Whilst attending this year’s BAR.09 exhibition at Earls Court 2, I sat in on some very interesting lectures from various cocktail luminaries from around the world. One such lecture was titled Evolution & Revolution and was chaired by the one and only Dave Wondrich.
Throughout the two hour slot, Dave, an American cocktail historian and enthusiast, walzed through history picking out key points in time and cocktails to showcase cocktail making at that time. I have to admit I found the entire thing very, very informative and very enjoyable. I sat scribbling like a crazy person, jotting down every recipe, anecdote and date I heard; but one stuck in my head from the beginning! The story of a gentleman named George Weneger Holtz, a german immigrant bartender who found himself in Natchez, Mississippi. The story tells of George, a bartender who worked/owned two venues in Naches, one was a high class affair, frequented by ‘the sporting fraternity’ named Naches on the Hill noted for its fine drinks, and the other was a grog shop or skullduggery, frequented by the lower social classes of the time, named Naches under the Hill. Mr. Wondrich, talking of the origins of the Julep was explaining to the room of the social stature of American Whiskey at that time, with it being seen as ‘drunk by the common set’ with the upper classes only drinking imported libations such as Cognac, Rum or Sherry. He went on to describe a Julep of sorts, drunk by ‘the sporting fraternity’, he gave it no name and gave no reference to written record but on making this adhoc scribbled recipe, I was stunned by its complexities. As a tribute, I have named it Naches on the Hill.
Naches on the Hill
45ml Courvoisier VSOP Exclusif
15ml Skipper Demerara
15ml Hidalgo Oloroso Sherry
Served in a Julep Cup
Garnished with Mint Bush (bleeding)
Photographs below are of Mr. Wondrich regailing the room, and smashing the hell out of his lewis bag for our Juleps! Enjoy
Secret Diary of a Bartender 