As a freshly minted bartender, nonetheless studying the ropes at PDT, the neo-speakeasy the place I labored, I spent loads of time learning a Rolodex of cocktail recipes. This was the late 2000s, a time when smartphones had been solely accessible to well-off early adopters, so I imply a literal Rolodex—an acrylic field that contained alphabetical-ordered, plastic-sheathed notecards with tons of of recipes, from authentic PDT drinks to long-forgotten classics.
Considered one of these was the Air Mail. It’s a sublime concoction of rum, lime, honey, and glowing wine that I’d introduce to any bar visitor of mine who preferred a French 75 and maybe wished to strive one thing “off menu.” It will definitely ended up in my then-boss Jim Meehan’s wonderful PDT Cocktail Ebook.
Our Rolodex had valuable little area to element the origin story of the drink, however a peek on the cocktail tome The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails reveals the drink first appeared in print in a 1930 pamphlet issued in Cuba by Bacardi. Except for that, there are few particulars as to the drink’s authentic creator.
I checked in with Jim to try to hint how this drink ended up in his first e book. He mentioned that he found the cocktail throughout his days behind the bar at Gramercy Tavern, when he was exploring drinks with different sweeteners like honey and maple syrup. He additionally wished to search out cocktails that had been “sticky” in peoples’ recollections. He was in search of “nostalgia machines like the Aviation that evoked a time of surprise.”
“It’s bought all of it,” he instructed me. “There’s room for improvisation with the Champagne and honey.” And I agree. For my part, this drink is a riff on the French 75, which leaves the door open to a excessive diploma of variation. I’ve seen the Air Mail made with a mix of sunshine and darkish rums; topped with different glowing liquids like beer or glowing water; and reformatted into an extended drink over ice in a highball glass.
A highball is definitely the unique recipe, in keeping with The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails, however once I requested Jim about this, he mentioned, “It’s not going to be dangerous as a highball, but it surely makes extra sense to me in a coupe.” A coupe is now the definitive model, so far as I’m involved, but it surely’s only a matter of fashion. If you happen to just like the highball model, do you.
