Though the Sherry Cobbler is far and away the most famous of the genre, the Madeira version is the first known mention of the drink on record. Even more popular than sherry in the eighteenth century, it’s no wonder Madeira made a splash in the new style of iced drinks that emerged in the decades before the Civil War. Stone fruit and ginger compliment the wine and so do the fortifying spirits of brandy and aged rum.

The Sherry Cobbler came on the scene in 1838 and in a matter of years it was known across the United States and was poised to take over the world. A simple mixture of sherry, sugar, and citrus shaken with ice, served over ice with a straw, and garnished with abandon. For this recipe, I stuck to the classic orange and lemon, pineapple syrup (inspired by an 1880s Harry Johnson spec) and a blend of oloroso and PX sherries.

It’s only natural that for a template that centers fortified wine would extend to the third member of the great Iberian triumvirate: port. The first published recipe I can find for a Port Cobbler is in Harry Johnson’s 1882 book. I love ruby or white ports in cobblers and for this recipe I combined tannic ruby port with blueberries and a 1:1 vanilla syrup. I really like currant and cherries spilling out of this drink in a goblet.

Though vermouth became part of the American drinks landscape after the Sherry Cobbler’s heyday, it nevertheless makes a fantastic base for Cobblers. The Torino Cobbler illustrates this point while also reflecting how the Cobbler template has found a home in twenty-first century bar culture, where it sees favorite modern products work their way into recipes.

This was the eponymous cocktail from my Lords of Misrule series (December 2020). It celebrates old-fashioned flavors of the season and, by extension, references the late medieval / early modern English and Scottish Christmas traditions. This batch recipe is meant to be divided into small bottles and adorned with little tags, or to be mixed and kept on your bar so that anyone who comes into your home during the holiday season may partake in a festive cocktail.

Last year I had the good fortune of connecting with Zac Overman, who sent me a copy of Cocktails a L’Américaine, a compilation of L’Oursin’s house cocktails. The book is full of complex drinks rooted in American mixology that utilize the best of French and alpine spirits, wines, and liqueurs. But because of our August theme, I chose to feature this elegant bitter highball, which showcases the style of French drinking we’re celebrating this month. It’s named after the Corsican cheesemonger who supplies L’Oursin.

This is the second in my Improved Cocktail series in the spring of 2021. With deep, dark flavors, this Improved Brandy Cocktail - Iberian edition - emphasizes the importance of products from Portugal and Spain in the history of the American Cocktail and, before that, in Punch and early modern drinking history, generally.

I’ve centered this Improved Whiskey Cocktail, the third in my Improved Cocktail series from spring 2021, on rye. Rye was the mixing (American) whiskey of choice through the nineteenth century, with only some exceptions that call for Bourbon, which was still a very regional product. Unaged apple brandy brightens things up, while Madeira and apricot liqueur team up to lend a buttery stone fruit profile. An uncommon sweetener in the form of brown sugar syrup grounds the whole thing and points to the colonial-era inspiration behind the drink, bolstered by walnut bitters and nutmeg.

This cocktail was part of my Improved Cocktails series in the spring of 2021. I’d tackled the Holland gin version before, but this version employed my use of two spirits as the base (genever and arrack), along with fortified wine (oloroso sherry), liqueur (crème de banane, sweetener (zesty lime-ginger syrup), and chocolate bitters.

This drink translates a famous hot port-and-claret classic into a pared-down single serving that’s stirred and chilled. The Bishop appeared in Oxford Nightcaps in 1827, by which time it was already an institution; Scrooge also mentions it to Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol.

“Capitaine of Mischeefe” was another term for the Lord of Misrule, who presided over festivities from Christmas Day through Twelfth Night, and sometimes all the way through Candlemas (in early February). This is the second in my Lords of Misrule series: a punch that tells the story of the expansion of products due to colonization by European nations that occurred during the 17th and 18th centuries.

This was the eponymous cocktail from my Lords of Misrule series (December 2020). It celebrates old-fashioned flavors of the season and, by extension, references the late medieval / early modern English and Scottish Christmas traditions. This batch recipe is meant to be divided into small bottles and adorned with little tags, or to be mixed and kept on your bar so that anyone who comes into your home during the holiday season may partake in a festive cocktail.