Suburban Cocktail

By Johnny Lager

On the 01/14/14 Dig Radio live broadcast of the Dr. Radio Show, we tried the

Suburban Cocktail

1 1/2 ounces rye whisky 

1 ounce dark rum 

1/2 ounce port 

1 dash orange bitters 

1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir with ice,

Serve in a cocktail glass, up.

The Suburban is similar to a Manhattan, with the rum and port acting as a make shift vermouth. The original was very rye forward, which I've mitigated with an extra half oz of rum to balance the flavor with more vanilla and less burn. 

Look at these fancy degenerates,
betting on the ponies!

This cocktail is made with nothing but liquor, and hits you like a ton of a race horses. Which will make sense in a second. Kinda.

According to the Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book, the Suburban Cocktail was first made in New York City in the 1880s and is named after the Suburban Handicap thoroughbred horse race, one of three races that still make the "New York Handicap Triple" beginning in 1884. The track is and was in Brooklyn, NY, which, believe it or not, is on Long Island, a suburban paradise, or hell depending on your point of view.

Original Waldorf-Astoria Building.
Dag, yo. Rococo, 'n' shit.

Esquire, an excellent cocktail resource, says the Suburban "dates from the rococo age of American drinking (roughly, from 1875 to 1920)." I had to look that up. From Wikipeadia, "Roccoco, also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century artistic movement and style, which affected several aspects of the arts including painting, sculpture, architecture, interior design, decoration, literature, music and theatre." So I guess booze too. I imagine that Late Baroque Cocktails would have been pretty fancy, and the privilege of the posh. Suckas like you and me might have had to make do with boiler-makers.

Until next week, my little Roccoco Cherubim,

Botticellian Bottoms up and stay classy.