Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Ward 8

Rigged elections? Cheating? In Boston? Shocking, I know. But that is how the Ward 8 was born. The drink was named after Boston’s 8th Ward, which was located in the neighborhood now known as the West End. A bar called the Locke-Ober created the drink in 1898 in homage to a longtime political boss named Martin Lomasney. Lomasney basically ran Boston’s 8th ward for decades, and used his power and influence to remain in charge and eventually win his seat in the Commonwealth Legislature, with the 8th ward delivering him the victory. The Locke-Ober, in a nod to the “fair” election that had just taken place, invented the cocktail and named it for the home ward of Lomasney.

Unfortunately, the Locke-Ober closed its doors in 2012, but its invention lives on. Recipe from Liquor.com:

2 oz. Rye

1/2 oz. Lemon juice

1/2 oz. Orange juice

2 tsp. Grenadine

2 Speared cherries to garnish

Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

This drink starts off sweet, but finishes on a sour note, coming from the (ideally fresh) lemon juice and the acidity of the orange juice. The linked recipe used too much grenadine for my liking. The wikipedia article on the drink is essentially the same recipe as the first version I made, but with half the grenadine. I prefer the recipe with half the grenadine. The citrus/sour flavor is more prominent. With both recipes, the whiskey doesn’t make it’s presence known up front, but a few sips in you can tell what the base spirit is for sure. The cherries for garnish I could take or leave, they didn’t add much to the party and I omitted them entirely for the second recipe.

(Banner image & second recipe found here)