BRONX (COCKTAIL)

The 'Bronx Cocktail' is essentially a perfect martini with orange juice added. It was ranked number three in "The World's 10 Most Famous Cocktails in 1934",^[1] making it a very popular rival to the Martini (#1) and the Manhattan (#2). Today, it remains a popular choice in some markets, and is designated as an Official Cocktail by the International Bartender Association.

Contents

History

Joseph S. Sormani

Johnnie Solon

Other early citations

Flavors

Popular Culture

References

See also

External References

History

As with several mixed drinks invented prior to prohibition in the United States, more than one story is attributed to the creation of this cocktail.

Joseph S. Sormani

Two sources credit Joseph S. Sormani as the person responsible for the drink.
Sormani was credited with creating the drink in his ''New York Times'' obituary:

Johnnie Solon

According to Albert Stevens Crockett, historian of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, the inventor of the Bronx cocktail was Johnnie Solon (or Solan).^[2][3] Solon, a pre-Prohibition bartender at the Manhattan hotel, was "popular as one of the best mixers behind its bar counter for most of the latter's history."^[4] This is Crockett's account of Solon's own story of the Creation of the Bronx:⁴
Solon would have created the cocktail sometime between 1899 (when he joined the establishment) and 1906 (when the word first appeared in print.)^[5] However, a prior reference to a "Bronx Cocktail" on a New York hotel menu^[6] indicates that either the name was already in use or Solon was not the original inventor.

Other early citations

It appears in William "Cocktail" Boothby's 1908 book The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them ^[7]as
"Bronx Cocktail, a la Billy Malloy, Pittsburg, PA.
One-third Plymouth gin, one-third French vermouth and one-third Italian vermouth, flavored with two dashes of Orange bitters, about a barspoonful of orange juice and a squeeze of orange peel. Serve very cold."

Flavors

The Bronx is flavorful and mildly sweet "fruity" drink, without being uninteresting or sticky.^[8] Though possibly inspired by the Duplex, the two drinks are not really similar at all.^[2] Cocktail columnists Gary Regan and Mardee Haidin Regan describe it as a drink where "[g]in is the base ingredient, orange juice is the mixer, and sweet and dry vermouths are added almost as an afterthought."²
According to "The Professor", a bartender in San Francisco, "You don't want one of the more traditional in-your-face gins for this drink, so that rules out Beefeater, Junipero, Plymouth, Tanqueray and Van Gogh. Save these for Dry Gin Martinis, Gin and Tonics and drinks where you really want the perfumed aromas of juniper to shine through. In the midpungency range we have a new gin that's pretty good, Magellan." He goes on to also recommend, "a yellow gin, too, called Old Raj, and it's fairly pungent, but leans a little toward the softer side. It's also the most expensive gin we have. Your other choices in medium- perfumed gins are Boodles, Citadelle or Tanqueray No. 10. If you want a really soft gin, try Bombay or Leyden."^[10]

Popular Culture

In ''Very Vicky And The Secret Of The Bronx Cocktail''[2], a comic book serial, Vicky and her friend investigate the origins of the Bronx cocktail.

References

1. Burke, Harman Burney. ''Burke's complete Cocktail & Drinking Recipes'', 1934. Retrieved from cocktailtimes.com on January 18, 2007.
2. Regan, Gary and Regan, Mardee Haidin. '' So you'd like to... 'Enjoy a Bronx Cocktail''', February 4, 2002. Retrieved January 18, 2007.
3. Regan, Gary. ''San Francisco Chronicle''. A Bronx cheer from the Big Apple, June 12, 2003. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.
4. Crockett, Albert Stevens, (1873-). ''The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book; with amendments due to repeal of the XVIIIth; giving the correct recipes for five hundred cocktails and mixed drinks''. p 41. New York, Dodd, Mead and company, 1934. LCCN 34015101. Retrieved from The Big Apple on January 17, 2007.
5. Crockett. p 57. Retrieved from Listserv on January 17, 2007.
6. New York Historical Society 1895-14D, ''Grand Union Hotel New York Wine List''. Retrieved from Listserv on January 17, 2007.
7. Boothby, William "Cocktail". ''The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them'', 1908. Photographed at San Francisco Public Library Historical Materials Collection [1] on December 28, 2006.
8. The Home Bartender. Bronx Cocktail, March 27, 2006. Boston Cocktails blog. Retrieved January 18, 2007.
9. Regan, Gary and Regan, Mardee Haidin. '' So you'd like to... 'Enjoy a Bronx Cocktail''', February 4, 2002. Retrieved January 18, 2007.
10. Regan, Gary. ''San Francisco Chronicle''. A Bronx cheer from the Big Apple, June 12, 2003. pg. D-3. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.

See also

★ List of cocktails

★ Bronx Zoo

External References

★ Bronx on CocktailDB