo Zola, as a good Piedmont Lake Viveash,<br />
says in his notes that this is <strong>the</strong> real mix <strong>of</strong> gin<br />
and vermouth, in fact, he thinks, perhaps rightly,<br />
that <strong>the</strong> version is too dry Dry Martini and<br />
face losing <strong>the</strong> typical s<strong>of</strong>tness and complexity<br />
to <strong>the</strong> taste <strong>of</strong> fortied wine from Piedmont.<br />
GOLDEN DREAM<br />
Galliano-Cointreau-Cream-Fresh orange juice<br />
is drink was created by Raimundo Alvarez,<br />
famous bartender at <strong>the</strong> Old King Bar in<br />
Miami, is dedicated to <strong>the</strong> eternal dreamer and<br />
Joan Crawford, born Lucille Fay to Sur, who<br />
was fond <strong>of</strong> cream.<br />
e drink is very sweet and creamy, probably<br />
served to sweeten <strong>the</strong> non-trivial task that<br />
<strong>the</strong> diva had four marriages, two disinherited<br />
children <strong>of</strong> four and adopted as a model whose<br />
face was taken from Disney’s designers to<br />
create <strong>the</strong> evil witch in “Snow White and <strong>the</strong><br />
Seven Dwarfs. “His life began in 1905, was at<br />
least rewarding pr<strong>of</strong>essional and joys, in fact,<br />
won an Oscar for <strong>the</strong> interpretation “Mildred<br />
Pierce” and participated in dozens <strong>of</strong> hit movies<br />
including “Grand Hotel” and “Johnny Guitar”.<br />
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