After finishing my initial cocktail during a recent visit to Anvil and expressing a like of martinis, the bartender recommended a Ford Cocktail. I had never heard of it. But, it turns out that has been around since before the turn of the twentieth century, making it to print in 1895 in George Kappeler’s Modern American Drinks. It is a variation of a martini, hence the sage suggestion. It features Old Tom gin – the sweetened variety that was popular in the 19th century before improved distilling methods allowed for the classic London dry version – dry vermouth, the cognac-based and honey-enlivened herbal liqueur, Bénédictine, orange bitters, and finally orange peel to garnish.
Though it might have been around for 125 years or so, the Ford Cocktail has been a rare bird, one that was seemingly dormant until the resurgence of the cocktail maybe a dozen years ago – or maybe somewhat earlier in Old Tom’s home turf in London. A useful cocktail book I have at home by the estimable Anthony Dias Blue published in 1993, The Complete Book of Mixed Drinks, which has roughly 1,000 cocktail recipes, does not have the Ford Cocktail.
The Ford Cocktail at Anvil tasted like a more rounded martini courtesy of the slight sweetness from the Old Tom gin, the orange bitters, and Bénédictine, along with the lively citrus notes from the orange peel. Still on the dry side, it was excellent and almost too easy to consume. It’s yet another classic cocktail that Anvil does extremely well, likely much better than it once was.
Anvil’s recipe for the Ford Cocktail:
1.5 ounces – Hayman’s Old Tom gin
0.75 ounce – Dolin Dry vermouth
0.5 ounce – Bénédictine
1 dash – Regan’s Orange Bitters
Garnish – orange peel
Stir with ice for at least 30 seconds and strain into a Nick and Nora cocktail glass
Though it might have been around for 125 years or so, the Ford Cocktail has been a rare bird, one that was seemingly dormant until the resurgence of the cocktail maybe a dozen years ago – or maybe somewhat earlier in Old Tom’s home turf in London. A useful cocktail book I have at home by the estimable Anthony Dias Blue published in 1993, The Complete Book of Mixed Drinks, which has roughly 1,000 cocktail recipes, does not have the Ford Cocktail.
The Ford Cocktail at Anvil tasted like a more rounded martini courtesy of the slight sweetness from the Old Tom gin, the orange bitters, and Bénédictine, along with the lively citrus notes from the orange peel. Still on the dry side, it was excellent and almost too easy to consume. It’s yet another classic cocktail that Anvil does extremely well, likely much better than it once was.
Anvil’s recipe for the Ford Cocktail:
1.5 ounces – Hayman’s Old Tom gin
0.75 ounce – Dolin Dry vermouth
0.5 ounce – Bénédictine
1 dash – Regan’s Orange Bitters
Garnish – orange peel
Stir with ice for at least 30 seconds and strain into a Nick and Nora cocktail glass
