and so it just seems to make good sense that this new little blog of mine should occasionally feature a cocktail or other libation that, from my totally subjective viewpoint, is worthy of special mention.
This past November, my husband and I decided to forego the traditional Thanksgiving family gathering for a mini-vacation in New Orleans. Not that we don't love family, home-cooked food and football, but since we had a couple of days off work and found ridiculously cheap airfare and accommodations, off we flew to the Big Easy.
We spent our three days in New Orleans soaking up the many delights that city has to offer...the Cajun and Creole cuisine, the live music, the historic architecture of the French Quarter and, especially, the joyful and resilient spirit of the people who live and work there. We walked in the wam sun along the Mississippi River bank, sipped drinks while people-watching in sidewalk cafes, shopped for everything from antiques to voodoo dolls, and lost money far too quickly in the slot machines at Harrah's.
Our entire stay was fantastic, but a definite highlight was the New Orleans Original Cocktail Tour that we took the night before Thanksgiving. While typically not a fan of organized tours, I had come across a mention of this tour online a few days before we left home. Billed as a walking excursion of the French Quarter, with a unique focus on the history of New Orleans combined with the city's history of fine dining and drinking, the cocktail tour caught my eye. More quick research online revealed dozens of traveler reviews absolutely raving about the tour on http://tripadvisor.com/, a website that has not let me down yet. Being that history and cocktails have both long been prime interests of mine (and, in fact, constituted my dual-major in college, albeit one official and one unofficial), I got quick approval from my husband and signed us up for the tour.
When we arrived to begin the cocktail jaunt, we happily discovered that Joe would lead the tour. Joe had featured prominently in the glowing reviews I had read on the Internet and he turned out to be a true gem....a dapper gent of a certain age whom we found to be very proper and cultured, but also totally hip in an engaging low-key way.
With this long-time New Orleans resident as our guide, a dozen or so of us spent the evening strolling the French Quarter. Along the way, Joe provided all sorts of details on various aspects of the city's history...political, religious, architectural, and cultural. Having lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath, Joe also gave us some remarkable insider-insight on that terrible natural disaster and its impact on his beloved city. During the tour, we stopped in at a half-dozen historic dining and drinking spots where, if desired, one could purchase at each a specific cocktail that Joe felt was unique, and about which he detailed for us the history of its development, its ingredients, along with the history of the establishment at which it was being served.
We visited the Napoleon House for a Pimm's Cup, toured the world-famous Antoine's Restaurant and had a Sazerac, stopped at the Court of Two Sisters for a Bayou Bash, popped into Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar, enjoyed Tujague's special "lemonade", and finished the evening at the Pirate's Alley Cafe known for its absinthe drinks.
Ridiculous as it may sound, the history we learned about absinthe was truly fascinating. We loved the antique bar at Tujague's, and the courtyards at Two Sisters and the Napoleon House were remarkable. The warm and cozy candle-lit ambience in the tiny bar at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop made me want to spend the winter there, and pretty much every detail at Antoine's blew us away (what's not to like about a place with a 30,000 bottle wine-cellar?).As to the cocktails themselves, while each one we tried was fantastic in its own way, our absolute favorite drink of the evening was the Pimm's Cup. Poured at the historic Napoleon House (located in a fabulous landmark building dating from 1797), a Pimm's Cup is a simple concoction featuring a gin-based liquor called Pimm's No. 1.
Pimm's No. 1 originated in England in 1823, when it was created by a Brit named James Pimm who ran an oyster bar in London. Pimm started offering his new tonic as a digestion aid, and the liquor (sold in the "house cup") soon became quite popular. By the 1850s, Pimm's was being sold commercially and, at some later point, the liquor was mixed with English-style lemonade to make the drink that became known as a "Pimm's Cup". While Pimm's No. 1 liquor is gin-based, it actually looks, smells and tastes nothing like gin. It is a dark caramel color, with a hint of citrus and spice to it.
Upon our return home from New Orleans, we immediately set about acquiring a bottle of Pimm's. While it turned out that no liquor store in town stocked it, the good people at our local Pony Keg carry-out were kind enough to special order a case of it, and didn't care if we only bought a bottle or two.
Once we had our Pimm's No. 1 in hand, we then went about trying to recreate the drink we had tried in New Orleans at the Napoleon House. Doing some reading, I discovered that a traditional Pimm's Cup is made with British-style lemonade, which is a sweetened carbonated drink that tastes of lemon, but is really nothing like the lemonade that we drink here in the United States. The recipe from the Napoleon House website calls for using (American) lemonade, but then topping the drink off with 7UP. However, more research online revealed that many people strongly advocate making a Pimm's Cup with ginger ale...some adding a splash of lemon-lime soda like 7UP to finish the drink, some not.
After a bit of experimentation, we found that we most enjoyed the combination of the Pimm's No. 1 with ginger ale, but without the splash of 7UP. We also played with the ratio of liquor to ginger ale, and determined that one part Pimm's to three parts ginger ale best suited our taste buds. (Pimm's No. 1 is just 50 proof, or 25% alcohol, so if one wished to include a bit more of the booze, it would result in a drink with no more alcohol than found in most average cocktails.)
Our version is not an identical drink to that we had in New Orleans, but is tastes mighty awesome. It's refreshing and light, but the ginger in the soda and the spicy flavor of the Pimm's give it just enought of a bite to make it drinkable all year round. (Having said that, we're praying that Pimm's can be found in Naples when we arrive there in Florida in late February, having decided that a thermos-full of the stuff will make the best take-to-the-beach drink ever!)
Finally, it should be noted that the standard garnish to include in a Pimm's Cup is slice of cucumber, which we always add because we enjoy both the tradition and the look of it (although I can't imagine it adds anything to the taste of the drink). Come summer, I'm thinking a nice addition might be to toss in an orange slice and a strawberry or two.
Cheers!!
Pimm's Cup
Over ice in a 12 oz. glass, mix one part of Pimm's No. 1 with three parts of chilled ginger ale. Add a cucumber slice, or additional garnish(es) of your choice.
As a postscript, I will note that the taste of ginger ale varies wildly from brand to brand. Our pick for this drink is Canada Dry, as it has a lovely ginger flavor but yet not one so strong that it overwhelms the flavor of the Pimm's. We personally could detect no discernible taste difference between the regular and diet versions of the Canada Dry, and so we mix our Pimm's Cups with the diet.
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