The blog page for Smart Guy In A Tie. We explore topics from cocktail trends to creativity to branding, and everything in between.
The toddy has been around forever. It is simple to add bourbon or rum to hot water with a bit of lemon at the end of the night. In Apothecary Cocktails, Warren Bobrow changes the liquor to the richer, herbal Jägermeister but keeps the overall formula in tact. #100DaysOfCocktails found it to be a great way to end a long day.
Sometimes it is a simple shift that creates a new cocktail. The Gold Rush, which seems like something that should have been around forever, was a recent creation at Milk & Honey in the early 2000's. Substituting simple syrup for honey syrup fully shifts the flavor and mouthfeel of this whiskey sour variant.
On a fateful night in the late 1990's, Audrey Saunders met Dale DeGroff. That did not just change the trajectory of Saunders' career, but the path of the New York City cocktail scene. She updated many restaurants bar programs, creating a path of inspiration to her opening the Pegu Club in 2005. The Gin-gin Mule, something she created at the Beacon Restaurant, adds a little extra flavor to the traditional mule recipe, as #100DaysOfCocktails discovered.
The 21c Museum and Hotel in Louisville, KY, is not just known for warm hospitality and innovative art. They are known for Proof on Main, their cocktail bar and restaurant attached to the venue. They graciously shared Above the Board in the book The American Cocktail, and #100DaysOfCocktails could not have been more excited.
The speak easy has been a mainstay of the American cocktail scene since Prohibition. When cocktails became fashionable again, the speak easy returned with the culture. Bourbon and Branch in San Francisco is housed in an old speak easy, and maintains its 1920's ambiance. The Agave Cocktail falls at the intersection of modern and classic.
Sex and The City made the Cosmopolitan a staple of the late 1990's and early 2000's bar scene. It was polished up by Dale DeGroff in the Rainbow Room and served to stars like Madonna, but it has its roots far before those luminaries put there hands on it. #100DaysOfCocktails ends the classic period with a very modern classic.
October is a month for scary things; what is scarier than an animated corpse? There are two versions of the Corpse Reviver. One is gin based, and very common on cocktail menus. The other is cognac based, and you are lucky to find it in the wild. Corpse Reviver #1 is the focus of today's #100DaysOfCocktails.
