We have a 29th of February this year, making this a Leap Year ... making Friday a Leap Day. So what does that mean? Well, we have an extra day to put off preparing our taxes (yes!), and an extra day standing between us and summer (boo!). Just like the Olympics and Presidential elections (yeah, we get yet another day of political sniping, too), Leap Years come every four years. It also means it's time to dust off an old classic cocktail called, ingeniously enough, the Leap Year Cocktail.
This hibernating little fellow comes courtesy of the Savoy Cocktail Book, first authored by Harry Craddock and remains, 78 years after publication, a benchmark for tradition-minded bartenders and scholars alike. There are over 750 recipes in the book, a few of which have notations augmenting their worth. I'm going to lift the entire quote regarding the Leap Year.
This cocktail was created by Harry Craddock for the Leap Year celebrations at the Savoy Hotel, London, on February 29, 1928. It is said to have been responsible for more proposals than any other cocktail ever mixed.
Well alrighty then! That's quite a feat considering the little bugger pokes its head out of the ground every Presidential cycle, but okay, I won't quibble with anything reaching its 80th birthday. The recipe is after the jump, taken from a more modern perspective from Gary Regan's excellent Joy of Mixology.
Leap Year Cocktail
2 oz gin (I'd go with Beefeaters on this one)
½ oz sweet vermouth
½ oz Grand Marnier
¼ oz fresh lemon juice
Shake above ingredients with ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass, then garnish with a lemon twist, just so. It's a fine drink, though I don't think you'll be hemming and hawing for this drink over the next three years. But do enjoy it now at your own Leap Year celebration (you are going to be celebrating Leap Year, right?).
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-29-2008 @ 2:44AM
anita said...
Nice to see Keith here :)
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3-01-2008 @ 2:25PM
keith waldbauer said...
hi anita... gosh, you're everywhere aren't you...and i'm pretty happy to be here as well...
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3-05-2008 @ 5:24PM
Benjamin Nylin said...
I am curious to see this Leap Year drink old sport! It sounds like it could be quite good. On a different note, do you have any opinions on good Cachaca brands for Caipirinhas?
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3-09-2008 @ 3:17PM
RaNae said...
How many bar employees wash their hands before slicing a lemon/lime, or dropping an olive or cherry in a drink?? Isn't it a state law that ANY bar/restaurant employee MUST wash hands before touching food, which I assume includes dropping hand-held food into ANY beverage??? Thanks.
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3-13-2008 @ 3:39PM
keith waldbauer said...
Hey ben, nice to see you here. as for cachacas, I've only used one, Pirassununga, and it's worked fine with me. However, go to Bevmo.com and do a search under cachacas and let me know if you pick any up....
RaNae, I assure you that I generally never touch my olives or cherries, I usually spoon them up or spear them directly. And yes, everybody behind the bar should remember to keep their mitts clean and wash constantly, as I do. If you touch an item that someone will have in their drink, you should be clean first, no doubt about it!
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