Serious Cocktails: The Cocktail Bucket List Meme
How many drinks have you tried on Anvil’s list?
[Photographs: Paul Clarke and Robyn Lee]
The 100 Classic Cocktails To Try Before You Die list began making the rounds last week but it's different from your average internet meme. While it's popping up all over on blogs and Twitter, the list originated as a menu recently introduced at Anvil, a craft-cocktail bar in Houston.
Created by co-owner Robert Heugel and his Anvil partners, the selection of drinks (simply known as “the list") doesn’t lay pretense to being the best 100 drinks in creation or even a balanced representation of the best drinks in mixological history.
Rather, the owners owe up to the list's subjectivity and arbitrary nature. “We at Anvil would be remiss in our duties if we did not mention that there are certain libations we feel you should try at least once in your life, for better or worse," they responded.
The list contains predictable favorites such as the Sazerac, the Daiquiri, and the Gin Rickey, along with more esoteric drinks such as the absinthe-laced Monkey Gland, the brightly herbal Bijou and the eggy Port Flip.
Not all of the classics predate Prohibition either. Contemporary drinks such as the Gin Gin Mule and the Jasmine also make the menu.
When visiting Anvil, you can get a card stamped each time you try a drink on the special menu. The list has attracted local attention from the Houston Press, as well as the predictable backlash of readers displeased that their favorite drinks weren’t on the list, or just annoyed by the idea of craft cocktails in general. Bloggers such as Chuck Taggart on the Gumbo Pages has already started documenting his efforts to finish off the few drinks on the list he hasn’t already tried.
While the selections on these types of bucket lists are sometimes laughably arbitrary, Anvil’s is impressive in its depth and complexity. I’ve tried around 90 of the drinks included and many of them have appeared in my Friday Cocktail Concoctions recipe series over the past couple of years. How many drinks on Anvil’s list have you tried?
About the author: Paul Clarke blogs about cocktails at The Cocktail Chronicles and writes regularly on spirits and cocktails for Imbibe magazine. He lives in Seattle, where he works as a writer and magazine editor.
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11 Comments:
Wow, I thought I was an alcoholic, but I only had less than 15 on the list. Seeing as you have tried 90 is interesting.
pookguy at 9:11PM on 09/02/09
I've had four. Granted, I haven't been drinking long (I'm 24, and I kept it legal) and I'm more of a beer girl anyway, but dang, I've got a long way to go. Also, now I totally want a G&T after reading that.
missmanders at 11:50PM on 09/02/09
90?! Ninety?! What won't you do for the sake of research and turning in a good read?
I've a lot of work to do. I'm around 54.
JerseyRED at 12:20AM on 09/03/09
C'mon, people, you don't have to try all of these over a three-day weekend. I've been exploring classic cocktails for more than six years, so that averages out to one "list" drink every few weeks -- probably not as "interesting" as @pookguy imagined (sorry to let you down, but thanks for the -- um, concern, I guess). Enjoy a couple of drinks every week -- less than what many people put away on a Friday night while waiting for the appetizers to arrive -- and as long as you don't keep making or ordering the same 15 drinks over and over, you can knock off every drink on this list in less than a year.
Paul Clarke at 2:51AM on 09/03/09
glad to see anvil getting some props! if any of you are in houston, make sure you stop by--i've been a couple of times, and it's always been great. they actually limit the number of people they let in at any one time to keep it from getting too crowded so they don't have to compromise the quality of the drinks. it is a great place for happy hour.
carriebwc at 9:39AM on 09/03/09
This list is being posted in the bar as we speak... and what a cool idea to have a stamp card to work your way down!
madfishgrill at 9:40AM on 09/03/09
25.
Corpse Reviver was great!
Navy grog does not have Honey. Rum, water, lemon juice: the drink the British Navy used to defeat Napoleon.
A martini does not have bitters as far as I am concerned. Who would do that?
bltzie at 10:13AM on 09/03/09
bltzie,
Martini with orange bitters is very old school and quite good!
From Paul's previous post:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/08/gin-vermouth-ratios-in-martini-cocktails.html?ref=columns
...and as recently as the 1930s, a two-to-one gin-to-vermouth ratio was the norm.(These drinks typically included a dash of orange bitters, which some may consider sacrilege, but I say hold your tongue until you’ve tried it.)
Paul,
How many would you say you tried and were able to order while in a bar?
For me about 96% I've had to concoct at home. More due to being tied to the home than lacking fine drinking establishments. NYC is right over the bridge!
Rich
JerseyRED at 11:08AM on 09/03/09
Dang, only 10.
beersnob at 2:25PM on 09/03/09
Surprisingly, only 14 and I'd like to give back the night of the Zombie.
kmitch218 at 1:05PM on 09/06/09
I've had 44, but only a few of them in a bar.
I think this is useful, there are lots of times when I wonder what to try next.
AlchemistGeorge at 5:36PM on 09/20/09