Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Remember the Maine!

Welcome back cocktail enthusiasts. This week, you’re getting a bonus history lesson with your tasty beverage, because this week, we’re remembering the Maine.

The USS Maine was an armored battle cruiser sent by the United States to Havana in 1898 to look after American interests during the Cuban War of Independence. During the night of February 15, she mysteriously exploded in Havana Harbor, killing 260 sailors. The blame at the time was quickly foisted on the Spanish, who vehemently denied any involvement in the incident. They conducted an investigation and determined that the explosion was caused by a spontaneous combustion in the coal storage, which just happened to be located right next to the magazine on the ship. The U.S. Navy conducted their own inquiry, and determined that a mine, laid by the Spanish detonated next to the magazine, causing the explosion.

The Spanish inquiry was conveniently not reported in the US newspapers of the time. Instead, they focused on the Spanish mine theory. Publishers such as William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer embellished and sometimes even made up stories to sell newspapers back home. This “yellow journalism” or “fake news”, stoked anti-Spanish sentiment in the U.S., giving rise to the popular slogan “Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!” Regardless of what you believe caused the sinking (seriously, there have been FIVE different investigations into the sinking) the rallying cry was effective. By April of that year, Americans were on the ground, fighting the Spanish in Cuba.

The cocktail first made an appearance in “The Gentlemen’s Companion: An Exotic Drinking Book” by Charles H. Baker Jr, published in 1937. According to the PDT cocktail book, “The original recipe hails from Bakers ‘hazy memory of a night in Havana during the unpleasantness of 1933, when each swallow was punctuated with bombs going off on the Prado, or the sound of 3″ shells being fired at the Hotel Nacional…”

Luckily, we can enjoy this tasty beverage without dodging shells. Recipe courtesy of the PDT Cocktail Book:

2 oz. Wild Turkey Russel’s Reserve 6 Year Old Rye Whiskey

.75 oz. Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth

.5 oz. Cherry Heering

1 barspoon Pernod

Stir with ice, and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.

The version I made had slightly different ingredients, based on what I already had in my bar. I used:

2 oz. Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon

.75 oz. Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth

.5 oz. Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

1 barspoon Anise Liqueur

Banner image from here