History of the Gin Fizz

The Gin Fizz is one of the oldest cocktails in history. The founder of Fizz drinks (citrus-flavored fizzy cocktails) and his recipe can be found in Jerry Thomas’s great book, The Cocktail Bible, published in 1862: How to Mix Drinks or The Bon-Vivant’s Companion.

How to prepare the Gin Fizz Soul 84

Put some ice cubes in a rocks glass; add the dose of gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup, and finally, the tonic. Mix gently for a few seconds with a spiral spoon to avoid losing the tonic effervescence. Add lemon peel or a slice of dehydrated lemon as a garnish. An excellent cocktail as an aperitif and as a digestive.

How to prepare the Grapefruit Gin Fizz

Put some ice cubes in a rocks glass, add the dose of gin, pink grapefruit juice, sugar syrup and the tonic. Mix gently for a few seconds with a spiral spoon to avoid losing the tonic effervescence. Add a slice of fresh or caramelized grapefruit as a garnish if you have a smoker/caramelizer. An excellent cocktail to quench thirst as an aperitif and after dinner.

How to prepare the Soul84&Archivio42 cocktail

Place the ice in the shaker and add the remaining ingredients. Shake the concoction vigorously before adding it to a cocktail glass. Put some white or brown sugar on the glass rim after wetting it to decorate. A very delicate cocktail.

History of the Americano

Although its creation is a mystery, like with many other cocktails, there are several tales that speculate on it. One of the oldest stories claims the Milan-Turin cocktail, a favorite of American tourists who used to request the addition of soda, was the inspiration for the Americano, which was created in 1860 in the Gaspare Campari tavern in Milan.

Another story from the 1930s claims the drink was given its nickname, “the Americano,” in honor of the Italian boxer Primo Carnera, who competed in the US. 

The association between boxing and the ingredients of the cocktail was due to the fact that the latter were all quintessentially Italian: bitters from Milan and vermouth from Turin.

How to prepare the Americano Soul 84

Fill a rocks glass with ice and pour, in order, the Mérida bitter, the red vermouth, and a splash of soda. Decorate with half a slice of orange. Squeeze the lemon peel on the rim of the glass to release the essential oils, then add it to the glass as a garnish.

Variants

For a different or friendlier Americano, you can use white vermouth. You can substitute soda with fizzy water.

History of the Gin Tonic

The origin of this famous cocktail is most closely associated with the Thirty Years’ War in the early 1600s, when the English encountered gin for the first time, quickly gaining enormous popularity.

When England seized control of India in the second part of the 19th century, English soldiers fell ill with malaria. Quinine was the most effective treatment for this illness.

As treatment, soldiers started ingesting quinine, an extremely bitter substance, mixed with tonic water to combat malaria. This did not make it particularly tasty, so naturally, they added their preferred distillate, gin. So, to treat this terrible disease, the famous gin and tonic was born.

How to prepare a Gin Tonic

Pour the dose of gin into a tall glass with ice, then add the tonic, pouring it into the glass with a spiral-shaped spoon to avoid losing its effervescence.

Decorate the cocktail with a slice of dehydrated orange and cover the glass rim with the lemon peel oil. We recommend using a very cold tonic water to maintain a greater effervescence.

Varianti

You can add a mint leaf and a slice of cucumber to give the gin and tonic an even more aromatic and fragrant touch. Also excellent served with two drops of Angostura.

History of the Boulevardier

This drink weaves together the story of two characters, both Americans living abroad in Europe during the American Prohibition era. Harry Mac Elhone, a well-known bartender and the proprietor of Harry’s New York Bar, the first cocktail establishment in Paris and Europe, and Erskine Gwynne, a writer, and the journalist who founded the fashion publication Boulevardier.

Gwynne, a frequent customer of the Parisian bar along with writers like Hemingway, Sartre, and many more, was the one who initially suggested a Negroni variation using bourbon whiskey, red vermouth, and Campari bitters. So Harry Mac Elhone mixed for the first time what he later baptized in the book “Barflies and Cocktail” as Boulevardier.

How to prepare the Boulevardier

Fill a mixing glass with ice and pour in all the ingredients. Mix well and pour into a cocktail glass or a rocks glass. Add a cherry or lemon peel.