EPISODE 348 It’s the happiest of hours! The tales of four fabulous cocktails invented or made famous in New York City’s saloons, cocktail lounges, restaurants and hotels.
Cocktails are more than alcoholic beverages; over the decades, they’ve been status signifiers, indulgences that show off exotic ingredients or elixars displaying a bit of showmanship behind the bar.
In this podcast, we recount the beginning days of four iconic alcoholic drinks:
— The Manhattan: How an elite Gilded Age social club may have invented the cocktail for a new governor of New York;
— The Bloody Mary: A Parisian delight, enjoyed by the leading lights of the Jazz Age, makes it way to one of New York’s most famous hotels;
— The Martini: A drink of mysterious origin and potency becomes New York City’s most popular drink — and a curious lunchtime companion;
— The Cosmopolitan: Tracing the history of a new cocktail classic from Provincetown to San Francisco — and into two of New York’s most famous 1980s hangouts
LISTEN NOW — THE ORIGIN OF FOUR FABULOUS COCKTAILS
Professor Jerry Thomas, serving fire drinks to New York patrons.
From Jerry Thomas’ bartender guide (1887 edition). Read the whole guide here.
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