Do Virgos make the Best Bartenders?

First I have to say, I am way behind on the Jerry Thomas Project and in order to get through all of the drinks by the end of the year, I’ve got to bump it up a notch. More than anything, you are going to see a lot more recipes popping up on the blog. So now it will most likely be the case that after every posting there will be a Jerry Thomas recipe that I made that day.

Otherwise, it’s a crazy week. It’s my birthday today, which is the first day of Virgo. Let’s just say I’m not that into astrology, but whenever I read horoscopes that have more contextual basis (i.e. what planet your moon is in or what sun your shnixna is in) I can’t help but find they are uncomfortably true. Anyhow, I work at an amazing restaurant with one of the best staffs that I’ve ever had the pleasure to be around and out of the 18 people that work there, five have birthdays between August 23 and August 26. A matter of fact, the other bartender that I work with the most, shares the exact same birthday as me. Guess the Virgo cuspers just make damn good restaurant workers. Happy Birthday to Justin, Keea, Dryden, and Clare!

A couple of interesting tidbits about the Virgo

Virgo is the only zodiacal sign represented by a female – but that doesn’t make a Virgo a pussy.

Virgos are probably smarter than you.

Virgos can get along with people of other signs, but they mostly just like other Virgos and an occasional Capricorn.

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The Jerry Thomas Project

The Jerry Thomas Project is the re-creation of all of Jerry Thomas’ cocktails from Jerry Thomas’ Bar-Tenders Guide: Receipts for Mixing in their purest form. Jerry Thomas is considered America’s father of mixology publishing the first cocktail book in 1862.

I was hoping to work on some more intriguing Jerry Thomas cocktails on Sunday, but we decided spur of the moment to host a party after the March Fourth Marching Band concert.  (If you have never seen them, they are a 20 piece marching band with stilt walkers, burlesque dancers, and a hell of a lot of spunk!)   As it was the third late night (being that there was a dj until 2:30 Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), I decided to make something easy and I figured that I couldn’t go wrong with The Sling – which just involves adding sugar and water to a base spirit. Sometimes I wonder why Mr. Thomas even bothered naming all of these drinks and cataloging them (my guess is that was being paid by the word.)

Brandy Sling

1 teaspoon of Baker’s sugar
2 ounces of water
2 ounces of brandy
Ice

Dissolve the sugar in the water, add the spirit and ice and stir. Grate a little nutmeg to finish.

Hot Brandy Sling

1 teaspoon of Baker’s sugar
4 ounces of hot water
2 ounces of brandy

Dissolve the sugar in a little hot water, add the spirit and hot water and stir. Grate a little nutmeg to finish.

Gin Sling

1 teaspoon of Baker’s sugar
2 ounces of water
2 ounces of gin
Ice

Dissolve the sugar in the water, add the spirit and ice and stir. Grate a little nutmeg to finish.

Hot Gin Sling

1 teaspoon of Baker’s sugar
4 ounces of hot water
2 ounces of gin

Dissolve the sugar in a little hot water, add the spirit and hot water and stir. Grate a little nutmeg to finish.

Whiskey Sling

1 teaspoon of Baker’s sugar
2 ounces of water
2 ounces of bourbon or rye whiskey
Ice

Dissolve the sugar in the water, add the spirit and ice and stir. Grate a little nutmeg to finish.

Hot Whiskey Sling

1 teaspoon of Baker’s sugar
4 ounces of hot water
2 ounces of bourbon or rye whiskey

Dissolve the sugar in a little hot water, add the spirit and hot water and stir. Grate a little nutmeg to finish.

Well a couple of things with this series of drinks. First, none of them are that great – so I wouldn’t even say to bother, unless you are sick – in that case the Brandy Sling or Hot Whiskey Sling could be great for a sore throat and to induce some much needed rest. Jerry Thomas also has a typo in his book here, as in the Gin Sling he calls for brandy. I give the recipe with gin, as I cannot imagine that the Gin Sling is made with brandy. The worst tasting one was the Hot Gin Sling, it catches you off guard to drink warm gin. Thomas also calls for boiling water, which I made the first hot drink with and it was terribly hot – so I call for hot water. Maybe Thomas had to burn his tongue first so that he couldn’t taste the Hot Gin Sling.

To check out other Jerry Thomas Project recipes – click here.

- Columbine Quillen
I am a mixologist bartender and this is my blog.

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