Episode 159

Featured Cocktail: The El Presidente

This episode’s featured cocktail is the El Presidente. To make it, you’ll need:

• 1½ oz. white rum

• 1½ oz of French vermouth (I’ll explain what that means in a second)

• 1 barspoon orange Curaçao or Grand Marnier (in a pinch, you could use triple sec)

• ½ barspoon real grenadine (like Pratt Standard’s True Grenadine

  Combine these ingredients in a mixing beaker with ice, stir for about 20 seconds until they’re well chilled and integrated, then strain into a stemmed cocktail glass and garnish with an orange twist.

  

  One of the cool things about the El Presidente is that it resembles so many of the classic, stirred cocktails that reigned supreme before and during prohibition - especially in places outside of the US where foreign ingredients remained widely available. But it’s a surprisingly tricky drink to balance. The key - it seems - is to use the right vermouth.

David Wondrich (who comes up later in this episode) writes that most people who think of “French-style” vermouth - the kind stipulated in the early recipes for the El Presidente - think of the dry, white vermouth that’s often used in Martinis. However, there is a different style called “Vermouth de Chambery” (or blanc vermouth) that is both sweeter and more full-bodied than the classic dry style, and this is certainly what you need to use.