This is the drink I was going to write about for the last round of Mixology Monday, which I unfortunately missed due to being on holiday in a tropical jungle in the Congo, or the technological equivalent (i.e. my in-laws’ place). It’s what happens when one is too lazy to prepare things in advance.

The Suffering Bastard is noteworthy for being a tropical drink that doesn’t use rum. Apart from the name, of course, which makes it instantly memorable. It was created around 1950 at the Shepheards Hotel in Cairo, Egypt, and the name supposedly comes from some British officers mishearing a passing comment about a “suffering bar steward”.

In his seminal Grog Log, Beachbum Berry remarks that the original was made with brandy and ginger beer instead of bourbon and ginger ale. I didn’t have any ginger beer around, since it’s difficult to find here, and just swapping brandy for the bourbon would make a Horse’s Neck with some gin and lime juice thrown in, so I only tried the newer version.

So what’s it like? Well, it’s ok. The bourbon overpowers the drink somewhat, and doesn’t leave much room for tasting everything else. Maybe with a robust gin and a delicate bourbon it might work better, but I don’t think I’ll be making another one in a hurry.

There was one good thing, though. I was toying with not including a photo because I couldn’t get any decent ones (I’ll have to work on that), but I couldn’t resist showing you a close-up of a successful lime twist after the Fog Cutter attempt.

Recipe:

1 oz. Bourbon
1 oz. Gin
1 oz. Lime Juice
4 oz. Ginger Ale
1 dash Angostura Bitters (to taste, I like two or three dashes better)

Notes:

As I mentioned above, the Bourbon overpowered the rest of the drink. I used Jim Beam bourbon, since I didn’t want to try something more expensive on an unknown cocktail. Maybe something more delicate might work better, but I have my doubts, so I didn’t bother…

Rating:

- Cool name, pity about the drink.

According to cuban legend, El Presidente was a recipe of Major-General Mario García Menocal, who during his tenure as president of Cuba (1913 - 1921) once entered La Floridita and requested that this drink be prepared for him. Other sources say the drink was invented by a cuban bartender and named in honour of the serving president of the time. Either way, the consensus is on a 1910’s/1920’s origin in Havana.

Researching this drink was interesting. Everywhere I looked, I was unable to find an agreed-upon recipe. I checked both english- and spanish-language sources, and I noticed one detail. Most recipes in english use dry vermouth as an ingredient, whereas recipes in spanish unanimously require sweet vermouth. I suspect that the source of confusion is in the details. many of the recipes that call for sweet vermouth specify that it must be white. This implies the italian bianco variety, which is white and sweet. Maybe this detail became distorted as the recipe traveled, and since dry vermouth is white in colour, the recipe changed.

I’m listing the recipe as using sweet vermouth because, well, I don’t have any dry vermouth at home, and having tried the sweet version, I doubt that using dry vermouth would work any better.

Recipe:

1 1/2 oz. white cuban Rum
1 oz. bianco italian Vermouth
1/2 oz. orange Curaçao
a few drops of Grenadine

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Notes:

Given all the different versions of this drink available, there are many variations. I used Cointreau due to lack of Curaçao, and I think this might have made the drink worse. Possibly the sweeter notes of the Curaçao work better in the drink. Still, I’m not willing to experiment too much with this drink, I don’t think there would be enough improvement to justify it.

Rating:

- Not my thing.

Recipe:

1 oz. Tequila
1 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Gin
1 oz. Light Rum
1 1/2 oz. Coconut Cream
1 oz. Grenadine

Mix everything in a blender with crushed ice.

Via: Coco Lopez

Notes:

Ouch. (again.) I found this drink quite by accident, looking for something else. Still, it looked so over-the-top I couldn’t help myself. Actually, it’s not as bad as it looks. The (cheap) tequila gives it a slightly unpleasant edge, but it’s otherwise just another girl-drink (it is intensely pink). Keep this in mind for bachelor-parties and other such events.

The original recipe called for 151 rum, I changed that to regular rum because I figured that might be overkill. Shouldn’t have bothered. Also, I adapted the recipe to one serving.

Rating:

- Has its uses, but I’m too old for them (unfortunately).

Recipe:

3 parts Campari
7 parts Orange Juice
Build in glass over cubed ice.

Notes:

From the Drinkboy forum article I found the recipe in: “This cocktail want to remember Garibaldi, an Italian famous hero. He landed in Sicily during the independent Italian war with his standing army made by 1000 men. The distinctive element of the uniform was a red scarf. So oranges from Sicily and red (Campari) for the scarf remember us this important man.”

Rating:

- Meh, no big deal.