For this discussion I choose to write on the article “The Golden Age of Cocktails: Mixed Drinks” by Nadia Whitehead.
Summary
Mixed drinks came into fashion between “1860s and Prohibition," says Derek Brown, an award-winning mixologist who has studied the history of alcohol in America. The time period has been dubbed the Golden Age of Cocktails.
Today there are literally thousands of cocktail recipes and the drinks are served around the world. Restaurants are even known for their signature drink such as Mastro’s martini’s served with dry ice which gives the drink a special appeal. In the beginning things were much simpler but the mixed cocktails allure was just the same. Clubs and bartenders where known for their signature drink such…show more content… Dry Gin – All gins include juniper as an ingredient: other botanicals used are coriander, angelica, orange peel, lemon peel, cardamom, cinnamon, grains of paradise, cubeb berries and nutmeg. The Dutch are credited with making the original gin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin
Plymouth Gin is said to be the original Gin and it is from England. Today some other commonly known brands would be Tanqueray Ten, Hendricks’s Bombay Sapphire. http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2012/05/04/the-original-martini-gin-and-worlds-best-distillery-tour
3. Dry Vermouth & Sweet Vermouth an aromatized wine, a type of fortified wine flavored with various botanicals (roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, spices). Notable brand Martini & Rossi from Italy 1863. Sweet Vermouth has more sugar than the Dry Vermouth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini_%26_Rossi
4. Whiskey Andrew Jackson, “I have never in my life seen a Kentuckian who didn’t have a gun, a pack of cards, and a jug of whiskey.” http://firstwefeast.com/drink/25-whiskey-quotes-from-famous-drinkers/
Made from grain and distilled the origins of whiskey can be traced back to Medieval Scottish and Irish…show more content… Ice
Commodity Chain Production of ice in 1800’s
While there are a great many different ingredients in cocktails one of the game changing ingredients was the invention of ice. Most of the ingredients have been around for hundreds of years if not longer. The new addition of ice changed the drinking world.
Ice harvesting in America took place on lakes, ponds and rivers in the Connecticut Valley and Massachusetts, this was a hard labor intensive job and very dangerous. The workers were comprised of Italian, Irish, Polish, and Swedish immigrants. http://home.comcast.net/~congamond/history1.htm
Steps:
1. Surface would be cleared of snow with scrapers and tested for depth and suitability
2. The ice would be marked with cutters to produce the lines for cutting
3. Then a specially designed, horse-drawn "ice marker," which cuts lines several inches deep into the ice.
4. The ice would then be cut by hand usually two men then use cross cut saw to cut into blocks.
5. The ice was then floated down to a transportation