The Newest Craze That’s Not New At All! The current obsession was invented in the 1800’s.
Invented by millennials? Yes and no. The original incarnation of the Pink Gin was developed in the mid-1800’s in England and in the Colonies (Princeton University comes to mind) by collegians (millennials) dissatisfied by the flavor of their home-made ‘distilled’ gin. The classic preparation for a pink gin would have involved a heavier variety of gin. In this case it would have been the higher proof (sometimes called Navy strength, which is usually made to be bottled a bit north of 50% abv., or 100 Proof.) Plymouth Gin was a style made popular in Plymouth, England. The very name, Plymouth- is a protected name by provenance alone. No one else can make Plymouth Gin.
Angostura Bitters- the pink component date back to the 1800’s so it’s completely plausible that these healing bitters were added to the high proof (i.e. Navy Strength) gin was originally used to kill an acute belly-ache or lessen the ravages of seasickness while battling the oceans of the earth. This higher proof gin, also known as a Plymouth Gin or a Tom Cat style (like the brilliantly made Barr Hill from Vermont), would have been aged for a period of time in a barrel that may have held some kind of whiskey. This flavor of the strong grain based spirit would have deeply colored the inside of the cask and added deep sweetness from other ingredients like molasses in certain historic versions to the modern day, potent Navy-style gin.
This trend of making pink gin cocktails died out for about a hundred years due to changing tastes. The Pink Gin cocktail magically reappeared during the Roaring Twenties. The period known as the Jazz Era was a high living time during Prohibition. The rage during the 1920’s and 1930’s, involved drinking large quantities of ‘bathtub’ or cheaply made gin mixed into fruity concoctions, created or recreated as it was, to kill the foul taste of the intoxicating liquids.
Warren is the cofounder and CEO of drinkklaus.com, the finest terpene forward, craft cannabis cocktail in the world. He's written Apothecary Cocktails-Restorative Drinks from Yesterday and Today, Bitters and Shrub Syrup Cocktails: Restorative Vintage Cocktails, Mocktails, and Elixirs , Whiskey Cocktails : Rediscovered Classics and Contemporary Craft Drinks Using the World's Most Popular Spirit, Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails, and Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks and Buzz-Worthy Libations, and the Craft Cocktail Compendium (2017)
Warren Bobrow has been a pot scrubber, dishwasher, the owner of the first company to make fresh pasta in South Carolina , a television engineer in New York City, and he even worked at the famed club named Danceteria. He became a trained chef from the dish sink up; this unfortunately led to a mostly unsuccessful twenty year career in private banking.
Currently a cannabis, wine and travel aficionado, Warren is a former international rum judge and craft spirits national brand ambassador.
He works full time in the cannabis business as an alchemist/journalist/CEO. Instagram: warrenbobrow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Bobrow