Delmonico’s No. 1

Well, this is just quick one. First the recipe from David Wondrich’s Esquire Drinks:

• 3/4 oz. gin
• 1/2 oz. brandy
• 1/2 oz. Sweet Vermouth
• 1/2 oz. Dry Vermouth
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Part of what makes this post short is the cocktail.  It’s good.  Just not great.  It’s very drinkable and has something of an edge, but it just doesn’t have that magical harmony that makes a cocktail great.

David Wondrich claims the Delmonico’s No. 1 is a pre-prohibition cocktail from the Delmonico restaurant in New York.  He also has a pretty hilarious rant about most house modern house cocktails.  He describes this one as “…, a mellow, wood-paneled little number without anything in particular to distinguish it beyond good taste and tasting good.”  Way better said than my version, but I guess that’s why he gets paid to drink and write for Esquire and I’m writing a free blog.  Oh well, at least I don’t have to deal with hoards of trendy celebrities and  worry about what I’m wearing.