Tonight’s Mr. Boston’s write up maybe shorter than normal because well… I’m exhausted!
By the time we got around to mixing up the Claret Cup, I was already in my pajamas. This meant that making a trip to the grocery store was out of the question for the night. Being that I needed a pretty specific garnish for this 1935 recipe, we decided to save it for tomorrow and skip ahead to the Claret Lemonade recipe.
The Claret Lemonade recipe published by Leo Cotton is probably the most vague of all the drinks we’ve tried thus far. Comprised of a single paragraph, no quantities are given.
Make same as Plain Lemonade, adding Claret on top…
Flipping over to the Lemonade recipe on page 90, the only definitive measurement is 2 teaspoons of Powdered Sugar. The remainder of this script is void of clear direction only calling for the juice of one lemon to be stirred thoroughly with sparkling water and iced. Oddly enough, the Lemonade recipe also calls for a garnish of Cherries and sliced Lemon and Oranges.
We juiced 1/2 of a large Lemon which left us with 1-1/4 ounces of juice. Next went in the sugar. I figured that 3 ounces of water should make for a good ratio and the ice filled the void within the 6 ounce Delmonico glass. Ryan eyeballed the Claret and I’d guess it was around the 2 ounce mark.
The final recipe looked like this:
- 1-1/4 ounce freshly squeezed Lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Powdered Sugar
- 3 ounces of Sparkling Water
- 2 ounces of Claret Wine
To taste, this was a cocktail with serious pucker power. A bit too much tartness for my liking. I adding 2 more teaspoons of Powdered Sugar in hopes of improving the drink, still it needed something more. After adding 3/4 of an ounce of Amaretto to the glass I think the Claret Lemonade was improved but I must admit it wasn’t really my favorite. I was good, almost in line with a lemon based Sangria but my poor stomach didn’t love me for it.
Hopefully I’ll be able to make my way over to the store for those missing garnish ingredients tomorrow and share with you the Claret Cup. Until next time – goodnight!