The Charlotte Community Library is turning 130 years old! To celebrate, the library is creating a series of blogs. These blogs look at the history of cocktails and alcohol use in the Charlotte area. Our blogs began with the 1890s and progressed decade by decade until we reach today. This month’s blog will be looking at the 1900s.
But that’s not all! Recipes are included with each blog. These recipes will be modern versions of historic drinks. And when possible, alcohol-free recipes will be shared too. Without further ado, let’s get to the history portion of this month’s blog!
The 1900s saw a continuation of the fight over alcohol in Charlotte and the rest of Eaton County. Voters decided to make alcohol sales and consumption illegal in 1902, only to reverse the decision two years later in 1904. But unlike the 1890s, nearby counties also decided to also make alcohol illegal between 1900 and 1910, making it harder for residents to break the law.
Interestingly, when the people of Eaton County were asked to vote on Prohibition in 1909, residents of Charlotte and Grand Ledge were the only two groups to vote against the law. However, the 1909 Prohibition law would be the final nail in the coffin for Eaton County’s saloons, breweries, and other alcohol-based businesses. Alcohol would not be made legal again in Charlotte, Eaton County, or Michigan again until the 1930s.
Moving on from the fight in Charlotte, some historians consider the 1900s to be the early years of the “Golden Era of Cocktails,” when some of the most iconic cocktails were first created (or at least, their recipes written down). While we can’t list all of them here, we can provide examples, like the Daiquiri, the Martini, and the Manhattan. The Bronx cocktail is another example from the period. Below is a modern recipe for the drink taken from Lock-Tails.com:
Ingredients and Materials:
- 30 ml of Gin
- 30 ml of Vermouth
- 30 ml Lillet Blanc
- 5 ml Orange Juice
- 2-dashes of Regans’ Orange Bitters No.6
- An Orange Peel and/or Zest
- A Coupe or Martini glass
- A Shaker
- Ice (for shaking)
- A Fine-wire Strainer
How to prepare:
- Fill a shaker with ice.
- Add 30 ml of Gin, 30 ml of Vermouth, 30 ml Lillet Blanc, 5 ml of Orange Juice, and 2-dashes of Regans’ Orange Bitters No.6 into the ice-filled shaker.
- Shake until cold (10-15 seconds).
- Double-strain the mixture through a fine-wire strainer into chilled glassware.
- Squeeze some orange oil from the orange peel to float on the cocktail.
- Garnish with a twist of orange peel or zest.
For those of us who aren’t fans of alcohol, there are alternative recipes. For example, this one taken from Sip. Savor. Repeat:
Ingredients
- 1½ oz of a Non-alcoholic Gin alternative
- Alternatively, you can omit gin altogether
- ¾ oz of Sweet Vermouth
- ¾ oz of Dry Vermouth
- 1 oz of Orange Juice
- An Orange Peel and/or Zest
- A Coupe or Martini glass
- A Shaker
- Ice (for shaking)
- A Fine-wire Strainer
How to prepare:
- Fill a shaker with ice.
- Add 1 1⁄2 oz of a Non-alcoholic Gin alternative, ¾ oz of Sweet Vermouth, ¾ oz of Dry Vermouth, and 1 oz of Orange Juice into the ice-filled shaker.
- Shake until cold (10-15 seconds).
- Double-strain the mixture through a fine-wire strainer into chilled glassware.
- Squeeze some orange oil from the orange peel to float on the cocktail.
- Garnish with a twist of orange peel or zest.
And with that, we have come to the end of our second cocktail blog. Please join us next month as we examine the 1910s and explore more recipes from the past. Thank you for reading!
Resources used for this blog; check them out for more information!
“015 – the Bronx.” Lockdown Cocktails, October 10, 2021. https://lock-tails.com/2021/09/02/015-bronx/. Accessed September 24, 2024.
“Alcohol Free Bronx.” Sip Savor Repeat, May 1, 2023. https://sipsavorrepeat.com/alcohol-free-bronx/. Accessed September 24, 2024.
Bartels, Brian, and Brad Thomas Parsons. The United States of cocktails recipes, tales, and traditions from all 50 states (and the District of Columbia) Brian Bartels ; Foreword by Brad Thomas Parsons ; illustrations by Mike Burdick. New York, New York: Abrams Image, 2020.
Meehan, Jim. Meehans Bartender Manual – A Cocktail Handbook for Hosts. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press, 2017.
Spirits of the past: An intoxicating look at the history of alcohol, temperance, prohibition, and brewing in Eaton County, Michigan. Charlotte, Michigan: Eaton County Historical Commission, 2017.
“The Past and Present of Eaton County, Michigan, Historically Together with Biographical Sketches of its Leading and Prominent Citizens and Illustrious Dead.” In the digital collection Michigan County Histories and Atlases. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ARX3600.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed September 24, 2024.
The State of Michigan. “Michigan Official Directory and Legislative Manual for the Years … 1917/18.” HathiTrust. Accessed September 24, 2024. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39076001176648&seq=1.
Whitehead, Nadia. “The Golden Age of Cocktails: When Americans Learned to Love Mixed Drinks.” NPR, July 29, 2015. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/07/29/417457445/the-golden-age-of-cocktails-when-americans-learned-to-love-mixed-drinks. Accessed September 24, 2024.
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