Captain recognized The Rob Roy. Guess he is a big whiskey fan, too.
“EVERYBODY COMES TO RICK’S”
7/24/2016
The “Cock-tale” is one of America’s great cultural contributions to the world’s cuisine. As any film buff knows, “Everybody comes to Rick’s Café Americain” because whether it be in Casablanca, or Paris, or London the world has had a fascination with that strangely American creation, the Cocktail. Although the world has been mixing alcoholic drinks since the dawn of man, that peppy and soothing concoction of liquors, ice or water, sugar, and often bitters was a refreshing and relaxing drink that was strangely and uniquely American. To duplicate the experience we have seen “American Bars” pop up from London (The American Bar at the Savoy”) or Harry’s New York Bar in Paris to Rick’s iconic café in Casablanca.
What made these “American Bars” the World’s Watering Holes? It was the cocktail that was at the heart of the “saloon culture”. As pervasive as the cocktail has become, it is interesting that the origin of the word “cocktail” is in dispute. There is the apocryphal tale of Betsy Flanagan who owned a tavern during the Revolutionary War and was frequented by Colonial soldiers and French mercenaries. One day, as legend has it, she was serving a mixed rum drink to the French and as a lark stole some tail feathers from the chickens of a neighbor who was a British loyalist and stuck them into the drinks as a “garnish of defiance”. The French demonstrating their usual “savoir faire” raised a toast “Viva Le Coque’s Tail” and thus the “cocktail” may have been christened. More likely is the story of a French pharmacist in New Orleans, Antoine Amedee Peychaud who mixed bitters and cognac and served them in little egg cups which in French are called “coquetiers”. In translation and mispronunciation became “cocktails”.
Whatever the etiology, the cocktail or “cock-tale” became the heart of the “Saloon Experience”. Going into any American bar, one can imagine that greatest of all nightclub entertainers, Francis Albert Sinatra tell Joe, his favorite bartender, to “Give me one more for my baby, and one more for the road”. On that long and winding road, (you weren’t expecting a short and straight road, were you?) maybe the Highlander was whispering that now famous toast into Sinatra’s ear, “May you live for a hundred years (salute per cent’anni) and may the last voice you hear be mine”.
The Rob Roy
You may be wondering what a blog called “The Rob Roy” (the World’s Greatest ‘Cock-tale’) is doing on a website dedicated to all things Whiskey but not Scotch. The Rob Roy with its invigorating complexity generated by the harmonious marriage of Scotch and Vermouth and ever changing, never boring, character due the the nature of Scotch and Vermouth is the starting point for me to look back over the decades and forward to the years ahead to discuss all that makes life richer and more rewarding. This blog derives much of its inspiration from the Immortal Highlander because as Freddie Mercury penned and sang, “We are the Princes of the Universe…Born to be Kings” and should therefore live life to its fullest. As Francis Albert Sinatra has been quoted as saying, “I think my greatest ambition in life is to pass on to others what I know.” In the future we certainly will discuss the nature of the Rob Roy but also Great Drinks, Great Food, Coffee, Cheese, Music, Theater and Movies, Television, Travel and whatever else is inspired by the dark amber liquid that is the Rob Roy.
What are my credentials to discuss fine drinking. As a boy in South Philadelphia, I sat at my grandfather’s knee as he told stories about how he and his brothers, John and Louis, ran a speakeasy during Prohibition and which after its repeal became the “Molinari Brothers’ Saloon. Yes a true saloon, like a dive bar but where a nickel beer got you access to the food table ( they would never use the term “buffet”). This was a predecessor of the sports bar as my grandfather said that members of the Philadelphia Athletics ( the original baseball A’s) would come in…Connie Mack and Double X, Jimmy Foxx. Once on a 50cent bar bet, Grandpop bit a cockroach in half. For me, ever since, a mixed drink is a “cock-tale”.
And so in future blogs, we will talk about the greatness of all that is the Rob Roy with all its variations: what makes a Great “cock-tale”; why it is superior to that wannabe, the Martini; the wonderful complexity of vermouth; the history and future of the “cock-tale” as well as whatever else has aroused my interest. And as my father would toast at the start of every meal “Salute per cent’anni”- Health for a hundred years.
The Perfect Rob Roy.......and other ramblings!!!!!!
from our guest reviewer
The Highlander
(of course there can be only one)
ROB ROY: THE IDYLS OF A “COCK-TALE”
June 11, 2016
Like the Highlander, the home of whiskey is in the hills of Scotland and Ireland. It was the drink that perhaps stimulated the “Quickening” and was actually called “uiske beathea”, the water of life. This became shortened to whiskey. A cocktail is a very different drink than a straight whiskey. Whiskey was drunk straight more for medicinal properties than for pleasure. It was not a drink to be savored and sipped like wine or ale but to be swallowed quickly and chased with beer or wine. It was an Immortal’s drink or a “Man’s” drink and it would burn going down but would lead to a kick and even might warm a Scotsmen on a Highland night or a cowboy around a campfire.
In contrast, a “cock-tale” is a drink that provides a more prolonged experience. It can be sipped and help enhance the appetite without dulling the palate; it is not meant to be a solitary experience but rather promotes sociability (as embodied in a “cock-tale” party). With the advent of the single malt scotch and the single barrel rye and bourbon, whiskey is often drunk neat, or with a splash of branch water, to savor its complexity; but still it is often drunk at the end of a meal, perhaps with a piece of dark chocolate or a Monte Cristo, or as a nightcap.
The “cock-tale” is a way of ameliorating the harshness of the alcohol and making it a more palatable and prolonged experience – which brings us to what exactly is a “cock-tale”? We see that as Duncan McCleod, the Highlander, lived through the centuries his tastes and sensibilities matured and he went from gulping down a whiskey to savoring the “cock-tale”. What then is this concoction that so enhances the experience of life. It is far more than just a mixed drink and is indeed greater than each of its components alone. Like, a house it starts with a strong foundation: a high quality liquor, be it whiskey, scotch, gin, tequila, or rum. To this defining liquor is added a second, minor ingredient that not only alters its underlying. character but augments and ameliorates it. This second ingredient could be another liquor, a liquer, a fortified wine or even just a juice. To me, more than 2 ingredients create a mess not sophisticate experience. Finally, I like there to be a 3rd ingredient that should not only add some pizzazz but also highlight further the marriage of the basic ingredients. Bitters or a garnish often provide this exclamation mark. Finally, I believe the basic ingredients should exist in a harmonious balance but still provide a counter punch. To me a good “cock-tale” should be chilled or cold and offer a “wake-up” call. In my drink I like a few “rocks” (never more than 3) made from branch water. The great “cock-tale” will stimulate the appetite, relieve the stress of life, and stimulate sociability. Well, to answer Brian May’s question “Who wants to live forever?”. With a great Rob Roy in my hand, I could live forever.