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 just got back from shooting the Oregon Bounty video and while I was looking through old cocktail books looking for ideas for a name – I kept bumping into the name sangaree, which just means that you add a little sugar to the base spirit with a quick pinch of nutmeg. It appears that sangaree and sangria are similar in word origin and sangria is wine with sugar and fruit – so they have some similarities.
Anyhow, because I love the word so much I spent this afternoon concocting Thomas’ sangarees – of which he has six recipes: Port Wine Sangaree, Sherry Sangaree, Brandy Sangaree, Gin Sangaree, Ale Sangaree, and Porter Sangaree. To pretend that the 1/2 teaspoon of sugar really changes the taste of the base spirit that much would be a terrible lie. Certainly you can taste the presence of the sugar, but for the most part the cocktail tastes almost the same as if you had just drank the base spirit neat. The nutmeg adds an interesting component and was delightful where I least expected it, as in the gin sangaree.
This is a cocktail that you might want to ensure that you use a high-quality sipping spirit as there isn’t much to hide the flavor. The only sherry I had to work with was cooking sherry, and there was much to be desired (like something even in the slightest bit palatable!) Anyhow, please enjoy as they are perhaps the easiest of the Thomas drinks to make, except for the small detail that I don’t know how much of each spirit to put in the glass as he calls for one claret-glass. David Wondrich doesn’t mention this measurement in Imbibe – his detailed book about Mr. Thomas nor does Harry Johnson mention this measurement in his book. As I have nothing else to go on, my guess is that it is the same as the wineglass measurement or 2 ounces.
Port Wine Sangaree
2 ounces of port
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
2 to 3 cubes of ice
shake and strain with grated nutmeg on the top
Sherry Sangaree
2 ounces of sherry
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
2 to 3 cubes of ice
shake and strain with grated nutmeg on the top
Brandy Sangaree
2 ounces of brandy
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
2 to 3 cubes of ice
shake and strain with grated nutmeg on the top
Gin Sangaree
2 ounces of gin (might I recommend the Ransom Old Tom Gin)
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
2 to 3 cubes of ice
shake and strain with grated nutmeg on the top
Ale Sangaree
2 ounces of water
1 teaspoon of sugar
dissolve the sugar in the water, now top with ale
grate a little nutmeg on the top
Porter Sangaree
2 ounces of water
1 teaspoon of sugar
dissolve the sugar in the water, now top with porter
grate a little nutmeg on the top
My favorite – definitely the brandy sangaree with the porter coming in at a close second.
To check out other Jerry Thomas Project recipes – click here.
I am a mixologist bartender and this is my blog.