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So, here’s a question for you: why would a posh LA restaurant name a popular cocktail after a competitor? At some point in the mid-1930s, the Vendome Club did just that. The Vendome started serving a version of the whiskey sour named after one of its Hollywood neighbors: the Brown Derby restaurant. Their name for the drink—“Brown Derby”—replaced “De Rigueur” in cocktail manuals over time, and is the name we generally encounter today.
Brown Derby Recipe:
1 1/2 OUNCES BOURBON
3/4 OUNCE GRAPEFRUIT JUICE
3/4 OUNCE HONEY SYRUP
GARNISH: GRAPEFRUIT WHEEL
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a grapefruit peel.
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Music: Chopin: Polonaise-Fantasy in A-flat Major, Op. 61 by Jonathan Biss