The Blueberry Files reports on the MECA mixology class she recently attended, taught by bartender John Myers.
Myers started out by saying that he’d structured the class like an art history class, “from cave drawings to the modern weirdos.” After a short history of early American drinking habits (a lot of cider, rum) we delved into the first time a cocktail was defined. First appearing in a New York newspaper in 1806, the cocktail was described as “spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters.” None of us guessed the answer, but that definition also describes the recipe for an Old Fashioned and thus, our first drink of the course.