Mid-20th century American bar culture.
| 2 oz · 60 ml | BOURBON | 40 % |
| 2½ oz · 75 ml | GINGER ALE | |
| 2½ oz · 75 ml | SODA WATER |
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
| Pre-batch | 2 oz mixed with ice, 0.8 oz of it pure alcohol |
|---|---|
| Melt | Built in the glass: +5 % of the pre-batch, +0.1 oz of water |
| Topped | Poured after the melt, kept whole: ginger ale 2.5 oz, soda water 2.5 oz, no alcohol |
| Served | 2 + 0.1 + 5 = 7.1 oz in the glass, 0.8 oz of it alcohol |
| Strength | 0.8 ÷ 7.1 = 11.3 % ABV as served |
| Ethanol | 0.8 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 19 g · about 131 kcal from the alcohol alone |
FROM BOURBON · from oak barrel aging
Bourbon's fingerprint, extracted from the charred American oak the law requires for aging. Same molecule as the vanilla bean's signature, so a well-aged bourbon legitimately tastes like vanilla. Chemistry, not metaphor. Cognac, aged rum, tequila reposado all extract vanillin from oak too. Different barrels, same molecule.
ALSO IN Old Fashioned · Manhattan · Whiskey Sour · Paper Plane · Boulevardier · Sazerac · Espresso Martini · Mai Tai
FROM GINGER ALE · the ginger heat
Fresh ginger's heat, a phenolic ketone that activates TRPV1 (the same capsaicin receptor) at a fraction of chili-pepper intensity. Dried ginger converts gingerol into shogaol via heat-driven dehydration, which is why dried ginger reads as warmer and sharper than fresh root. Ginger beer, the Moscow Mule, and the Dark 'n' Stormy all lean on it.
ALSO IN Moscow Mule · Penicillin · Dark & Stormy · Floradora · Suffering Bastard · El Diablo · Dark 'n' Mule · American Buck
Bourbon with a 50/50 mix of ginger ale and soda. This is the 'Presbyterian' split: half soda tones down ginger ale's sugar load. The name references the Presbyterian Church's reputation for moderation; the drink is a 'not-as-sweet' ginger highball.
Origin uncertain. The 'Presbyterian' name has been attached to several cocktails through the 20th century; the modern usage (bourbon-ginger-ale-soda half-and-half) dates to the 1950s. Some accounts attribute the split-mixer build to teetotal-leaning bartenders trying to dilute ginger ale's perceived sweetness; the name is usually read as a nod to Presbyterian restraint. The drink is mostly a regional Midwest pour.
