Monday, January 12, 2015

twin six cocktail

1 jigger El Bart Gin (1 1/2 oz Tanqueray)
1/2 jigger Sweet Vermouth (3/4 oz Cocchi)
1 dash Grenadine (1/2 oz)
3 slice Orange
1 Egg White

Shake with ice and strain into a wine glass (a coupe glass with an orange twist).

Two Mondays ago, I began the cocktail hour by reaching for one of my older books, a reprint of Hugo Ensslin's 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks. There, I spotted the Twin Six Cocktail and was lured in by the orange slices in the shake as Sam Ross later did with his Too Soon?. The drink name most likely refers to the Packard Twin Six line of American luxury cars that were launched around the time the book was written, and the car also inspired the Packard Twins as found in the 1934 Angostura Recipes book. The Twin Six Cocktail once it hit the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book dropped the orange slices in the shake to regular orange juice though.
Once shaken and strained, the Twin Six Cocktail presented a bright orange aroma from the twist. A creamy sip shared candied orange flavors and almost berry-like aspect from the combination of vermouth and grenadine. Finally, the gin and bitter orange peel notes on the swallow were somewhat reminiscent of Campari.

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