Prince of Wales

Guess what? It's been exactly a year since I started this blog. The time really flew by. It's been a lot of fun making all these cocktails and sharing them with all of you. I've learned so much and discovered lots of new favorites. I hope you have, too!

What better to celebrate a year of blogging than a champagne cocktail? And not just any champagne cocktail - one fit for a prince. Or rather, invented by one. The Prince of Wales isn't as well-known as many of its sparkling counterparts, but it's a more than worthy addition to your celebratory repertoire. It's got an elegant, classic flavor. The rye tastes rich with the champagne, the hint of pineapple blending it all together perfectly and elevating the final product beyond the realm of the ordinary. As Paul Clarke of The Cocktail Chronicles writes, "It's a decadent recipe to read, and the drink is obviously the work of someone who takes their refreshment very seriously, and has plenty of time and resources to do so. A prince, in other words."

History: The Prince of Wales cocktail is so named because it was a favorite of King Edward VII when he was still just Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales. And, as his mother was Queen Victoria, until recently England's longest-reigning monarch, he was the Prince of Wales for quite a while - 60 years, longer than anyone else. (Interestingly, the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, has held the title of "heir apparent" longer than Edward did, for reasons I'm not going to get into here.) He reigned as King from 1901-1910. His son was George V, and his grandsons were Kings Edward VIII and George VI, whose story was recently depicted in The King's Speech (in case, like me, you get your British monarchs confused unless you have Hollywood movies to orient you).

King Edward VII

Edward had quite the reputation as a playboy and bon vivant. He had several mistresses and was known to frequent a brothel in Paris that had a custom bathtub that could be filled with champagne. We know from the 1901 book The Private Life of King Edward VII, an anonymously-written biography of the king, that he enjoyed drinking champagne as well as possibly bathing in it. The book contains a detailed section on the monarch's drinking habits, including tidbits like "the Prince is not in any sense a beer drinker" and the fact that he kept a small flask of brandy on the side table in his entrance hall at Marlborough House because once a friend of his fell ill there and "no brandy was at hand to restore the sufferer, and the illness proved fatal." Of the Prince of Wales cocktail, the biographer says:

He is also credited with having composed an excellent "cocktail." It consists of a little rye whisky, crushed ice, a small square of pineapple, a dash of Angostura bitters, a piece of lemon peel, a few drops of Maraschino, a little champagne, and powdered sugar to taste. This "short drink" is often asked for at the clubs he frequents.

The recipe was given modern proportions by David Wondrich in his book Imbibe!. Though the 1901 recipe post-dates Jerry Thomas' Bon Vivant's Companion, the Prince was probably drinking his concoction around the same time Thomas was tending bar, maybe even in Thomas' bar at one point - a popular story claims that Thomas served the Prince his first Mint Julep in New York during his 1860 visit.

Prince of Wales

1 1/2 oz. rye
1/4 tsp. maraschino liqueur
1 tsp. sugar or simple syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 chunk fresh pineapple
1 oz. sparkling wine

If using sugar, combine with bitters at the bottom of a shaker and add a dash of water. Stir to dissolve. Otherwise, just combine your simple syrup and bitters. Add rye, maraschino, and the chunk of pineapple. Fill the shaker with ice and shake nice and hard ("brutally," Wondrich says) to crush the pineapple. Strain into a goblet or coupe glass. Add sparkling wine and garnish with a lemon twist.

Recipe from Imbibe! by David Wondrich via The Cocktail Chronicles.