The Puzzling Pendennis Club Cocktail
Saveur|November 2015
Investigative bartender Toby Cecchini on an exquisite pink gin drink and the club in Louisville, Kentucky, that forgot how to make it.
Toby Cecchini
The Puzzling Pendennis Club Cocktail

A long while back I had two regulars in my bar who enjoyed tasking me with interpreting classic cocktails. One night, these fellows ordered their all-time favorite, the Pendennis Club Cocktail. I blushed over my inability to conjure it: I had heard of it but had never encountered one nor seen a recipe. They walked me through it—gin, apricot brandy, lime juice, and Peychaud’s, the revered, anise-inflected New Orleans bitters. Taking a sip, I experienced one of those zoomfreeze moments. Intriguingly opaque, slightly frothy,and salmon-hued, the Pendennis Club Cocktail has a mesmerizing balance of flavors: sweet, tart, and packed with spice and strength all at the same time. It has remained one of my favorite drinks for some two decades, during which time I have tinkered with its parts and attempted to trace its perplexing history.

The actual Pendennis Club is a dining and social institution in Louisville, Kentucky, some 130 years old and deeply garlanded with its city’s history. It has long billed itself as the birthplace of the old-fashioned, a debate that has raged long and loud but one for which I’d prefer to stay on the sidelines. Instead, what I’ve wanted to know for many years is, who cooked up the actual Pendennis Club Cocktail, and why, in the middle of the bourbon belt, would this namesake house drink be composed with gin? 

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 2015-Ausgabe von Saveur.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 2015-Ausgabe von Saveur.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS SAVEURAlle anzeigen
Raising a Better Bird
Saveur

Raising a Better Bird

Blue Apron founder Matt Wadiak has moved onto greener pastures, where happy chickens roam free.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
Fall 2020
One Good Bottle
Saveur

One Good Bottle

Tamara Irish is a natural winemaker. Way natural.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
Fall 2020
My Not-So-Secret Garden
Saveur

My Not-So-Secret Garden

Good (vegetable-laden) fences make good neighbors in one tiny town.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
Fall 2020
Pralines: How They Cook 'Em in New Orleans
Saveur

Pralines: How They Cook 'Em in New Orleans

Pralines: How They Cook ’Em in New Orleans

time-read
4 Minuten  |
Winter 2019-20
My Father's French Onion Soup
Saveur

My Father's French Onion Soup

Postwar Paris had a lifelong influence on James Edisto Mitchell—both as an artist and a cook BY Shane Mitchell

time-read
7 Minuten  |
Winter 2019-20
Our All-Time Best Recipes
Saveur

Our All-Time Best Recipes

If anyone should know if a recipe’s a keeper, it’s the person tasked with making sense of the original instructions—from the far reaches of Sri Lanka, say, or a famous chef who measures nothing. This might explain why many test kitchen staffers named favorites that their predecessors had tested and recommended. (Though a couple put forth recipes they developed themselves.) And while Saveur never shies away from the oddball authentic ingredient, the fare on the following pages is the stuff we cook at home, over and over again. Consider it global comfort food.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
Winter 2019-20
Genever Is the Original Juniper Spirit
Saveur

Genever Is the Original Juniper Spirit

Don’t call it a comeback. Or gin

time-read
5 Minuten  |
Winter 2019-20
Tending The Bines
Saveur

Tending The Bines

Overshadowed by high-end viticulture, the art of growing hops for beer might not always get the recognition it deserves.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
Summer 2019
Field Of Dreams
Saveur

Field Of Dreams

The son of an innovative pea farmer is carrying on his father’s legacy.

time-read
1 min  |
Summer 2019
Jamaican Jerk Marinade - Fire And Spice
Saveur

Jamaican Jerk Marinade - Fire And Spice

Jamaican jerk is more than a marinade—it’s a smoky, flame-grilled cooking style that uses the best ingredients of its home island.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
Summer 2019