Cocktail (Saturday): The Boulevardier

This week’s cocktail is another I’ve discovered recently: the Boulevardier. This drink first appeared in bartender Harry McElhone’s Barflies and Cocktails. His very famous Harry’s New York Bar in Paris served up European-style cocktails with American ingredients for the expats who couldn’t get their fix back in the Prohibition-era US of A. The Boulvardier is a variation on the Negroni, using bourbon (or rye) instead of gin.

According to Ted Haigh in his book Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails, this drink was the favorite of expat writer and socialite Erskine Gwynne. Among other things, he edited The Paris Boulevardier, a sort of Parisian New Yorker for all the other American expats–hence the drink’s name.

Gin and bourbon are the most popular spirits in our house, and most of our favorites revolve around these two standards. I’m also a big fan of Campari (I’ll often drink it straight or with soda as a digestive). In the Boulevardier, the sweetness of the bourbon pairs well with the bitterness of the Campari, and of course, the sweet vermouth ties it all together. The intense ruby color of the cocktail is striking. It puts me in a festive mood and elicits “oohs and aahs” from guests when they first see it.

One possible variation is to substitute rye for bourbon. It makes for a spicier, less sweet cocktail. It may not balance out the bitterness of the Campari to your taste, but I think the rye adds additional complexity, and that can be a good thing, too.

Cheers!

The Boulevardier

(recipe from Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails)

• 1.5 oz bourbon (or rye)
• 1 oz Campari
• 1 oz sweet vermouth

Stir with ice in a mixing glass, strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a marasca cherry (I allow a little extra syrup in the glass, too).