Belmont Park’s Long Forgotten Cocktail
The stakes to crown a winning drink for Belmont Park have been almost as high as the thoroughbreds running the third leg of the Triple Crown over the years. Long before the White Carnation, the Belmont Breeze and the Belmont Jewel were the signature cocktails of the Belmont Stakes another drink reigned supreme.
The 1920s Belmont Park Cocktail with Bacardi, egg, port and sugar is a twist on the Coffee Cocktail with rum instead of brandy. Its the horse race’s namesake nip from yesteryear, but was it the first to stake this claim?
More on that later.
Behind The Bar – How To Make The Belmont Park Cocktail At Home
Belmont Park Cocktail Recipe:
- 1 oz rum
- 1 fresh egg
- 1 tsp powdered sugar
- 2 oz port wine
Break the egg and add sugar, port wine, rum and ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
History Of The Belmont Park Cocktail
First Published
The Belmont Park Cocktail was a piece of Americana circa 1925 whose publishers found a way around the Volstead Act of 1920.* They added a shot of humor to the drink recipes.
Let’s Get Serious
Dedicated to serious drinkers everywhere, Americana was a rare prohibition era book that poked fun at the Eighteenth Amendment. Non-alcoholic liquors and ‘flavorings’ were used as ingredients in the eight cocktails which included the Alabama, Barbary Coast, Belmont Park, Blue Blazer, Deadwood Dick, Manhattan, New Orleans Drip and the Rip Van Winkle Sleeper.
Original Belmont Park Cocktail Recipe:
- ½ Bacardi (non-alcoholic)
- 1 Egg
- 1 Teaspoonful Powdered Sugar
- ⅔ Port (non-alcoholic)
Add ice, shake well and strain into cocktail glasses.
First Created
A note with the recipe includes an illegible date that appears to say:
The halcyon days of 1890 saw the birth of this well known drink. It was invented at the famous Jockey Club of Belmont Park.
This timeline doesn’t seem accurate though. While the horses first ran the Belmont Stakes in 1867 at Jerome Park Racetrack in the Bronx until the race was moved to nearby Morris Park Racecourse in 1890, Belmont Park in Elmont, New York didn’t actually open until 1905.† You’ll have to judge the writing for yourself.
Steeped In The Steeplechase
But, don’t fence them in. There’s more at stake than the Stakes.
Steeplechasing, which grew from the sport of hunting where horses carried riders over fence, field and stream, has a rich tradition at Belmont Park.‡ In fact, the original complex had an additional track near the Long Island Railroad extension called Belmont Park Terminal which featured the steeplechase and it was jump racing that was used as the cocktail napkin illustration for Americana’s Belmont Park drink recipe (modified inset shown above).
Win, Place Or Show
The uncertainty surrounding the exact chronology of the Belmont Park cocktail opens the gate for another horse to win the race for the Belmont Stakes first official signature drink. And that horse was of course the Belmont Cocktail with gin, raspberry syrup and cream from 1916.
That’s a bevy of Belmont beverages which raises the stakes to five trademark tipples and counting for those of you tending bar at home. To be continued…
Similar Drinks
- Chicago Fizz – dark rum, ruby port, lemon juice, superfine sugar, egg whites and seltzer water.
- Coffee Flip – brandy, port wine, powdered sugar, whole egg, light cream and nutmeg.
- Elk’s Own – rye whiskey, ruby port, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg whites.
- Lil Naue – apricot brandy, Cognac, port, egg yolk, sugar, lemon twist and cinnamon.
- Sevilla Cocktail No. 2 – a Belmont Park drink recipe that’s easy on the sugar and wine.
- White Notes – light rum, white port, honey, egg, simple syrup, almonds and nutmeg.
Triple Crown Cocktails
- Black Eyed Susan – presently poured as the Preakness Stakes proper potation.
- Mint Julep – Churchill Downs designated drink for the Kentucky Derby.
- Preakness Cocktail – the original drink of Pimlico.
References
