By Ed Yowell
One does not need an occasion to enjoy a special cocktail, but at our Slow Food NYC December Slur, we have one: we will be toasting Professor Jerry Thomas, considered by many grateful drinkers to be the father of American mixology, and The Pegu Club will be serving one of its signature seasonal libations, the Tom & Jerry, in his honor.
Jeremiah (Jerry) P. Thomas (1830 – December 15, 1885), literally, wrote the book on cocktails, The Bar-Tender's Guide (or The Bon-Vivant's Companion or How to Mix Drinks), published first in 1862. In it, he codified for posterity the recipes of our founding American cocktails. It was his authorship, and his itinerant mixing — planting the cocktail seed like Johnny Appleseed planted apple pips — around the country, from New Haven to St. Louis, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, Charleston, and, finally, New York, and on a European tour, that earned him the sobriquet (no doubt occasionally slurred) "Professor."
The Professor's most famed saloon, opened in 1866, was a dive bar located in the basement of an elegant, classical, and still extant, brownstone building, located at 925 Broadway in Manhattan — alas, now a sober Restoration Hardware. It was here that Professor Thomas, with great showmanship and often juggling bottles and glasses, mixed Brandy Daisies, Fizzes, Flips, Sours, and his signature Blue Blazer, a libation dramatically prepared by lighting whiskey afire and passing it back and forth between two mixing glasses, creating a blue arc of flame.
The Professor, in addition to being a renowned bartender, was a well-dressed man-about-town and, reputedly, a "good sport." Towards the end of his life, he speculated and lost on Wall Street, causing him to lose his popular saloon. He passed on, a result of apoplexy, in 1885, at the age of 55. His death was marked across the United States by rightfully respectful obituaries. In the The New York Times, it was noted that the Professor was, "at one time better known to club men and men about town than any other bartender in this city, and he was very popular among all classes."
So, on Tuesday, December 16, 2014, from 7 pm to 9 pm, join some fellow "Slow" folks, and historically-minded drinkers, in a toast to commemorate the life, the liquid legacy, and the passing of a great New Yorker: the Father of American Mixology, Professor Jerry Thomas. We hope to see you there. Where? The Pegu Club, located upstairs at 77 West Houston Street, between Wooster St. and West Broadway, in Manhattan.
Event Info:The Manhattan Slur - The Pegu Club
Ed Yowell is a member of the Slow Food NYC Board of Directors and a Co-chair, with Martina Rossi Kenworthy, of the SFNYC Urban Harvest in Schools Program. Ed is also a member of the Greenmarket Farmer and Community Advisory Committee and a Co-chair of the Food Systems Network NYC.