Shot in the dark: celebrate Valentine's and President's days with seasonal spirits

Nation's Restaurant News, Feb 3, 2003 by Gary Regan

It's February, so Valentine's Day will soon be upon us again. It's one of the first lights at the end of a dark winter tunnel, and restaurateurs and bartenders alike should seize the opportunity to offer something special to couples looking to make Feb. 14th a special occasion this year.

Red, in various shades and hues, is the color normally associated with this romantic holiday, and pink drinks are still hot. Beverage mavens might want to create some new drinks with cranberry juice, creme de noyau, cassis or Campari to offer to lovers, young and old, who choose to celebrate the occasion at bars and restaurants.

The Valentino is a favorite of mine, and the name works well for this holiday -- made with five or six parts gin or vodka to one part each Campari and sweet vermouth, this is a sophisticated potion that should appeal to customers with a well-developed palate.

For those with a sweeter tooth, adding a dash of cranberry juice to a classic margarita or kamikaze cocktail will please many people. Or you might want to try substituting creme de noyau for the triple sec in a margarita to create a nutty version of the cocktail that looks oh-so-pretty in pink.

And cassis, of course, easily can be utilized in Champagne cocktails with delightful results, or you might want to offer a tall glass of dry vermouth, club soda and a splash of cassis -- it's known as a Pompier Highball.

Since Valentine's Day lands on a Friday this year, you might want to think about extending the celebrations into the weekend by holding a Remember the Maine party on Feb. 15. The Maine was a U.S. battleship that was sunk on that date in 1898 in the port of Havana, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War, and a drink called Remember the Maine was detailed by bonvivant Charles H. Baker Jr. in the 1930s. The cocktail calls for rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, cherry brandy and a little absinthe substitute. "Stir briskly in clock-wise fashion," he noted. He also observed that "taken sanely and in moderation whisky is beneficial, aids digestion, helps throw off colds, megrims and influenzas. When it is used improperly the effect is just as bad as stuffing on too many starchy foods, taking no exercise or disliking our neighbor."

And if you'd like to spread that weekend even further, you'll note that President's Day is on Sept. 17 this year -- it's always celebrated on the third Monday in February--so perhaps you'd like to offer a special drink with which to toast George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

During the victory celebrations after the Revolutionary War, Washington is said to have toasted all 13 new states, one at a time, at a dinner held at New York's Fraunces Tavern, so I'm sure he'd be happy to learn that we now are raising a glass in his honor.

Lincoln, on the other hand, was on the side of the prohibitionists of his era. However, when somebody complained to him that Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was drinking too much whiskey, he apparently asked which brand Grant preferred and said he'd send some to his other generals. For President's Day, why not offer El Presidente? It's a cocktail from the 1940s made with rum, lime juice, pineapple juice and grenadine.

If you'd like to get the jump on the competition and create an obscure celebration in February, you might want to think about holding a birthday party for Charles Dickens, born on Feb. 7, 1812.

Dickens mentioned lots of drinks in his books, many of them being punches and toddies, but perhaps the strangest drink that he wrote about is the Dog's Nose -- a mixture of hot stout, brown sugar and gin, topped off with a little grated nutmeg. At first glance the drink doesn't seem to be too appealing, but the ingredients work incredibly well together, and like its name, the concoction is warm and wet.