The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess
How to Make the Washington Cocktail
1 1/2 oz dry vermouth
3/4 oz cognac
dash Bitter Truth Old Time Aromatic Bitters
dash simple syrup
1 1/2 oz dry vermouth
3/4 oz cognac
dash Bitter Truth Old Time Aromatic Bitters
dash simple syrup
Comments
A very enjoyable cocktail. Beautifully balanced. We stumbled on it serendipitously while using for a party invite an old travel poster with the USS Manhattan and USS Washington featured on it and thus asking ourselves “Huh, we know the Manhattan, but is there a Washington cocktail?”
This holds up extremely well as a bottled cocktail. You’ll be a big hit bringing a bottle of this to a gathering of friends.
Looks great, Robert. Could you speak more about the difference between before and after dinner drinks (apertif & digestif)? You appear to classify this as an apertif.
Thanks.
This drink looks lovely, but I have sort of an odd question. When you cut a twist off of a lemon, orange, etc., or you only need one or two wedges of a fruit for garnishing—what do you do with the rest of the fruit? Sometimes if I’m making a drink for myself and, say, one friend, I find that I have sizable chunks of unused citrus lying about. I don’t want to just toss all that fruit, but I certainly don’t want to have to make 3 or more drinks just to avoid wasting a lemon or lime. Mr. Hess, would you recommend juicing the remaining fruit and storing it for later use? If I use the leftovers to prepare more garnishes for another occasion, how long should I wait to use them? I know this seems a little trivial, but it’s hard to balance my desire to use the freshest ingredients possible with a certain practicality.
I’m not an expert, but if I understand Jeffero’s question, I think I might be able to help.
I know that in Italy, the distinction between an apertif (or aperitivo) and a digestif (digestivo) is a matter of tradition. Both kinds of drinks are alcoholic. An apertif is an alcoholic beverage customarily taken before a meal to whet the appetite, while a digestif is an alcoholic beverage taken afterwards to aid digestion. Campari is a popular apertif in Italy. The classification can be confusing, because it’s basically arbitrary: Campari is traditionally served before eating, and therefore it is an apertif. If it were traditionally served after eating, it would be a digestif. I think it has more to do with cultural practices and association than with any actual effects on the digestive system.
That probably wasn’t very clear, but I hope it’s of some use.
Jeffero, TheBalch basically covered this, but in general an apertif will be softer and less of an alcohol bite, while a digestif will be heavier in flavor, and sometimes higher in alcohol content. Conceptually an apertif shouldn’t be so flavor-rich as to deaden the palate. So overly sweet, sour, or complex drinks should be avoided.
TheBalch, you face a somewhat common problem for the home-mixologist. The “best” way to do this is to unfortunately waste the fruit, since it is always best to use the freshest possible fruit. However, if you have a lemon you are using for twists, and only need one or two a night, then you can wrap the remaining fruit in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. After a couple of days, the twists won’t be as good as “fresh”, but at least you won’t feel you’re wasting anything.
Robert,
This reminds me a lot of the Tip Top cocktail. One of my favorite lighter style drinks.
Cheers!
Blair
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