LUPEC toasts drinkin’ dames of cinema
LUPEC invaded my home last night — and it was good. The Boston chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails launched a few months ago and has already created cocktails for and otherwise helped promote several local benefits, like the Operation Frontline Dinner at Tremont 647 and the Taste of the South End. Every month, the Ladies get together for a cocktail party celebrating a theme of the hostess’ choosing. Last night’s theme was Drinkin’ Dames in Classic Cinema, and several attendees dressed for the occasion in polka-dot blouses, pillbox hats, fishnet stockings and Mary Jane pumps. I am proud to say that these discerning tipplers approved of the five dame-influenced cocktails I served.
Ginger Rogers
- 1 oz dry gin
- 1 oz dry vermouth
- 1 oz apricot brandy
- 4 dashes lemon juice
Shake well over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. The liquid equivalent of Ginger floating elegantly in a feathered gown.
Barbara West
- 2 oz dry gin
- 1 oz dry sherry (Amontillado works well)
- 1/2 oz lemon juice
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
Shake well over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Lemon twist. Thanks to Ted Haigh for resurrecting this excellent aperitif cocktail. (Who the hell was Barbara West? No one knows. When serving this drink, make up your own story about her.)
Roman Holiday
- 1 1/2 oz vodka
- 1/2 oz Punt e Mes
- 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
- splash of fresh orange juice
Shake well over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Thin orange slice. Refreshing!
Ann Sheridan
- 1 1/2 oz Myers dark rum (recipe called for Bacardi dark rum; other recipes call for Bacardi light rum)
- 1/2 oz orange curacao
- 1/2 oz lime juice
Shake well over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Marlene Dietrich
- 2 oz rye whiskey
- 1/2 oz orange curacao
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Shake well over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Lemon twist and flamed orange peel. (OK, I took liberties with the original recipe, which called for 3/4 wineglass (!) of rye and only two dashes of curacao. A lightly adulterated glass of rye was probably just right for Marlene, but I wanted a little more balance.)
April 25th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
What a fun idea LUPEC is!
As far as a wineglass, Robert “Drinkboy” Hess reports that most cocktail historians think it was about 2 ounces–or the size of a sherry glass. So 3/4 of that would only be 1 1/2 ounces, not the 4 - 6 ounces you’re probably envisioning.
If you assume a dash of curacao is about 1/8 - 1/6 of an ounce, two of them would be about, oh, 1/4 - 1/3 of an ounce.
So, if these assumptions are true, the original recipe called for 1 1/2 ounces rye, 1/3 ounce curacao, and 1/3 ounce bitters. So without doing all the math, I’d say you’ve scaled up the amount of curacao in about the right proportionality.
April 25th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Wow! Didn’t realize how close I was. Thanks for clearing that up.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
ann sheridan got the shaft…..but otherwise those are some very sex cocktails…. i want a tall drink of ginger rogers….
April 25th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Hey, don’t knock the Ann Sheridan, Stephen. It was actually pretty good!
April 26th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
There’s a Barbara West who was a ten-month-old baby on board the Titanic. She’s one of only two survivors still alive today (the other was a ten-week-old baby). Bottoms up!
April 26th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
The Titanic Barbara has my vote! Lj, I’m so glad you posted these. No matter how many times i jot recipes down at our gatherings, by late-night I’ve either spilled precious booze on them, or they’re completely illegible.
Also: watched the super “The Thin Man” last night. My god. Anyone into drinking games might have a ball with this one, i.e., everytime Powell or Loy take a drink, so do you, etc.. I challenge anyone to be sober by the end!
April 26th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
I know! Isn’t Titanic Barbara a great story? (Thanks, MC Slim JB.) The recipes are now spill-proof…unless you somehow manage to dump a drink on your computer monitor and black it out. Oh, the Thin Man — a sacred artwork among drinkers.
April 26th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Oooooo! Titanic Barbara gets my vote too! No wonder it’s such a dry cocktail! Poor girl had seen enough water and wetness by the time she was eleven months old!
I loved all the cocktails that night! The Ann Sheridan made me feel like I was on a tropical vacation! Maybe I’ll whip up some of those for Moscow M’s nuptials in St Lucia!