Imbibe! (37 page)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 FRESH EGGS
(YOLKS & WHITES SEPARATED)
2 POUNDS WHITE SUGAR
6 TABLE SPOON FINE MADAGASCAR VANILLA EXTRACT
1½ TEASPOONS GROUND CINNAMON
¼ TEASPOON GROUND CLOVES
6 OUNCES BOILING MILK
½ TEASPOON GROUND ALLSPICE
2 OUNCES BACARDI 8 ANEJO RUM
1 OUNCE COURVOISIER VS COGNAC
½ TEASPOON GROUND NUTMEG
4 DASHES ANGOSTURA BITTERS

 

 

 

*TO MAKE RICH SIMPLE SYRUP, STIR 4 CUPS DEMERARA SUGAR AND 2 CUPS WATER OVER LOW HEAT UNTIL ALL SUGAR HAS DISSOLVED. LET COOL, BOTTLE,AND ADD ½-OUNCE GRAIN ALCOHOL OR 151-PROOF RUM TO RETARD SPOILAGE.

 

 

 

This is one recipe in Jerry Thomas’s book that we can be absolutely sure is his own. Evidently, it was successful enough for Thomas to keep making it, or something like it, since the 1871
Bonfort’s Wine & Liquor Circular
devoted to the Thomas brothers’ cellar closes by mentioning that “Mr. Jerry Thomas makes a very wholesome kind of bitters, for the use of his bar, himself.” Unfortunately, modern medical science begs to differ about their wholesome nature, since aristolochic acid, found in the Virginia snakeroot
(aristolochia serpentaria)
Thomas used to give the bitters their herbal punch, has been proven to cause liver failure, and snakeroot can no longer be purchased. Nor can it be adequately replaced: Having taken the trouble to grow some from cuttings, I can attest that this fragrant, spicy root imparts a bewitching I-know-not-what to the bitters that is unlike anything I know.

I offer the Professor’s recipe—which was clearly sold as a tonic, by the glass—for its historical interest only and
do not recommend that it be reproduced or consumed.

 

 

 

 

SOURCE: JERRY THOMAS, 1862

There is a surfeit of old recipes for Stoughton’s Bitters in existence, but unfortunately none of them can be traced to the good doctor himself (then again, I must confess that I have not yet searched through the British patent office records from 1712, if indeed they still exist). Most of the existing recipes contain snakeroot. Here is one that does not. It is a composite recipe from several sources, the earliest of which is Charles B. Campbell’s 1867
American Bartender
.

 

SOURCE: COMPOSITE

I won’t delve deeply into the complex history of Boker’s Bitters. The leading Cocktail bitters for much of the nineteenth century, they were produced by the L. J. Funke Company of New York City. By Prohibition, their heavy, Christmas-spiced nature made them quite old-fashioned. An adequate substitute is Fee Brothers’ Old-Fashioned Aromatic Bitters (see
www.feebrothers.com
). Or you can make your own, as many a bartender did. This English formula for them hails from 1883, when there was still plenty of genuine Boker’s around to test it against.

 

 

 

Macerate for 10 days in
½
gallon strong whiskey, and then filter and add 2 gal. water. Color with mallow or malva flowers.

SOURCE: ROBERT HALDAYNE,
WORKSHOP RECEIPTS (SECOND SERIES)
, 1883

The gum Arabic, an emulsifier, gives this a silky texture that helps to soften the bite of drinks made with liquor and nothing else—plain Cocktails, in other words. But it works well in just about anything, and is worth the extra expense in time and money.

 

Dissolve 1 lb. of the best white gum Arabic in 1½ pints of water, nearly boiling;
[take]
3 lbs. of white sugar or candy; melt and clarify it with half pint of cold water, add the gum solution and boil all together for two minutes.This gum is for cocktails.

SOURCE: E. RICKET AND C. THOMAS,
GENTLEMAN’STABLE GUIDE
, 1871

While the gum may be nice in drinks, bartenders rapidly discovered that few customers could tell the difference, and the vast majority of bartenders’ recipes for gum syrup omit the gum altogether. Since the period ones are heavily concerned with clarifying the syrup, a step that is no longer needed, a modern recipe is provided here.