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Day 3: The Douglas Cooper Cocktail #2

The Doug Cooper, as I like to call it, is a classic*, and was named after the HMS Douglas Cooper**, a British war ship that took heavy fire and subsequently sank in the south Pacific during the Cuban-Panamanian war of 1952***. Fittingly, it’s a really solid tropical rum drink (original formula: white rum, dry vermouth, lime & simple).  Here’s an excerpt from the short lived Boston Spangler, dated 1953:

“Reports from the south seas suggest the boys are taking quite a liking to the native’s rhum, which they’re drinking down with lime (to keep off the scurv) and white Italian wine, seized from a ship outside the TanHauser**** Port.  Apparently it’s really becoming quite the cocky-tail among the young seamen.”

The balance of the rum, lime and vermouth is really very nice, but I had a few modifications in mind for this one, to “sex it up” a bit.

The Douglas Cooper Cocktail #2
1 oz. El Dorado 3 Year aged Light Rum
1 oz. Cocchi Americano
.5 oz. Lime
1 barspoon house made apricot – ginger preserve
2 dash cardamom bitters

Shake, double strain into a coupe.

This thing is like the velvety sleeve of a wizard.

*Actually, I completely made this drink up last week, along with the name, which is so great.  But, it is roughly based on the Fig Leaf, which actually is a classic, so I’m not completely full of shit.
**Again, no such ship actually existed.
***To my knowledge, which is limited at best, there never was a Cuban-Panamanian war. And even if there was, why would a British war ship be involved? C’mon bro, you’ve got to be more critical in what you accept as fact.
****That TanHauser shit is from Bladerunner, the best movie ever.

Posted on December 20, 2011 at 9:14 am
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