There are few cocktails as enduring as the Manhattan. If the original early 19th-century meaning of the word “cocktail” referred to a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters (what we now think of as an Old Fashioned), the current meaning includes all manner of ingredients from syrups to liqueurs to mixtures of many different …
Classic cocktails
Ahh, the Old Fashioned. It’s the original classic cocktail. There was a time—from the early 1800s to around the 1860s—when the word “cocktail” meant a simple mixture of spirits stirred with sugar, bitters, ice, and lemon peel. The spirit could have been whiskey or gin (Old Tom gin or genever rather than a dry style) …
If you are a cocktail fan, and especially if you are a whiskey fan, you have probably already had a Sazerac. You don’t need to be sold on its inherent deliciousness. You probably like rye and a good stiff drink. And I am so with you on that. It’s a hell of a cocktail. Somewhere …