Champagne Cocktail
Welcome to happy hour in the 1940’s. Today we’re making a champagne cocktail inspired by Casablanca. Food and drinks of the 1940’s were heavily influenced by world war 2. After the war, palates changed, influenced by what GI’s tasted on the other side of the world. Of course the war dominated this decade but it was also a time of gorgeous cinema, jazz clubs, big bands- Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. Glamorous cocktail parties, glitzy nights out on the town at the Copacabana, Onyx Club & Cafe Society in New York City. Old Hollywood movie stars drank at Ciro’s, the Cocoanut grove or Chateau Marmont. Let’s make a drink!
The champagne cocktail is such an elegant and simple drink. I was inspired to make it when I saw Victor Laszlo order it at Rick’s bar in Casablanca. I thought a gin drink would be a little too on the nose. I’m not a gin fan, kid. I don’t know what to tell ya. The champagne cocktail was popular in the 19th century, especially with young ladies out on the town. It was nicknamed chorus girl’s milk. Not just for ladies though. Prince Albert created his own version somewhere between an old fashioned and a champagne cocktail called the Prince of Wales.
During World War 2, Americans were doing their part to win the war with food. But what about alcohol? Notorious for his drinking, Winston Churchill began each day with a whiskey soda for breakfast and was said to have “slurped through the war on a tidal wave of champagne and brandy”. What about the soldiers? American soldiers had a pretty sweet deal. Whiskey and cigarettes were never officially rationed… go ‘Merica. And the U.S. government bought and reserved 15% of all beer for servicemen. Liquor, however, needed serious adjustments. As you know from my food in WW2 video, grains( needed for distilling) were heavily rationed and anything that could be used for the war effort was harder to come by. American distilleries produced millions of gallons of industrial alcohol for explosives, antifreeze, fuel, plastics and chemicals for war. Despite this, American liquor industries still thrived.
After the war, Americans really needed a strong drink and a fun night out. Men and women came together in jazz clubs for live music and cocktails. This was an exciting time in music. First came the wave of big bands. Imagine swing dancing the night away to Glenn miller while sipping a champagne cocktail. The gorgeous voices of Ella Fitzgerald, young Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and the incomparable Nat King Cole serenaded 1940’s supper clubs. Jazz evolved through the 1940’s but live music remained a constant past time and drinking and music went hand in hand. Some of the most popular jazz and supper clubs included the Copacabana & Rainbow Room in New York City. Not only could you get live music, but a lavish dinner and handcrafted cocktails.
Post war, Italian restaurants popped up all over the United States. GI’s stationed in Italy, acquired a taste for Italian food, especially pizza. Chef Boyardee even supplied the US army with canned spaghetti. Italian food was popular, making it very cool to be Italian in the 1940’s and 50’s. I mean to be very real, when was it NOT cool to be Italian?… actually late 19th century there was heavy prejudice against Italian immigrants in America. But that didn’t last too long. By 1953 Dean Martin was singing “when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that’s amore!” Italian restaurants served Americanized versions of classics like pizza & spaghetti & meatballs. These restaurants romanticized Italian culture with candles in old Chianti bottles, checkered tablecloths, singing waiters and plenty of good Italian wine.
By the 1940’s beer was back to pre-prohibition levels. In fact, during the war, production of beer GREW by 40%. Anheuser Busch led the pack, followed by Pabst and Schlitz. Beer really got an overhaul in world war 2. With grain rationing, adjustments to beer recipes had to be made. Brewers cut the use of malt by 7%, substituting corn and rice which made the flavor less complex and malty. The first canned beer became available in 1935. After the war, Americans went from drinking beer in taverns to cracking open beer cans at their suburban back yard barbecues.
Champagne Cocktail
Ingredients
- 4 ounces Champagne (dry or brut)
- 1 sugar cube
- 1-2 dashes of Angostura bitters
- 1 lemon twist for garnish
Instructions
- In a coupe champagne glass, add one sugar cube and bitters.
- Top with champagne.
- Garnish with a lemon twist.
- Don’t mix in the sugar, allow to dissolve naturally.