Quote:
Originally Posted by slodave
1. Admiral Edward Russell's 17th-Century throwdown
Think you can drink like a sailor? Maybe you should take a moment to reflect on what that truly means.
The record for history's largest cocktail belongs to British Lord Admiral Edward Russell. In 1694, he threw an officer's party that employed a garden's fountain as the punch bowl.
The concoction? A mixture that included 250 gallons of brandy, 125 gallons of Malaga wine, 1,400 pounds of sugar, 2,500 lemons, 20 gallons of lime juice, and 5 pounds of nutmeg.
A series of bartenders actually paddled around in a small wooden canoe, filling up guests' cups. Not only that, but they had to work in 15-minute shifts to avoid being overcome by the fumes and falling overboard.
The party continued nonstop for a full week, pausing only briefly during rainstorms to erect a silk canopy over the punch to keep it from getting watered down. In fact, the festivities didn't end until the fountain had been drunk completely dry.
Dave
|
My old family Grog, recipe is actually this one, based on that story. I got it from my Dad who got it from the LaRousse French Cookbook. The story was that it was 12 y/o boys floating around in rosewood boats serving the drinks. This stuff is great and totally socially irresponsible. You serve it with a slice of peeled lemon and right out of the pot you can light it. I don't think someone could drink it for a week, your hammered after 2 or 3. By the way, you want to heat the wine (sauterne, instead of Malaga) lemon peel and I prefer crushed clove to nutmeg in a piece of cheese cloth, and heat. After hot, dump in the brandy and serve. If you dump the brandy in earlier, all the alcohol boils off. Don't smoke around this stuff, seriously.