U.S. Patent No. 30,147 - Improvement in Factitious Beer

United States Patent No. 30,147
-Issued September 25, 1860

 Improvement in  Factitious Beer

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This is a fascinating one.  A powdered product which, when added to water, creates an "effervescent imitation beer."

The powder is made from a reduction of powdered sugar and red wine (claret in this case).  The reduction is thinned out with fresh wine and more sugar and mixed with gum arabic, sodium bicarbonate and tartaric acid.  The final mixture is dried, sieved and mixed with even more sugar.

Claret often shows up in old wine-based punch recipes and generally refers to a red wine - usually a young wine - from the Bordeaux region of France. 

According to Inventor Luedke, one teaspoon of powder in half a pint of water results in the imitation beer.   I'm not terribly sure how the combo of wine, sugar and water really gets you to beer but its an interesting idea.  In many ways, its a dried alcoholic punch (strong, weak, sour, sweet and bitter).   Sort of a Kool-Aid for adults....in the 19th century.

I'd be curious to see if this could be adapted with other base spirits or how the incorporation of citrus rind or spices to the original reduction might change the flavor. 


The entire patent after the jump.

The Jakewalk Cocktail

This month, Imbibe Magazine has an interesting article on the rapidly developing Brooklyn cocktail scene.  Not being one to leave Manhattan very often, I don't find myself at these establishments nearly often enoug.  So I was happy to try out a few of these recipes at home.

First up, the Jakewalk Cocktail from the eponymous Jakewalk.

The Jakewalk
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¾ oz white rum
¾ oz resposado tequila
¾ oz St. Germain (Elderflower liqueur)
¾ oz fresh lime juice
2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Shake and strain
Garnish with an orange twist and serve up 

Thoughts and a photo after the jump

U.S. Patent No. 4, 430 - Improvement in Making Vegetable Beer

United States Patent No. 4,430
-Issued March 21, 1986

 Improvement in Making Vegetable Beer

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This is the oldest patent I could find in the Alcoholic Beverage classification (426/592).   Its a recipe for "Cream Nectar" or "Vegetable Transparent Beer".

The concoction is made from ginger, dried pumpkin, toasted peanuts, walnuts, sweet corn and cream of tartar.

Its unclear what the final alcohol content is, but since there inst a distillation process mentioned its likely to be somewhere in the 10-30 proof range.

The entire patent and some cocktail thoughts after the jump

The Edgar Froese Cocktail - A Cocktail Lab creation

I recently spent the afternoon in The Cocktail Lab with Jonathan Pogash - The Cocktail Guru - at Astor center with a few friends of mine.

After a brief history of cocktails, we were given a secret ingredient and 30 minutes to come up with a cocktail "Iron Chef" Style.

Our secret ingredient was G'vine Nouaison Gin (though it hadn't been covered up so it wasn't much of a secret). G'vine Nouaison had a very floral nose but a huge amount of spice on tasting. We also got some subtle orange citrus notes as well.

So with that we had at it...and in the last few minutes we ended up with the recipe below. Hope you enjoy it!



The Edgar Froese
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1 1/2 oz. G’Vine Nouaison gin
3/4 oz. Tangerine Juice
3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup
1 dash each Fee Bros. aromatic and orange bitters

1 slice of peeled fresh ginger (approximately 1/4 inch thick and 3/4 across - cut as a disc)

1 1/2 inch slice of fresh lemongrass (cut into 1/2 inch chunks)

Directions: Muddle the ginger and lemongrass with the simple syrup in a mixing glass. Add remaining ingredients and shake well with ice. Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.
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Oh....and as for the name.... in honor of the tangerine juice and my musically minded friends....we named the drink after the founder of the German electronic group Tangerine Dream

No picture of the finished cocktail this time, but if I end up making it on my own I'll be sure to update this.

The Old #152 Cocktail - a Kentucky Derby Cocktail

Named for the Official Steam Engine of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Old #152 is my entry into the Eleven Madison Park/Maker's Mark Kentucky Derby Cocktail Challenge.

I wanted to create a light but complex drink to highlight the season. Sticking to the "Official State Things" concept I wanted to build the drink around blackberries (the official State fruit of both Kentucky and Alabama). The recipe is below.

 EMP "received many impressive recipes from some of the top mixologists in New York and the tremendous number of high caliber submissions did not make this an easy decision." So...As somewhat expected even beforehand....I didn't make it to the finals. Still, I had a lot of fun putting it together and I'm proud of my end product.


The Old #152 Cocktail
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2.0 oz. Maker's Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
1.0 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
0.5 oz. Herbes de Provence Syrup *
1 tsp Blackberry preserves **
2 barspoons Green Chartreuse
2 Dashes Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6

Combine all ingredients and shake with ice. Strain through a mesh sieve to remove blackberry seeds into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon (and a blackberry if available/seasonal).
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* For the syrup: Combine 1 cup of water and 1 cup of granulated white sugar in a pan. Bring just to a boil. Remove from heat and add hot syrup to 6 Tbsp. Herbes de Provence. Steep overnight. Strain. Store in refrigerator.

** A high quality/ primarily Blackberry preserve is best. I use Agrimontana More from Italy. If the preserves have a lot of seeds, like the Agrimontana, light muddling is recommended before shaking.