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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Tom Collins, Rob Roy, Singapore Sling, Manhattan, Grasshopper hi Faldage!, Brandy Alexander, etc., etc., etc....a comedy sketch just got me to thinkin' about whether there's any rhyme or reason for these dubbings...are there stories or circumstances which gave rise to any or all of these monickers, or are they simply arbitrary whims of fancy? Bein' in a lazy mood tonight I think I'll see if anyone checks in with some tales about this seemingly endless list (here's a good weekend assignment foy you, Dr. Bill!  ), before I go a-Googlin'. and somehow I feel an of troy "Manhattan" story coming on  Mebbe we should start off with cocktail and highball...? and boilermaker? (which I know is yarticle)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Onliest one I know - and it is possibly apocryphal.
There once was an American Ambassador who often had host cocktail parties where the preferred drink was a Maritini. Since the Ambassador did not want to get drunk he instructed the bartender to fill his Martini glass with water, and to distinguish his water from the gin-vermouth variety, he further instructed the bartender to put two pickled onions in the drink instead of the usual olive so he would always know which drink was his when presented with a tray of Martinis.
The Ambassador was eventually foiled when people started asking for their martini with onion instead of olive. The drink soon became known by the Ambassador's name : Gibson.
So - there you go - a real Gibson is water and two pickled onions in a cocktail glass, not a Martini with onion instead of olive!
As an aside : a sign hangs above the door of a rustic cabin on a New Hampshire lake which is owned by friends and which was built by the men of that family.
The sign reads : "Without the help of Tom Collins this cabin never would have been built."
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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So far as I know, Juan, Boilermakers was so named because it was a favourite drink in the ship-building towns of North-East England where those engaged on the hot and heavy work of making boilers managed to work up a pretty impressive thirst, which they quenched with stout-and-mild. It is an extremely heavy beer - at least, not one to be taken lightly
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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We might be talking different boilermakers here. The standard USn boilermaker is a shot of whiskey in a beer.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I can't contribute anything regarding names of mixed drinks, but I can shed light on "bourbon," which takes its name from Bourbon County, Kentucky, where Elijah Craig supposedly first aged corn whiskey in a charred white oak barrel, which distinguishes bourbon from other corn whiskey. There is a brand of bourbon called Elijah Craig but it isn't really one of the better ones, unfortunately. And there are no distilleries in Scott County or Bourbon County, at least not any legal ones. See also http://www.visitlex.com/quick/bourbon.html
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Neat link, Alex, thanks! I found this at another site: Paris, seat of Bourbon County, was first settled in 1776. Both the town and the county were named in appreciation for French aid during the Revolution, one for the capital of France and the other for the French ruling house. One of Kentucky's earliest distilleries named the liquor it produced for the county. http://www.bgadd.org/tourism/paris.html
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Carpal Tunnel
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from Alex's (thanks!) bourbon link, some hints to the history of the fabled "Mint Julep": > The dream of drinks? You could have guessed that Kentuckians would find a way to combine their two greatest great passions— horse racing and bourbon. The Mint Julep, a concoction of bourbon, sugar and mint on crushed ice, is traditionally drunk at Kentucky Derbytime. Although the julep didn't originate in Kentucky— several Southern states lay claim to its invention— its connection to the Bluegrass and the Derby secured the drink's place in posterity. "The zenith of man's pleasure... who has not tasted one has lived in vain," Lexington journalist and attorney J. Soule Smith waxed poetic in a sentimental 19th-century recipe. Not all Kentuckians are in agreement on the merits of the julep, however; famous Louisville newspaper publisher Henry Marse Watterson's classic recipe concludes an elaborate description of preparation with instructions to "toss all the other ingredients out the window and drink the bourbon straight." You can try a mint julep, especially at Derbytime, in many Lexington bars. Area liquor stores carry a variety of pre-mixed versions. The julep even has its own special cup. You'll find silver antique julep cups in Bluegrass antique shops (and less expensive new pewter ones in jewelry and other shops).< Well, I reckon there oughtta be a few good Southern yarns out there about this one? Jackie?...Dub-Dub?...AnnaS?... Alex?...Chemeng?...milum? (dare I ask! ) And I drank Bourbon on Bourbon Street!  At Mardi Gras!...back in '80.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I am not actually a fan of the mint julep as I find it too sweet. I like Bass Ale myself.
Elijah Craig was the founder of Georgetown, KY, my hometown, which was then within Bourbon County. Later Scott County was formed out of a part of Bourbon County, with Georgetown as the county seat of the new county.
Some really great bourbons include Knob Creek, named after the creek that was associated with the property of Mary Todd Lincoln's home (or something like that), and Maker's Mark, which is the brand with the red wax on the top of the bottle. Woodford Reserve is supposed to be good too but I've never had it. But if you're going to mix bourbon with Coke then something less fancy like Jim Beam or Wild Turkey is just fine. Save the expensive stuff for drinking straight.
The best story I have regarding bourbon is this...
I visited Japan in 1992. On my way to my destination of Kochi, on the island of Shikoku, I got as far as Osaka by plane and from there had to take a train and finally, a bus. I had a three or four hour stopover in Osaka before my train left, so I found a little bar/restaurant. Once inside, I was immediately noticed by the locals, who asked me where I was from. When I replied that I was from Kentucky, three men exclaimed in near-perfect unison, "Ahh! Bourbon!"
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Is there a name for hot chocolate with Bailey's Irish Cream liqueur? I have my own name for this but I wonder if there is an "official" name.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Speaking of Mint Juleps - does anyone know why it's called that? Mint, to be sure, but what is a "julep"? Is there any other kind of julep?
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