Supposedly, this cocktail was created at the Tuxedo Club in New York in the 19th century. In another version of its origin, the cocktail was part of a slew of drinks created during prohibition. These cocktails contained liqueur to conceal the atrociousness of the bathtub gin that was available at the time.
There are a few versions of this cocktail, with the biggest variation being the inclusion of anisette and/or absinthe. I've also seen versions with cherry juice or apricotine. I've also seen this cocktail referred to as Tuxedo #2. In every version, the cocktail includes Luxardo, an Italian Maraschino cherry liqueur.
This particular cocktail's pink hue is not from the cherry liqueur, as the Luxardo is clear. The pink comes from the Peychaud's bitters. Even though the cocktail is pink, it is in no way girlie. If you are a guy and are uncomfortable drinking a pink cocktail, you can use orange bitters.
Can you see why I had to go to the store to buy a $28 bottle of liqueur for 1/2 tsp of its content? Do you see that gorgeous straw wrapped bottle? I did demonstrate some restraint by resisting the $20 jar of Luxardo cherries... at least for now.
The Tuxedo Martini
Makes one cocktail
Ingredients
2 ounces gin
1 1/2 ounces of dry vermouth
1/2 tsp Luxardo
4 dashes of Peychaud's Bitters
Maraschino cherry
Instructions
Combine all of the ingredients into an ice filled glass or martini shaker.
Stir or shake until all ingredients are thoroughly chilled.
Strain into a frozen martini glass.
Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Cheers!
How pretty!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I love the pale pink.
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