Cocktails Named After a Place

WHAT

This blend of Irish whiskey and coffee sweetened and crowned with whipped cream is often served in a clear glass coffee mug topped with a sprinkling of shaved chocolate, cinnamon or coffee beans.

WHERE

In the days when transatlantic flights required a mid-route stopover, the airport in Foynes, Ireland, near Limerick was a common refuelling point for people and planes. In the 1940s, the airport created Irish Coffee as its promotional drink and passenger buzz popularized it all over the world.

TRY

Taste the original version at The Sheridan Bar & Restaurant at Shannon Airport in Ireland. At Jameson Whiskey’s Midleton Distillery in Cork or Bow Street Distillery in Dublin, the iconic concoction is served with the letter “J” dusted in nutmeg on top.

Singapore Sling

WHAT

A base of gin and cherry brandy is mixed with orange, lime and often pineapple juice in a tall, hurricane-style glass, garnished with a pineapple wedge and a cocktail cherry.

WHERE

In early-1900s Singapore bars, only men were served spirits, while women sipped fruit juices. An inventive bartender juiced a gin sour cocktail with fruity flavours to make a long drink that appeared innocent enough for ladies at the time, and now enjoys global longevity.

TRY

The tropical-style Long Bar at Raffles Singapore still slings 1,000 or more of these cocktails every day, best enjoyed with peanuts—guests are encouraged to chuck the shells on the checkered floor.

Long Island Iced Tea

WHAT

An unlikely combination of vodka, rum, gin, tequila and triple sec plus citrus and a splash of cola somehow mimics the flavour and hue of iced tea when poured tall over plenty of ice.

WHERE

A Long Island, N.Y., bartender claims to have invented it in the 1970s. But another Long Island, this one on a river in Tennessee, boasts that the drink was pioneered there a century ago during Prohibition, and sweetened with a dash of maple syrup.

TRY

Long Island, Tenn., is on the outskirts of Kingsport, which offers a Long Island Iced Tea Trail with a dozen stops during the month celebrating National Long Island Iced Tea Day (June 6). In addition to the iconic cocktail, taste everything from local chocolates, ice cream and cupcakes to pizza and chicken wings inspired by the drink.

Toronto Cocktail

WHAT

Call this Canada’s answer to the Manhattan, with a pour of bracingly bitter Fernet Branca replacing the sweet vermouth. It can be served straight-up or on the rocks, garnished with orange zest.

WHERE

The earliest mention of this drink in print was in a 1922 U.K. book that said the Fernet Cocktail was “much appreciated by the Canadians of Toronto.” By 1948, it was being referred to in recipe books as a Toronto cocktail.

TRY

Sip a modern take made with spicy Lot No. 40 Rye at Canoe, the centre for culinary Canadiana perched on the 54th floor of the downtown Toronto TD Bank Tower.

Vancouver Cocktail

WHAT

The spirit-forward combination of gin, Benedictine herbal liqueur, vermouth and orange bitters is typically served straight-up in a coupe or cocktail glass.

WHERE

This drink is usually credited to the venerable ivy-covered Sylvia Hotel that’s prettily perched on English Bay in Vancouver. This is where the city’s first-ever licensed cocktail lounge opened in 1954. However, early cocktail books indicate a bartender at the members-only Vancouver Club likely served it there even earlier.

TRY

Sylvia’s Cocktail Bar

at the Sylvia Hotel still proudly serves this drink. Historical sources, and local versions, vary on whether to include dry white or sweet red vermouth: we like a blend.

The Name Game