The Toronto is a dry, rich, and mildly bitter

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

consisting of rye whisky, Fernet-Branca,

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

, 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 Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

simple syrup In cooking, syrup (less commonly sirup; from ; , beverage, wine and ) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a Solution (chemistry), solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but ...

. 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. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the sub-blogs ''io9'' and ''Earther'', which focus on pop ...

by Brent Rose describes it as the "most popular legit cocktail that uses fernet". It is named after the Canadian city of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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 the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

was banned, as a result of the 1921 prohibition referendum, a reliable source for the Italian-made fernet 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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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

. 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 ty ...

'' by David A. Embury, 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 gentleman ...

's Handbook for Hosts''.

Description

The Toronto Cocktail is a variation of the

Old Fashioned Old-fashioned, an idiom meaning something not modern, or may refer to: * Old fashioned (cocktail), a whiskey cocktail ** Old fashioned glass, a type of drinking glass named after the cocktail * Old Fashioned (film), ''Old Fashioned'' (film), a 201 ...

, 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 of ...

s as the primary ingredient, such as Canadian whisky or

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

. 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. Cogn ...

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 stemware, stemmed glass (drinkware), glass with an inverted cone bowl, mainly used to serve bartending terminology#Straight up, straight-up cocktails. The term ''cocktail glass'' is often used interchangeably with ''marti ...

coupe glass A champagne glass is stemware designed for champagne and other sparkling wines. The two most common forms are the flute and coupe, both stemmed; holding the glass by the stem prevents warming the drink. Champagne can also be drunk from a normal ...

, 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, whiskey 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 use ...

. It has a rich flavour with a mild bitterness.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * {{refend

External links

Toronto Cocktail
at '' Imbibe'' Cocktails with whisky Cuisine in Toronto Cocktails with Angostura bitters Three-ingredient cocktails

History

Description

See also

Notes

References

External links