The Toronto is a dry, rich, and mildly bitter

cocktail A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across ...

consisting of

Canadian whisky Canadian whisky is a type of whisky produced in Canada. Most Canadian whiskies are blended multi-grain liquors containing a large percentage of corn spirits, and are typically lighter and smoother than other whisky styles.

Fernet-Branca Fernet-Branca () is an Italian brand of fernet, a style of ''amaro (liqueur), amaro'' or bitters. It was formulated in Milan in 1845, and is manufactured there by Fratelli Branca, Fratelli Branca Distillerie. History Fernet-Branca was formulat ...

angostura bitters Angostura bitters () is a concentrated bitters (herbal alcoholic preparation) based on gentian, herbs, and spices, by House of Angostura in Trinidad and Tobago. It is typically used for flavouring beverages or, less often, food. The bitters wer ...

, and either

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

simple syrup Inverted sugar syrup, also called invert syrup, invert sugar, simple syrup, sugar syrup, sugar water, bar syrup, syrup USP, or sucrose inversion, is a syrup mixture of the monosaccharides glucose and fructose, that is made by hydrolytic sacch ...

. An article in

Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite ''io9'', whic ...

by Brent Rose describes it as the "most popular legit cocktail that uses

fernet Fernet () is an Italian type of amaro, a bitter, aromatic spirit. Fernet is made from a number of herbs and spices which vary according to the brand, but usually include myrrh, rhubarb, chamomile, cardamom, aloe, and especially saffron, with a b ...

". It is named after the Canadian city of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

History

It was first recorded as the ''Fernet Cocktail'' in Robert Vermeire's 1922 edition of ''Cocktails: How to Mix Them'', in which he stated that the "cocktail is much appreciated by the Canadians of Toronto". Because the importation of alcoholic beverages to

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

was banned, as a result of the 1921 prohibition referendum, a reliable source for the Italian-made

would not have been readily available. It is unclear whether the Torontonians referenced by Vermeire obtained the drink in Toronto before prohibition, or at his bar in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. By 1930, it was listed as the Toronto Cocktail in ''Cocktail Bill Boothby's World Drinks And How To Mix Them'' by

William "Cocktail" Boothby William T. "Cocktail Bill" Boothby (November 10, 1862, San Francisco – August 4, 1930, San Francisco) was an American bartender and writer of San Francisco, California in the years before and after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. He tended ...

. The recipes by Vermeire and Boothby both listed equal measures of rye whisky and Fernet-Branca. In 1948, it was listed as the ''Toronto Cocktail'' in the book ''

The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks ''The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks'' is a book about cocktails by David A. Embury, first published in 1948. The book is noteworthy for its witty, highly opinionated and conversational tone, as well as its categorization of cocktails into two main typ ...

'' by

David A. Embury David Augustus Embury (November 3, 1886 – July 6, 1960) was an American tax attorney, mixologist and author of ''The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks'' (1948), an encyclopedia of the 20th century cocktail. Life and career David Augus ...

, and in 1949 a recipe for the Toronto Cocktail was included in ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

's Handbook for Hosts''.

Description

The Toronto Cocktail is a variation of the Old Fashioned, with the addition of Fernet-Branca. Variations of the cocktail substitute various

rye whiskey Rye whiskey can refer to two different, but related, types of whiskey: * American rye whiskey, which is similar to bourbon whiskey, but must be distilled from at least 51 percent rye grain * Canadian whisky, which is often referred to as (and o ...

s as the primary ingredient, such as Canadian whisky or

Old Overholt Old Overholt is America's oldest continually maintained brand of whiskey, was founded in West Overton, Pennsylvania, in 1810. Old Overholt is a rye whiskey distilled by A. Overholt & Co., currently a subsidiary of Beam Suntory, which is a subsid ...

. The Fernet Cocktail recipe by Vermeire specified of

cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cog ...

or rye whisky, and gill of Fernet-Branca. The rye whisky complements the bitter Fernet-Branca and prevents it from dominating the cocktail. Sugar or simple syrup are used to reduce the cocktail's bitterness. It may be served in a

cocktail glass A cocktail glass is a stemmed glass with an inverted cone bowl, mainly used to serve straight-up cocktails. The term ''cocktail glass'' is often used interchangeably with ''martini glass'', despite their differing slightly. Today, the glass i ...

or coupe glass, and served with an orange slice or twist. It may also be served with ice in an

old fashioned glass The old fashioned glass, otherwise known as the rocks glass and lowball glass (or simply lowball), is a short tumbler used for serving spirits, such as whisky, neat or with ice cubes ("on the rocks"). It is also normally used to serve certain ...

. It has a rich flavour with a mild bitterness.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * {{refend

External links

Toronto Cocktail
at ''

Imbibe ''Imbibe'' is a magazine published in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is published six times a year. The magazine covers beverages of all kinds, including spirits, wine, beer, coffee, and tea. History The first issue of ''Imbibe'' was rele ...

'' Cocktails with whisky Toronto cuisine Cocktails with bitters Three-ingredient cocktails

History

Description

See also

Notes

References

External links