Groundhog Day! Groundhog Day! Let’s hope that the groundhog doesn’t see his shadow and winter will be over soon. I never want six more weeks of winter. Snow! Cold! Shovelling! ICK! I am so over winter!
Why exactly do we trust our weather forecasting to a furry little rodent? Punxsutawney Phil (the American Groundhog) only has a 39% accuracy rate (according to the Washington Post). Ontario’s Wiarton Willie and Nova Scotia’s (did you know Nova Scotia had its own groundhog?) Shubenacadie Sam were only right 37% of the time. With these stats, they could work for the Environment Canada!
The first reference to Groundhog Day was found in a storekeeper’s diary dated February 4, 1841. The holiday was first adopted in 1887, in the U.S. The editor of a small Pennsylvania town paper, Clymer H. Freas of the “Punxsutawney Spirit”, began promoting the town’s groundhog as the official “Groundhog Day meteorologist”. To this day, Punxsutawney has the largest Groundhog Day celebration.
In 1993, the very funny movie starring Bill Murray (Phil Connors) and Andie MacDowell (Rita Hanson) – which I’m sure started the “name the movie after a holiday” trend – was about coverage of Groundhog Day events. Phil is forced to live the same day over and over and over until he finally gets it right. Living the same day over and over as well as having to stand outside in the cold waiting for the groundhog would certainly give one cause to drink! So, we have cocktails for Groundhog Day!
The first drink is called the Groundhog Day cocktail – this is what Rita (Andie MacDowell) orders in the movie. As the day repeats and repeats and repeats, she orders it a lot! Just as Phil’s character evolves throughout the movie, so does the Groundhog Day cocktail.
The Groundhog Day cocktail:
What you need:
- 2 oz sweet red vermouth (I used Dolin)
- Lemon twist (garnish)
What you do:
- Fill a rocks glass with ice
- Pour the sweet vermouth over the ice
- Garnish with the lemon twist
The first evolution of the Groundhog cocktail is the Americano. This drink was first served in Gaspare Campari’s bar in Milan, Caffè Campari, in the 1860s and adds some bitter balance to the sweet red vermouth with the addition of Campari.
The Americano:
What you need:
- 1 oz sweet red vermouth (I used Dolin)
- 1 oz Campari
- Soda water
- Orange slice (garnish)
What you do:
- Fill a rocks glass with ice
- Pour the sweet vermouth and Campari over the ice
- Add a splash, or more, of soda water
- Garnish with a half orange slice
The final evolution in the Groundhog cocktails series (which some may say reaches cocktail perfection) is the Negroni. Legend has it that this drink was invented at Caffè Casoni in Florence in 1919 when Count Camillo Negroni asked bartender Forsco Scarselli to strengthen his usual drink (the Americano) by replacing the soda water with gin. Hey, maybe the Count heard that they were getting more winter instead of an early spring!
The Negroni:
What you need:
- 1 oz sweet red vermouth (I used Dolin)
- 1 oz Campari
- 1 oz gin (I used Burleigh’s London Dry Gin)
- Orange peel (garnish)
What you do:
- Fill a rocks glass with ice
- Pour the sweet red vermouth, Campari and Burleigh’s London Dry Gin over the ice
- Stir
- Garnish with the orange peel
There are a lot of variations on the Negroni. The Boulevardier substitutes bourbon for gin. You can substitute different types of gins to give different flavours. Last night in Bali, Peter had a Smokey Negroni, which added Aperol to the basic Negroni recipe, prior to smoking it.
Salute! Here’s hoping the end of winter is soon! Stay warm!
