Built in 1889 by Joseph Oller, the Moulin Rouge, or "red mill" is a cabaret which is found in Montmartre near the red-light district of Pigalle, and features externally a red windmill on the roof (Bal du Moulin Rouge). As the century moved to a close, France experienced a sort of fever, which has been referred to historically as the fin de siècle period, and also would later be referred to and coincide with the la Belle Époque, which would conclude at the start of the great war. During this period, at least in retrospect, great movements would occur in science, in art, in culture, all seemingly lost as only nostalgic periods as the two World Wars would occur and drive people to become disillusioned with the current state of affairs, and even to some extent, disillusioned with the way in which the government was being run. The Third Republic, which would finally conclude with the Nazi Invasion of France and would lead to the Vichy period, would be marked both by the rise of new spectacular culture and reality, as well as marred by the various events that were looked upon as social or economic strife and anxiety.
Returning to the cabaret, the Moulin Rouge is an exceedingly excellent example of the spectacle that would be linked with fin de siècle culture. Featured in the Japonisme artistic movement that so characterized Toulouse-Lautrec, a regular at the cabaret, the fascinating contrasts between spectacle in reality, in performed practice, and in the commercial aspects of the cabaret fit really well as objects of his paintings (Ibid). The cabaret can be seen as a sort of mass culture, and some of the artwork and stylings of Lautrec likewise can be seen as mass culture, especially with his Art Noveau stylings found in various posters such as Avril or Moulin Rouge - La Goulue. Mass culture always involves the status of the consumer, who are transformed into spectators while they engage with artwork, film, theater, and other forms of spectacle (Schwartz 8). We can look at the cabaret as a sort of spectacle, not only because of the way in which it is framed externallly, with a large advertisement and symbol representing the structure, but also the way in which the internal part of the cabaret would feature strip tease shows and other "exhibitionist" stylized acts that attracted mass amounts of spectators.
The club had slowly diminished in being an upper end section of society, and slowly became associated with the working class, specifically after changes in how cabaret is perceived (Bal du Moulin Rouge). During the Second World War, the cabaret was not popular at all, being a husk of its former glory, during the Nazi Occupation of Paris by the Wehrmacht (Ibid). After the war, the Cabaret had little clientele, and it wasn't until about six years afterwords that the clients started to return thanks to the efforts of Georges France (Ibid).
The only place in which I can find the cocktail is actually in Craddock's book, the Savoy Cocktail Book (1930), which may be in part due to the fact orange gin is no longer readily available to the mass public (Craddock 109). With fruit flavors flowing throughout, depending on how the cocktail is made, it is either sweeter or less sweet, and this is on account of one of the ingredients. Besides the unavailability of orange gin, which I had to produce myself in order to just make this cocktail, apricot brandy is a point of contention as well.
Orange gin, which apparently is only produced in a widespread commercial availability by Seagram's Gin, was a liqueur that featured the flavors of oranges infused in a gin. Apparently, there is a domestic version produced by Charles Jacquin et Cie of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which is only available in limited distribution (CocktailDB.com). As such, since I didn't want to go with Seagram's Orange Gin, I decided to make my own: I took Gordon's gin, infused it with the orange rind of Seville and Cara Cara oranges, and then blended it with demerara syrup to reduce the spirit to about 30 percent alcohol by volume, and turn it into a liqueur. The reason I did this is because I wanted to emulate Gordon's Orange Gin, which was discontinued around the 1970s, and was not made with extract or essence of orange, but rather real orange fruit. You can see the similarity in the fact their orange gin has accumulated color, and is not a neutral clear, like many other historical Orange Gin's that feature essence rather than fruit. Furthermore, Gordon's, besides being cheap, is extremely well balanced as far as London Dry Gin's go, and tastes exceedingly well with other orange flavors, so I felt it only natural to try to emulate a lost flavor.
On the other hand, another problem with the cocktail is the term apricot brandy. In the United States, apricot brandy refers to a liqueur, which is completely different from the term apricot brandy of old, which is an apricot eau de vie (Jackson 38). Apricot liqueurs are many times "mistakenly labeled" as apricot brandy in the United States; certain European versions actually categorize themselves on the label as liqueur, rather than as brandy, and as such, removes any hesitancy of a doubt (DeGroff 69). Liqueur, as we know is a spirit that is given various flavors through a variety of methods, and then is cut with sugar, in order to diminish the alcohol content, and increase the sweetness of the product. Apricot brandy though, in the true sense of the word, is similar to Calvados, or Brandy, or that it is a spirit distilled from the raw fruit, and does not have or need any additional sugar added because it is a eau de vie, or water of life, composed directly from the fruit (Jackson 38).
So with this drink, I tried it three ways: while the most historical would probably be the one featuring the eau de vie and not the liqueur, the drink was by no means bad when mixed with apricot liqueur instead of true apricot brandy, and so I decided to try it a third way, with a mixture of both, turning it into an equal parts drink with three dashes of grenadine.
In the first version, we have the utilization of Rothman and Winters Orchard Apricot liqueur, which has a nice apricot flavor, is not overly sweet, and has a thick bodied mouth-feel, while retaining a delicate sense. This cocktail turned out to not be overly sweet, considering it contains no true spirit, but rather two liqueurs, and still had a nice sour flavor coming through from the lemon juice. Grenadine in this one needs to be watched carefully, since it will affect the flavor and might make it a little more sweet than desired, but also the grenadine is slightly lost amongst the sugars and the strong apricot flavors. I think that this version would be much better as an after dinner drink, because of the higher sugar content, and may go really well with some fruit based desserts.
The second version was a mixture of the ingredients with a true apricot eau de vie. I utilized Blume Marillen Apricot Eau de Vie, which has a nice delicate aroma, and a good mouth feel, is not sweet but rather somewhat dry, and gives off a slight taste of walnuts on the finish. Because aroma is so important when imbibing spirits of any type, especially brandies, I put this in a tulipe glass, so that the aroma would remain and could be embraced by the imbiber while they sit and enjoy the beauty of the cocktail, much as one would enjoy the sounds, sights, and atmosphere of a theater. The Grenadine really does help this cocktail, because it gives the taste of fresh pomegranates, and truly this is by far superior to the first version, which lacked that taste. Overall, the depth of flavor really comes through, but of course, this also reminds me of a Jack Rose, not only in color, but the use of lemon juice, and the similar flavors between apples of apricots that sometimes come through when they are paired with a spirit.
The last version, which I actually prefer to the other two, gives the drink even more depth of flavor, while not being overly sweet, or overly pungent. The drink works really well, captures a mix of color between the two, and is truly a unique flavor. It honestly encourages me to kick my heels up, relax, and enjoy just sitting there, turning the cocktail into a spectacle that I can enjoy over time. While I am doing equal parts, one could very well just as easily take the drink, and mix 3/4 an ounce of the apricot eau de vie, with only 1/4 an ounce of the apricot liqueur, which should give it a better dry taste, making it not as sugary, and enable other flavors to come through thanks to the light delicate aroma of the eau de vie compared to the liqueur. This would also fortify the drink somewhat, and make it a bit more complex.
The Moulin Rouge (original, as by Craddock):
1 ounce Apricot brandy (go with a eau de vie)
1/2 ounce Orange gin
1/2 ounce lemon juice
3 dashes grenadine (true pomegranate syrup) (1/2 a teaspoon)
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake and strain into a glassware deserving of the cocktail.
The Moulin Rouge (modified, or slightly more modern):-----
1/2 ounce Apricot eau de vie
1/2 ounce Apricot liqueur
1/2 ounce Orange gin
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grenadine (true pomegranate)
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake and strain into a glass.
Bal du Moulin Rouge. "Historic." MoulinRouge.fr. http://www.moulinrouge.fr/html_gb/historic_sommaire.htm (accessed April 30, 2010).
CocktailDB: The Internet Cocktail Database. "Orange gin." CocktailDB.com. http://www.cocktaildb.com/ingr_detail?id=260 (accessed April 30, 2010).
Craddock, Henry. 1999. The Savoy Cocktail Book. Originally published 1930. London: Pavilion Books.
DeGroff, Dale. 2008. The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks. New York: Clarkson Potter/Publishers.
Jackson, Michael. 1995. Michael Jackson's Bar and Cocktail Companion: The Connoisseur's Handbook. Originally published 1979. Philadelphia: Running Press.
Popkin, Jeremy D. 2006. A History of Modern France. Third edition. Originally published 1994. Upple Saddle Rivver, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Schwartz, Vanessa R. 1998. Spectacular Realities: Early Mass Culture in Fin-de-Siècle Paris. Berkeley: University of California Press.
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