Raise your glass: Not only is it Repeal Day, it’s the 80th anniversary of the date that the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition. Dec. 5, 1933 officially brought an end to the 13-year period prohibiting alcohol in America.
Prohibition caused considerable damage to the U.S. cocktail industry, since most of the distilleries had been destroyed and the American bartending talent fled to overseas markets to find work. It would take decades to build back, and many believe we’ve never regained the pre-Prohibition stature the drinks industry enjoyed.
But with the interest and explosion of new wines, the craft beer craze and the popularity of vintage and modern spirits and cocktails, we’ve certainly made great strides in the past decade. Here are a few cocktail recipes for toasting this momentous—cheers!
Blood & Sand
1 oz. Blended Scotch whisky
1 oz. Freshly squeezed orange juice
¾ oz. Cherry Heering
¾ oz. Sweet vermouth
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass. Shake well with ice and strain into chilled cocktail coupe. Garnish with a twist of orange.
Recipe from the Modern Mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim.
Don’t Mind If I Do
1 oz. Dickel Rye
1 oz. Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao
2 Dashes Angostura bitters
Sparkling wine
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe. Top with sparkling wine and garnish with a flamed lemon peel.
Falling Up
1 oz. Dickel Rye
½ oz. Laird’s Applejack
½ oz. Ginger syrup
¼ oz. Lemon juice
Amber ale (such as Palm)
Shaken with ice and strained over new ice in a Collin glass. Top with ale and garnish with orange peel and freshly grated cinnamon.
The mixologists at Easy Bistro in Chattanooga, TN, created these two recipes.
The Aviation
1 ½ oz. Aviation American Gin
1 tsp. Crème de violette
½ oz. Maraschino Liqueur
¼ oz. Simple syrup
¾ oz. Freshly pressed lemon juice
In a pint glass, add spirits and mixers. Fill with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry on a pick.
Recipe courtesy of Aviation American Gin.
The Gentleman Crook
2 oz. The Real McCoy 5-year-aged rum
½ oz. Carpano Antica Formula (or sweet vermouth)
¾ oz. Fresh orange juice
½ oz. Honey syrup (equal parts warm water and honey)
1 oz. Sparkling wine
Shake all ingredients (except for wine) very well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail coupe glass. Top with sparkling wine and garnish with a very long orange peel that surrounds the glass and a real maraschino cherry.
The Cocktail Guru Jonathan Pogash developed this recipe.
Honey Sidecar
2 Parts Jim Beam Honey Bourbon & Liqueur
1 Part DeKuyper Orange Curacao liqueur
2 Parts fresh lemon sour
Splash of fresh orange juice
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cinnamon and sugar rimmed shot glass.
The mixologists at Beam created this recipe.
Leap of Faith
1 ½ oz. Wild Turkey 81 Rye
¾ oz. Cocchi Rose
½ oz. PUR Spice liqueur (or other orange liqueur)
½ oz. Lemon juice
½ oz. Gum syrup
Splash of clove bitters
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake. Serve over fresh ice.
Recipe from the mixologists at Honor in San Francisco.