About the Birth of the Cocktail, a Drinkable History of New York Walk in New York
Cocktails are arguably one of the United States' most important culinary contributions to the world, and New York City stands as one of cocktail culture’s most important cities. This three-hour walking tour of speakeasies, hotel bars, and other sites where famous drinks were born weaves together a history of the cocktail and its critical role in American culture. Led by a sociologist or spirits journalist, we'll trace a course from Midtown Manhattan to the Flatiron District and look at the larger social themes that have shaped drinking in America, from industrialization to agricultural reform to urbanization and globalization. We'll also consider the aesthetics of the cocktail, from the bars where certain drinks were invented, to the barware and boutique ingredients that created the idea of a cocktail culture. And we'll conclude with a tasting presided over by one of New York City’s most accomplished bartenders.
Our adventure begins with an iconic hotel bar in Midtown Manhattan where
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Cocktails are arguably one of the United States' most important culinary contributions to the world, and New York City stands as one of cocktail culture’s most important cities. This three-hour walking tour of speakeasies, hotel bars, and other sites where famous drinks were born weaves together a history of the cocktail and its critical role in American culture. Led by a sociologist or spirits journalist, we'll trace a course from Midtown Manhattan to the Flatiron District and look at the larger social themes that have shaped drinking in America, from industrialization to agricultural reform to urbanization and globalization. We'll also consider the aesthetics of the cocktail, from the bars where certain drinks were invented, to the barware and boutique ingredients that created the idea of a cocktail culture. And we'll conclude with a tasting presided over by one of New York City’s most accomplished bartenders.
Our adventure begins with an iconic hotel bar in Midtown Manhattan where we'll discuss the rise of the great American hotel bars in the early 20th century, which served as incubators for some the world’s most famous cocktails. We'll learn quickly that fact and fiction elide frequently in cocktail history. The St. Regis’s King Cole Bar, for instance, claims that their French bartender Fernand Petiot invented the Red Snapper, known today as the Bloody Mary, in 1934. But Harry’s New York Bar, in Paris, also claims inventing the drink. We'll look at how these claims and counterclaims build the idea of the cocktail over time.
Our walk will continue down Fifth Avenue where we'll visit one of New York's most famous and upscale speakeasies. We'll talk about the rise and development of these illicit drinking establishment during Prohibition. If possible, we may descend into the bar’s famous basement, now its wine cellar, where bottles were dropped upon the hint of a raid. If we have time and there's interest, we may visit a second vintage bar, dating from the 1920s but named for the 1890s, a brilliant illustration of how nostalgia and a sense of history has informed cocktail making and consuming at critical junctures of the story.
At this point, we’ll take the subway downtown, to a part of the city that straddles two eras of cocktail culture: the Flatiron district, where Jerry Thomas, one of history’s most famous bartenders, did his some of his best drink slinging. (We’ll point out a former building that housed one of his bars.) Here we will continue our discussion of the past and the history of cocktails, but also look at the renaissance and revival of classical drinks in the city today. We may also visit a major cocktail supply store. Run by one of the most important cocktail historians and enthusiasts in New York, we'll peruse his library and museum, which stocks rare and antique cocktail books and barware.
Finally, with the story of the cocktail firmly laid out, we'll retire to one of the revival speakeasies nearby for a cocktail tasting with a contemporary mixologist. Here, our docent will annotate our experience, ordering a mix of unusual but historically accurate cocktails, while our bartender shows us the importance of proper technique and quality ingredients. It will be the experiential cap to a very rich exploration of the American cocktail through history.
