So… many of you know that I have been working my way through the IBA list of official cocktails. Well, it’s 2020… it’s quarantine… and all bets are off, so the IBA took this opportunity to update the list. As a result, I will update the quest (and update the numbering on a prior blog post or two to correspond to these new additions and deletions.)
By the Numbers
Overall there are 24 new drinks on the IBA list, one name change, two drinks that moved from “New Era Drinks” to “Contemporary Classics,” and eleven drinks that lost their coveted place on the list. So let’s start by talking about what moved: The Pisco Sour and the Vesper both moved from “New Era Drinks” to “Contemporary Classics.” What was previously called the Spritz Veneziano is now, appropriately, just called the Spritz. It remains on the New Era Drinks list.
Don’t Let the Door Hit You in the Glass…
What have we lost? The eleven drinks removed from the list altogether are: Bacardi, Derby, Screwdriver (thank goodness… what is this? 1982), Godfather, Godmother, Harvey Wallbanger, Rosé, B-52, Dirty Martini, Kamikaze, and Vampiro. Other than the Screwdriver, the Dirty Martini, and the Harvey Wallbanger, I suspect few have even heard of those other drinks, so no love lost. Since the Dirty Martini is essentially a common variation of the Dry Martini, that’s not really a loss. Slip a little olive brine into the drink with the olive garnish (like many of us would slip half a bar spoon on the Luxardo Cherry syrup in with the Luxardo cherry), and voila!… it’s still on the list. I have never loved orange juice in my drinks, so the Screwdriver is no loss, and neither is the Harvey Wallbanger, except what to do with your Galliano? The list has a couple solutions for that…the Barracuda, Yellow Bird, and the Golden Dream remain on the list. The Golden Dream is still orange juice but is the creamsicle of cocktails.
Additions to The Unforgettables
There are six additions to The Unforgettables: Boulevardier, Brandy Crusta, Hanky Panky, Last Word, Martinez, and Vieux Carré. One might question where the The Last Word and the Martinez have been all these years. The addition of these two make me wonder if anything else obvious is missing. You all know that I love, love, love the Aviation. The Last Word is a close second. While of differing proportions, the drinks share maraschino liqueur and gin. The Last Word swaps lime for lemon and Green Chartreuse for Creme de Violette, but it is no less delicious.
I should note now that there is also a cocktail added to the list of New Era Drinks which I think is misplaced and belongs here: the Bee’s Knees. The Bee’s Knees is a prohibition era cocktail of gin and honey syrup. How could it properly be classified as a New Era Drink?
Additions to The Contemporary Classics
There are only two additions to the Contemporary Classics: Corpse Reviver #2 and Zombie (perhaps both an unintended nod to the current pandemic). The Corpse Reviver #2 was one of my first quarantinis. It allowed me to use the absinthe that was a new addition to my home bar, and it seemed appropriate as a quarantini. The Zombie is one of the drinks that includes falernum.
Additions to The New Era Drinks
The New Era drinks understandably represent the largest additions to the list, overall, with 16 new drinks included. I have already discussed the inclusion of the Bee’s Knees here rather than in the Unforgettables. As noted, Pisco Sour and Vesper both moved from New Era Drinks to Contemporary Classics, in my estimation both great moves.
Other additions on this list will be familiar favorites: Canchanchara, Fernandito, Illegal, Naked and Famous, New York Sour, Old Cuban, Paloma, Paper Plane, Penicillin, Southside, Spicy Fifty, Suffering Bastard, Tipperary, Trinidad Sour, and VE.N.TO.
Liquor Love and Other Surprises
Several additions to the list demonstrate the love modern bartenders have for the current grand darlings of the cocktail world, namely: Aperol, rye, mezcal, falernum, and Fernet Branca. Two added to the Unforgettables are rye drinks: the Boulevardier and the Vieux Carré. While I am not a rye lover, I will tackle these in the quest and hope to see what current leaders in the bartending world see in rye drinks. Also in the Unforgettables we see the Hanky Panky added which includes Fernet Branca.
Two mezcal drinks are included in the New Era Drinks: Naked and Famous and the Illegal. Two rye drinks are included: New York Sour and Trinidad Sour. Two Aperol drinks are included: Naked and Famous and Paper Plane. And the Fernandito is a Fernet Branca drink. One other interesting addition is the addition of a new drink with a flavored vodka. Previously, both the Cosmopolitan and the Lemon Drop recipes included Vodka Citron (technically a lemon flavored vodka). The new list includes the Spicy Fifty which is made with a “vanilla vodka.”
The new lists are replicated below (again with the numbering being mine and not that of the IBA.) Some great additions to a well crafted compilation, and some new prospects for the Cocktail Quest.
The Unforgettables
- Alexander
- Americano
- Angel Face
- Aviation
- Between the Sheets
- Boulivardier
- Brandy Crusta
- Casino
- Clover Club
- Daiquiri
- Dry Martini
- Gin fizz
- Hanky Panky
- John Collins
- The Last Word
- Manhattan
- Martinez
- Mary Pickford
- Monkey Gland
- Negroni
- Old Fashioned
- Paradise
- Planter’s Punch
- Porto Flip
- Ramos Gin Fizz
- Rusty Nail
- Sazerac
- Sidecar
- Stinger
- Tuxedo
- Vieux Carré
- Whiskey Sour
- White Lady
Contemporary Classics
- Bellini
- Black Russian
- Bloody Mary
- Caipirinha
- Champagne Cocktail
- Corpse Reviver #2
- Cosmopolitan
- Cuba Libre
- French 75
- French Connection
- Golden Dream
- Grasshopper
- Hemingway Special
- Horse’s Neck
- Irish Coffee
- Kir
- Long Island Iced Tea
- Mai Tai
- Margarita
- Mimosa
- Mint Julep
- Mojito
- Moscow Mule
- Piña Colada
- Pisco Sour (moved from New Era)
- Sea Breeze
- Sex on the Beach
- Singapore Sling
- Tequila Sunrise
- Vesper (moved from New Era)
- Zombie
New Era Drinks
- Barracuda
- Bee’s Knees (see my rant about how this does not belong here)
- Bramble
- Canchanchara
- Dark ‘n’ Stormy
- Espresso Martini
- Fernandito
- French Martini
- Illegal
- Lemon Drop Martini
- Naked and Famous
- New York Sour
- Old Cuban
- Paloma
- Paper Plane
- Penicillin
- Russian Spring Punch
- Southside
- Spritz (formerly Spritz Veneziano)
- Spicy Fifty
- Suffering Bastard
- Tipperary
- Tommy’s Margarita
- Trinidad Sour
- VE.N.TO
- Yellow Bird