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The Hinky Dinks Frankenstein What Was It? |
Unga Bunga
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 06, 2003
Posts: 5848
From: CaliTikifornia
|  Posted: 2009-04-10 8:54 pm Permalink
1/2 oz. French vermouth?!
People used vermouth back then like it was water.
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Mai Tai
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 21, 2004
Posts: 1437
From: Exotic Isle of Alameda
| Posted: 2009-04-12 01:17 am Permalink
From what Tofu Joe, and others really into mixology and vintage cocktail recipes have told me, vermouth used to be much tastier pre-prohibition and pre-WWII than it is today. When you look through vintage cocktail recipe books, the recipes all call for more vermouth. Some Manhattans and other classics call for about as much vermouth as they do bourbon or other hard distilled spirit. As the quality worsened on the vermouth, recipes over time reflected that, and have gradually reduced the amount of vermouth to what it is today. It would be interesting to try some quality vintage vermouth in comparison to what's available today, and how that would affect the taste of some classic cocktails.
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 "It's Mai Tai. It's out of this world." - Victor Jules Bergeron Jr.
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11550
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-04-12 9:23 pm Permalink
Question is, from what year is the Frankenstein? Because...was this the first sign of Vic being inspired by Don --and his ZOMBIE?
Did Vic make up a story about a customer that told him he felt like Frankenstein after he had one? 
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Hale Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 19, 2004
Posts: 1799
From: Pittsburgh
| Posted: 2013-01-14 2:32 pm Permalink
Due to the interest in Hinky Dink's in the General Tiki forum, I'm bumping this.
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jingleheimerschmidt
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 20, 2007
Posts: 339
From: santa rosa, calif.
| Posted: 2013-01-16 11:42 am Permalink
I find it odd that if Vic was marketing his bar with a specific drink at that time why would it not end up later in his Trader Vic's Food and Drink book from 1946. The book is certainty filled with all types of cocktails and punches. Maybe it just got renamed?
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Hakalugi
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Aug 10, 2004
Posts: 3375
From: Redondo Beach, CA
| Posted: 2013-01-16 1:13 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2013-01-16 11:42, jingleheimerschmidt wrote:
I find it odd that if Vic was marketing his bar with a specific drink at that time why would it not end up later in his Trader Vic's Food and Drink book from 1946. The book is certainty filled with all types of cocktails and punches. Maybe it just got renamed?
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Check out this post from Mai Tai:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=26768&forum=10&vpost=446023
More here:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=28375&forum=12&vpost=417036
[ This Message was edited by: Hakalugi 2013-01-16 22:37 ]
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jingleheimerschmidt
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 20, 2007
Posts: 339
From: santa rosa, calif.
| Posted: 2013-01-17 2:43 pm Permalink
Quote:
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Check out this post from Mai Tai:
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Ugggh! Reading comprehension....thanks!
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TraderPeg
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Aug 10, 2006
Posts: 91
From: Haunted Hudson Valley
| Posted: 2013-01-20 09:22 am Permalink
It's also really important to use fresh vermouth. I buy the smallest bottles I can find and throw it out a lot.
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AceExplorer
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: Apr 03, 2008
Posts: 1889
From: Deep in the Jacksonville Florida jungle.
| Posted: 2013-01-20 09:29 am Permalink
I heard, and follow, advice to keep my vermouth for not more than 6 months. I mark the date I open the bottle on the neck to help remind me when it's time to refresh it. I've had a lot of trouble with vermouth when I mix the classic Bronx Cocktail - bad vermouth can overpower and spoil a good drink very quickly.
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TropicDrinkBoy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 27, 2011
Posts: 277 | Posted: 2013-01-22 7:25 pm Permalink
I buy premium vermouth (Dolin for French and Carpano Antica for Italian), use "Private Preserve" inert gas wine preserver and keep them in the refrigerator. I have never tasted any change in flavor after months, and I buy the big bottles. I have no idea how long I keep them because shelf life hasn't been a problem.
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TropicDrinkBoy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 27, 2011
Posts: 277 | Posted: 2013-01-22 7:31 pm Permalink
I made my first Frankenstein last week, straight from Trader Vic's 1947 drink guide, and I was surprised by what a fine drink it is. It is sophisticated like many of the cocktails in Ted Haigh's "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails". I have a hard time seeing this being the signature drink at Trader Vic's "Hinky Dinks" hunting lodge!
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TropicDrinkBoy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 27, 2011
Posts: 277 | Posted: 2013-01-22 10:08 pm Permalink
By the way, here is what Trader Vic says about the birth of the Frankenstein in his "Frankly Speaking" autobiography. Maybe it was taught to him by Albert Martin as the "Franken Jack" and he renamed it to the Frankenstein. I understand the Franken Jack was published in the Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930.
"When I went back to Oakland (after his tour of famous bars in L.A., New Orleans and Cuba), I started to mix several different drinks. I used the La Florida cocktail, the La Florida daiquiri, and a planter's punch, along with some drinks Albert Martin had shown me. And we went to work and made up a lot of new ones. Drinks that would sell in America. Tongo punches (maybe Tonga?) and frankensteins. Hot buttered rums in the wintertime. And a whole raft of little drinks."
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