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A Celebration of the New York Cocktail

New York, New York

Fundraiser,

Celebration,

Tasting Event,

Party,

Talks+

February 20th 2025 - February 21st 2025

10:00 pm - 2:00 am

Building Tour: 5:00-6:00 pm
Program: 6:00-9:00 pm

Tickets

Hosted by

cultureNOW

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WSA NYC

161 Water St, New York, NY 10038, USA

Bartender

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Natasha David

Author,Bartender

ABOUT

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A benefit for It Happened Here

Lower Manhattan has been America’s town square since its founding as Fort Amsterdam in 1624. Key global events— and nearly every aspect of national and local significance—can be traced to this New York “stage”. To kick off the United States’ upcoming 250th birthday and celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of New York, It Happened Here in July 2025 will compress 400 years into 5 days. Special events, tours, panels and other programming will re-activate the sites where America began, supplemented with cultureNOW’s digital museum without walls app.

Our host venue is the soon-to-be-completed workplace of the future, WSA (Water Street Associates) Our event will be held in the Water Street Projects exhibition space. Join us for an unforgettable evening dedicated to the historic cock-tails that define the Big Apple. Sip on familiar and unfamiliar classic drinks while mingling with fellow cocktail enthusi-asts. Our expert mixologists will be on hand to share the history behind each drink. Don't miss out on this unique oppor-tunity to indulge in the flavors of New York City!

Cocktails by:

Natasha David Bartender

David Moo Bartender + Voice Actor

THE EVENT

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A Celebration of the New York Cocktail

Prequel Events and A Historic Timeline

Recipe - Fancy Brandy Cocktail, 1840's

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About

The cocktail began in the late 1700s as a shot of gin, which was generally sold pre-sweetened, with a few dashes of bitters. It was a morning drink, a hangover cure. By the 1840s, New York City had adopted it, gussied it up and made it fit for polite company. And indeed the so-called “Fancy” version, with cognac instead of the gin, a lemon twist and a dash of imported liqueur, is as elegant a way of swallowing two ounces of straight booze as anyone has yet come up with.Ferrand 1840 cognac, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, Peychaud’s bitters, rich simple syrup, lemon peel garnish.

Ingredients

2 oz Courvoisier VSOP cognac.25 oz Luxardo maraschino liqueur.25 oz rich Demerara syrup*3 dashes Peychaud’s bittersStrip of thin-cut lemon peel

Procedure

Stir everything but the lemon peel with ice, strain into a chilled small cocktail glass and twist the lemon peel over the top.

Recipe - Gin Punch (bowl), 1750's

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About

In the eighteenth century New York was still a Dutch town, at least deep down. The Dutch language was still widely spoken, Dutch food widely eaten, Dutch drinks widely drunk. That meant that while the folks back in England were busy figuring out their own take on genever, the Dutch ancestor of gin, New Yorkers stuck with the original.Chief Gowanus, lemon peel, lemon juice, sugar, water, nutmeg.

Ingredients

2 750-ml bottles Bols Genever4 oz Ferrand Dry Orange CuraçaoPeel of 8 lemons, removed in long spirals12 oz (1.5 cups) fresh-squeezed lemon juice12 oz (1.5 cups) Florida Crystals evaporated cane juice1.5 liters chilled bottled waterA 2-quart block of ice1 whole nutmeg

Equipment

1 1-quart Mason jar1 2-gallon punch bowl1 punch ladle1 nutmeg grater

Procedure:

The day before the punch is needed, peel the lemons and seal the peels and the sugar in the Mason jar, shaking it several times to get the peels well covered.The next day, add the lemon juice to the jar, reseal and shake repeatedly until all sugar has dissolved. Refrigerate this “shrub,” as it is known, until 30 minutes before the punch is needed.30 minutes before the punch is needed, put the ice block in the punch bowl and pour the entire contents of the Mason jar over it, peels and all. Add the genever and the bottled water and let chill. Just before service, grate half a nutmeg over the top. Ladle out in 3-ounce portions. Makes around 50 glasses.

Recipe - New York Sour, 1900's

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About

The New York Sour is simply a Whiskey Sour with a red-wine float. But saying that doesn’t convey how beautiful the drink looks, with its glowing read top, or how delicious it tastes, with the bright bite of the wine spicing up the smooth richness of the cocktail beneath. If it’s New-York fancy, it’s also New-York excellent.Bonded rye, lemon juice, orange juice, sugar, cabernet sauvignon float.

Ingredients

2 oz Old Overholt Bonded straight rye whiskey.5 oz lemon juice.25 oz orange juice.25 oz rich Demerara syrup*.5 oz cabernet sauvignon or other dry red wine

Procedure

Shake whiskey, syrup and juices with ice. Strain into chilled cocktail coupe. Carefully float wine over the top by pouring it slowly out of a small container over the back of a barspoon. Twirl the glass on the bar to solidify the layers and serve.

Recipe - Turf Club Cocktail, 1880's

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About

Back when the Martini was new it came under various names; this was one of them. The Turf Club, on Madison Square, was an exclusive, if short-lived, institution ostensibly dedicated to horses and the speculative science that is concerned with their locomotion. In reality, the aim of the club was to have a place where the older, more unscrupulous members could reliably separate the young social climbers who wanted to join them from their money. The Turf Club Cocktail would have both facilitated that process and consoled its victims for their losses.Hayman’s Old Tom gin, sweet vermouth, The Bitter Truth orange bitters, maraschino cherry.

Ingredients

1.5 oz Hayman’s Old Tom gin1.5 oz Martini & Rossi red vermouth2 dashes The Bitter Truth orange bitters1 imported maraschino cherry (e.g., the Luxardo ones)

Procedure

Stir everything but the cherry with cracked ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass and add cherry.

Recipe - Mr. Chings Zombie, 1930s

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About

Honolulu-born, Hong Kong-educated Robert “Bob” Ching (1911-1968) was one of the opening bartenders at Don the Beachcomber, the little Hollywood bar that invented Tiki. That was in 1934. In 1936, Ching had a falling out with Donn Beach (over money, as is so often the case) and went his own way. That way led him to New York, where he introduced a bunch of the tropical-drink recipes he had helped develop at Monte Proser’s Beachcomber, a completely unrelated institution founded by a New York press agent that took the name and most of its staff from Beach. There were lawsuits, but in the meanwhile Ching made the Zombie, a Donn Beach specialty, a household name—something Beach himself had never been able to do. According to Ching, it was his right, as he had helped to invent it. We can’t prove that, but his version is certainly a fine—and strong—drink, as long as you don’t have more than two of them (the two-Zombie limit was the house rule at both Beachcombers).Owney’s white rum, Ron del Barrilito, Smith & Cross Jamaican rum, lime juice, Demerara syrup, passionfruit puree, Angostura bitters and Pernod, with a float of Planteray OFTD overproof rum.

Ingredients

.75 oz Owney’s white rum**.75 oz Ron del Barrilito 3-star**.75 oz Smith & Cross rum**.75 oz Plantation OFTD rum1 oz lime juice.5 oz rich Demerara syrup*.25 oz passion fruit puree4 dashes Angostura bitters2 dashes PernodMint sprigLime wheel

Procedure

Shake everything but the OFTD with ice and strain into tall, ice-filled glass. Float the OFTD on top, garnish with a mint sprig and a lime wheel, and lance with a straw.

NOTES

*Rich Demerara Syrup: Dissolve 2 pounds Demerara sugar in 1 pint water by stirring over a low heat. Let cool, bottle and refrigerate. Makes approx. 24 oz syrup.**The Owney’s, Ron del Barrilito and Smith & Cross can all be combined in a bottle, in which case 2 ounces of the mix per drink is a sufficient amount (much easier to measure).

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