A Step Back Into the Golden Era of Cocktails

Goddamn.

Goddamn Amsterdam.

If you’ve been over to The Eddy in the last few weeks, you may have noticed a cheeky little addition to their cocktail cards.

Take a sip and you’ll likely find yourself murmuring goddamn.

Amsterdam.

As you go in for another pull from your coupe.

Yes, the drink’s called Goddamn Amsterdam and it’s a winner.

Really. This little ruby-hued number recently won The Great Bols Genever Cocktail Competition. Well, its creator, Carlos Garcia, technically won the contest.

The competition took place at The Eddy, which conveniently is also where Garcia works.

“I never entered a cocktail competition before,” said Garcia, “but I was working that shift anyway, so I decided to start coming up with ideas.”

The rules of the competition were simple: Bols Genever had to be used (obviously as the sponsor) and it had to be a pre-prohibition/prohibition era cocktail. Jen Ferreira, East Coast Band Ambassador for Lucas Bols, concocted the event, inviting bartenders from around the state to participate. The first 10 to apply were entered in the contest.

The Tampa (Florida) Guild of the US Bartenders Guild holds a Repeal Day Party every year. Ferreira learned they wanted to invite bartenders from every state, and little old Rhode Island was given two slots.  The hotels were paid for, but not the flights, so Ferreira and Bols Genever decided to sponsor the flights. But everyone knows that winning is so much better than simply being handed a plane ticket.

Hence the birth of The Great Bols Genever Cocktail Competition.

“I made the mistake of using genever thinking it was gin because people say it’s Dutch Gin,” Garcia grimaced as he recalled his first round of cocktail experimentation.

For those of you who are novice spirits enthusiasts, cocktail hounds will bite if you think genever is like gin. Oh no, it’s a specialty spirit made with malt wine, neutral grains and botanical distillates.

Garcia’s next round of experimenting took shape as he researched that spirit as well as the style of prohibition era cocktails. Then he faced his peers and judges, all notorious for their spirits knowledge and inimitable palates: Jen Ferreira, Chris Amaral, David Dadekian and Gail Ciampa. After mixing two drinks simultaneously (yes, ambidextrous) and splitting them evenly between four glasses, Garcia nervously presented his drink and then went back to work behind the bar.

He didn’t believe them when they announced Carlos Garcia as the winner. “I thought they were joking with me,” Garcia laughed.

No joking around. “The fact that he had done his research was key for me,” said Ferreira. “He researched prohibition/pre-prohibition style drinks. He picked a drink that was smart to use genever.”

So what exactly is a pre-prohibition or prohibition era cocktail? It’s worthy of a whole book, but Garcia summed it up pretty damn nicely:

“The way I see it, these are recipes from the golden era of cocktails before booze was criminalized. A lot of the cocktail recipes were from Jerry Thomas’ Bartenders Guide. That was a long time ago. Many looked at bartending as a craft – they took so much pride in what they did. These guys refused mixes and powders, stuck to fresh juice, and they were devoted to quality.  And they made people happy.”

All hail the Goddamn Amsterdam. A boozy ruby worthy of a free trip to Tampa, Florida for Repeal Day.

Goddamn Amsterdam

7 dashes Angostura bitters

Rinse the coup w/ 3 Absinthe sprays. (Mist it.)

¼ oz Demerara syrup

½ oz Bols Orange Curacao

2 oz Bols Genever

Served up w/ an Orange Twist

I don’t like citrusy drinks. I like spirit-ful drinks. This drink is my kind of drink. It’s boozy and smooth.  – Carlos Garcia