1 1⁄2 oz Rye, Rittenhouse
1 T Aquavit, Aalborg (or kümmel)
1 t Gomme syrup (or simple syrup)
2 ds Absinthe
1 ds Bitters, Boker's (or Angostura)
Instructions

Stir with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a chilled coupe glass.

History

William emigrated from Hamburg, in 1869, to Chicago. Surviving the Great Chicago Fire, William found himself, in 1873, heading a team of 16-bartenders at the Tivoli Gardens, one of the city’s growing number of “concert saloons”.

William moved to New York, in 1884, where he presided over the Bridge Saloon. (This may have been its name or simply a geographic moniker, as it was at the Manhattan end of the Brooklyn Bridge and was pulled down a few years later to make way for bridge approaches.)

Schmidt took his first holiday since his arrival in the US, in 1889, to visit his elderly parents in Hamburg. Upon his return, he went independent, taking on a business partner and opening a place on Broadway near Park Row. When his partner died shortly after, William sold his establishment and stayed on as bartender through several years and several owners. Eventually the establishment was moved to 58 Dey Street, —a site that is precisely at the heart of Ground Zero today. Schmidt died in 1905.

Cocktail summary
Gladstone
30 May 2013, B.J. Graham
Created by
by William Schmidt, c 1891.
Year
1891
Is an
altered recipe
Reference

Schmidt, William, "The Flowing Bowl, What and When to Drink", Charles L. Webster & Co., New York, 1892

Curator
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Average
4 stars
(13 ratings)
YieldsDrink
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From other users
  • Agree with other commenter "moderately interesting."
  • Sophisticated and moderately interesting. Go light on absinthe.
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Comments

Not bad for an 1890's cocktail. I used the original recipe that called for kummel and went very light on the various components other than rye: 1/2 tsp each Combier kummel, maraschino, Pernod Absinthe, Jamaican Rum, and a full tsp of gomme syrup, 2 dashes Boker's. The kummel and absinthe worked unexpected well together/played well off each other in these small quantities.