The approach of the holiday got me thinking back even earlier, to the Columbian Exchange, that period in the 15th and 16th centuries when waves of European exploration resulted in the interchange of agriculture, technology and ideas (and, P.S., smallpox) between "Old" World and "New." Many summer picnic classics like ripe tomatoes, grilled corn and potato salad depend on those New World ingredients; others, like the fruit in our American-as-apple-pies, came over from Europe.
What many European explorers also brought was sherry, a fortified Spanish wine that has been made in Andalusia for centuries. As Talia Baiocchi writes in her James Beard Award-nominated 2014 book "Sherry: A Modern Guide to the Wine World's Best-Kept Secret," by the time Columbus rocked up in the Bahamas, it's possible that he and his crew "had spent the length of the Atlantic journey on a sherry bender. Like many of the A-list explorers of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, he had a thing for it."
A recent symposium I had the honor to moderate at the National Archives, "American Drinking B.C. (Before the Cocktail)," part of a series connected to the Spirited Republic exhibit, homed in on that period and thus on sherry and the agave-based alcohols made in Mesoamerica long before Columbus showed up.
The two spirits form "the intersection" between the culture that arrived and the culture that was already here, says Derek Brown, chief spirits adviser for the exhibit and owner of several local bars, including sherry-focused Mockingbird Hill.
That "thing" the explorers had for sherry stuck and grew, spreading through the colonies via ongoing trade with Europe. Sherry was a common punch ingredient, and in the late 1800s, the sherry cobbler, a simple yet summer-perfect concoction of sherry, sugar, citrus and ice, was so beloved that it became known as the drink that popularized the straw.
Much of that historical Americana was, until recently, largely unfamiliar to Spanish sherry producers, says Steve Olson, a wine and spirits educator and beverage consultant who — with Brown and David Suro-Pinera of Siembra Azul tequila — led the panel at the National Archives seminar.
When sherry producers and the Spanish trade commission hired Olson in the late 1990s to introduce more American consumers to sherry, he told producers that — along with educating chefs and sommeliers — they should be encouraging sherry's use in cocktails.
"They didn't want to do that, because that would cheapen their sherry," he says. "I said, 'No. In this country . . . when we put a spirit in a cocktail, we're elevating it. If you see your sherry in a drink next to a premium spirit . . . it's going to say, hey, wait a minute, this must be good stuff.' "
The sherry category contains wines ranging from dry as dust to sweet as treacle, and that might be a challenge for winning over U.S. drinkers. Despite many articles preaching the sherry gospel, noting its increased popularity among bartenders and passionate following among cognoscenti, U.S. sherry sales have stayed at a virtual flatline over the past decade. To tell a friend that you like sherry is a bit like saying you like "vegetables" or "the Dutch": a sweeping endorsement of a category so diverse that claims of universal affection are hard to credit.
Yet sherry itself is a wonderful teacher, and happily not one whose classes only private-school kids can afford: Most bottles are incredibly reasonably priced. Learn about the styles, buy a few — or drop by Mockingbird Hill for a flight — and you'll start getting the picture of what sherry can bring to cocktails. A trace of brine? A tart, citrusy note? A warm, lingering hint of hazelnuts or toast? A deep, figlike, honeyed sweetness? There's a sherry for that.
A particular sherry "can bind a drink, lengthen a drink, brighten a drink, deepen and round a drink," says Olson, and all with a lower alcohol content. "And I don't know how anyone could have a bar with sweeteners and not use Pedro Ximénez as one. . . . You don't even need to make a syrup out of it."
And in a happy coincidence for two drinks that go back such a long way in the Americas, sherry pairs beautifully with agave-based spirits.
"If you're looking at the aromatic compounds in sherry . . . you can get savory, mineral-forward and herbaceous notes. I mean, I might as well be describing tequila," says Chantal Tseng, an independent consultant and former bar manager at Mockingbird Hill. "You can get those similar green tones in some of the blanco tequilas, and that minerality is there, too, that salty edge."
Their long histories and artisanal roots often mean that "people who love tequila and mezcal tend to love sherry with the same kind of evangelism," says Baiocchi.
Brown says that has to do with the quest for authenticity that has become central in bartending culture. "We're not mining [the past] for the first orange vodka," he says. "We're mining it for drinks that connect a people and a place and tell us a story about our world."
Baiocchi's book includes recipes that show off the interplay between this Old World wine and this New World spirit. They include La Perla, the cocktail that won the first run of the annual Sherry Cocktail Competition, which Olson helped launch in 2005. In it, grassy, herbal notes from the tequila and tart apple tones from the manzanilla sherry are tied together with a rich pear liqueur.
But if you're hot, sweaty and have a good view of the star-spangled sky, just remember: Sherry Cobbler is as American-summer classic as it gets, and it pairs beautifully with the smell of fireworks.
Sherry Cobbler
1 serving
One of the classic early cocktails described in Jerry Thomas's "How to Mix Drinks," the sherry cobbler — full of ice and dolled up with citrus and seasonal berries — is a lovely refresher for hot months. And it's pretty, which makes it good for entertaining.
Use a dry sherry, such as a fino, manzanilla or amontillado, and adjust the sugar to your liking. The real challenge for the home bartender is the ice, which should be small and pebbly, like that in a julep.
Adapted from "Jerry Thomas' Bartenders Guide: How to Mix Drinks 1862 Reprint," by Jerry Thomas (CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2008).
Ingredients
1 orange wheel, sliced 1/4 inch thick, then cut into 2 half-moons, plus a few more wheels for optional garnish
1/2 to 3/4 tablespoon sugar, preferably superfine (may substitute 1/2 ounce of 2:1 simple syrup; see NOTE)
Ice, whole cubes and cracked/pebbles for serving (see headnote)
3 to 4 ounces sherry
Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish (optional)
Lemon wheels, for garnish (optional; cut as needed)
Whole raspberries, blueberries and/or hulled strawberries, for garnish (optional)
Steps
Muddle the slices of orange with the sugar in a cocktail shaker.
Add the ice cubes, then the sherry (the amount depends on the size of your glass). Shake well, and strain into a glass filled with cracked ice.
If desired, garnish with mint, half-wheels of citrus, and berries. Serve with a straw.
NOTE: To make the 2:1 simple syrup, combine 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a slow, rolling boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes. Transfer the syrup to a heatproof container and let it cool to room temperature before using.
Nutrition | Per serving: 100 calories, 0 g protein, 4 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 5 mg sodium, 0 g dietary fiber, 4 g sugar
La Perla
1 serving
In her James Beard-nominated book "Sherry," Talia Baiocchi highlights this drink by San Francisco bartender Jacques Bezuidenhout as one that called attention to "the incredible compatibility of agave spirits and sherry."
Maison Ferrand's Mathilde Poire works well for the pear liqueur.
Adapted from "Sherry: A Modern Guide to the Wine World's Best-Kept Secret, With Cocktails and Recipes," by Talia Baiocchi (Ten Speed Press, 2014).
Ingredients
Ice
1 1/2 ounces reposado tequila
1 1/2 ounces manzanilla sherry
3/4 ounce pear liqueur
Lemon peel, for garnish
Steps
Fill a mixing glass with ice. Add the tequila, sherry and pear liqueur; stirring to mix well.
Strain into a coupe glass. Twist the lemon peel over the glass, to express its oils, then drop into the cocktail.
Nutrition | Per serving: 230 calories, 0 g protein, 9 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 0 mg sodium, 0 g dietary fiber, 9 g sugar
For more information on upcoming events in the Spirited Republic series at the National Archives, go to www.spiritedrepublic.org/events.
Allan is a writer and editor; follow her on Twitter: @Carrie_the_Red.
