This Sunday is 10/10/10, and over at The Royale, adventurous mixologist Robert Griffin is planning something special for the occasion. As part of the Cocktail Museum series – a Sunday night tradition at the Royale where patrons can sip pre-Prohibition ‘tails with a few mid-20th century drinks mixed in – Griffin is slowly making his way through a new installment: the 100 Fizz Countdown.
“Your basic gin fizz is composed of gin, lemon juice, sugar and club soda, and is served ‘up’ – it’s no travesty to ask for rocks, though,” Griffin explained. “Its defining quality is the fizzy soda water. From the 1860’s – and continuing for nearly a century – the fizz was among the most popular drinks, so there are an abundance of recipes in the genre. We’ll present 10 in honor of this special date, and they are numbers 20 through 29 in our 100 Fizz Countdown.”
These happy bubblies include:
1. The Albemarle Fizz, a gin fizz with a teaspoon of raspberry syrup;
2. The Hoffman Fizz, a gin fizz with grenadine;
3. The Alabama Fizz, a gin fizz with a mint garnish;
4. The Southside Fizz, a gin fizz mixed with mint, plus the garnish;
5. The Texas Fizz, a gin fizz with extra lemon juice, plus orange juice;
6. The Derby Fizz, made with Glenlivet scotch, Grand Marnier, a whole egg, lemon juice, sugar and club soda;
7. The Grand Royal Fizz, made with Beefeater gin, cream, lemon and orange juices, sugar, Maraschino liqueur and club soda;
8. The Imperial, a 2-to-1 mixture of Scotch and rum featuring Glenlivet and Appleton Extra 12-year Rum, plus the usual gin fizz extras;
9. The Merry Widow Fizz, made with authentic sloe gin, lemon and orange juices, sugar, egg white, and club soda; and
10. The Orgeat Fizz, a non-alcoholic option with orgeat syrup – a French almond cordial – plus lemon juice and club soda.
This extra-fizzy episode of Cocktail Museum Sundays starts at 9 p.m. and runs until the Royale closes that evening. Sounds like a de-lovely way to end the week.
This article appears in Oct 1-31, 2010.