almond — The Cocktails — Beyond Reproach

1 oz White Crème de Cacao
1 oz Crème de Noyaux
2 oz Heavy cream
Freshly grated nutmeg for garnish

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Shake until frosty and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

In the 1970s, cream-based cocktails were taking the country by storm. There was the white Russian, the Brandy Alexander, the Grasshopper, the Golden Cadillac, and of course, the Pink Squirrel.

This sweet and creamy cocktail is made with heavy cream, white crème de cacao, and a deep red French almond flavored liqueur called Crème de Noyaux which gives the cocktail a delicate pale pink color when combined with the heavy cream. Invented in the 1940s by Bryant Sharp at Bryant's Cocktail Lounge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, it may have originally called for ice cream rather than heavy cream. In the 50’s it was often served at Wisconsin supper clubs, old-school restaurants best known for their meat-and-potato prix fixe menus. These supper clubs were also known for serving boozy milkshake cocktails, so the Pink Squirrel fit right in.

In the 60s though, heavy cream was swapped for the ice cream, and that’s when the Pink Squirrel made it out of Wisconsin and into bars across the country. By the 70s, it was everywhere, and it stayed popular through the 90s. The cocktail was mentioned by name in the 1988 Tom Cruise movie Cocktail, and in several 1990s sitcoms, like Roseanne, Ellen, & The Nanny.

Eventually, the Pink Squirrel faded into obscurity but today it’s actually having a bit of a resurgence in young hip bars across the country. When asked about the Pink Squirrel, the bar manager at Xanadu, the rooftop bar at the McCarren Hotel in Williamsburg Brooklyn, said, "Being in New York at the time of this Prohibition revival was great, and it was great to enjoy these beautiful classic cocktails of that era, but now it's fun to enjoy these cool drinks that were popular in the 70s and 80s. The Pink Squirrel is sort of one of those cocktails that our mothers drank when they were in college. It's one of those late-70s, trendy cocktails that people were drinking in New York especially."

Juice of half a lemon (1/2 oz)
2 oz Brandy (preferably VSOP)
1 oz Jamaican Rum
3/4 oz orgeat syrup (use one made with real almonds and cane syrup)
Garnish: Fresh grated nutmeg, and lemon slice if desired

Rinse out a glass mug or punch cup with boiling water to warm it up. Pour the water out and add lemon juice, brandy, rum, and orgeat. Top the mug off with more hot water. The larger the mug you use, the more watered down the drink will be, but this is a strong drink so that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Grate some fresh nutmeg over the top, and serve with a lemon slice if desired.

During the civil war, soldiers were drinking so much whiskey that over the years the supply ran out and couldn’t be replenished fast enough. Fortunately for the wealthy officers and generals, they could get their hands on fancy imported brandy and rum when the whiskey supply ran low.

One such general was General Ambrose Burnside from Indiana. He was a terrible general famous for 3 things, an army career that included some devastating and embarrassing defeats, facial hair so wild and distinctive that sideburns are literally named after him, and a fancy pants punch recipe he liked sharing so much that in 1863 Jerry Thomas published it with the tagline, “This superb drink was forwarded to me by special messenger from the General.”

This punch recipe is served hot, which may seem odd to us today, but was fairly common at a time before refrigeration and cheap, plentiful ice. In fact, instead of hot water, a lot of punches would have been cut with black or green tea to add flavor.

The recipe includes lemon juice, French brandy, Jamaican rum, orgeat syrup, hot water, & nutmeg, and the flavor is reminiscent of a hot toddy. This was some fancy shit back then. French brandy and Jamaican rum were expensive and hard to get during the war. Quite a flex. Instead of everyday sugar, he used fancy ass French almond flavored orgeat syrup instead. Nutmeg was also very fancy and showed that you could afford fancy ingredients.