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Poor Red's BBQ in the California gold country is famous for the Golden Cadillac, a cocktail created in 1952. Next year will be the drink's 60th birthday.
It's a combination of Galliano, creme de cacao, and cream, thrown into a blender.
Poor Red's sells them by the thousands.
(They don't look this fancy at Poor Red's. Image courtesy of Galliano.)
As you might imagine, it's not the most... nuanced drink in the world but should you find yourself in El Dorado (located between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe) it's one of those when-in-Rome cocktails.
Here's some history of the drink.
Poor Reds
In El Dorado, California exists a bar known as Poor Red’s. Originally constructed as a weigh station for Wells Fargo, it previously operated under the name Kelly’s Bar from 1927 until 1945. Poor Red won the bar in a game of dice, and he and his wife and bookkeeper Rich Opal took it over then.
The murals currently on the walls of Poor Red’s were installed in the 40s. They are all former employees and patrons, including the dog which used to sit out front. It is rumored his dog ran for office, but he lost.
People come from all over California to enjoy 2 things at Poor Red’s: great barbeque and their famous Golden Cadillac cocktails.
The Golden Cadillac
Sometime in 1951 or 52, a woman and her new fiancé came into Poor Red’s. To celebrate their engagement they decided their very own cocktail should be created in their honor. The couple and long-time bartender Frank Klein decided it should be created to match their newly purchased golden Cadillac. Several recipes were tried, butt he final concoction is still known worldwide as the Golden Cadillac: a cocktail whose success has been credited to the unmatched quality of Bols Crème de Cacao, the clean mountain water that makes up the ice, decades old metal blenders, the perfect measure of half and half, and of course – the unique flavors and golden color of Galliano L’Autentico.
Since this was written the bar has narrowed its creation date to 1952.
Galliano recently gave Poor Red's a Golden Cadillac to display indefinitely outside the bar.
And if you're not in the area any time soon, here is the recipe.
Golden Cadillac
by Frank Klein of Poor Red's BBQ1 oz Galliano L’Autentico
1 oz Bols White Crème de Cacao liqueur
1 oz cream
Dark chocolate shavingsShake the ingredients and double strain through a sieve into a small wine glass. Place on a white tray and grate with dark chocolate.
There are now two newish options for bartenders to get health insurance.
1. USBG
The United States Bartenders' Guild now offers full insurance plans (previously they only had discount health plans that are not the same thing) through Custom Benefit Consultants.
2. RBA
I also just leared of the Responsible Bartenders' Association, another bartender (and related professions such as servers) that offers health and other insurance through a company called HLP. What they did was partner with TIPS (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) to show that their member bartenders take responsibility seriously, which helped them negotiate insurance discounts. Thus you need to join the RBA ($49 annually) plus take the TIPS certification to be eligible (I think they start around $40, with certification lasting 3 years).
I can't vouch for the insurance plans or the ease of getting them for either membership association, but the more options the better!
When I visited Copenhagen twice this summer, I was surprised to find one flavor all over the drink menus: eucalyptus.
At 1105, they serve a drink called the Lady Eucalyptus, made with eucalyptus syrup, gin, lemon, Cointreau, and egg whites.
At Salon 39, a very creative neighborhood bar/restaurant, they make their own line of bitters. Their eucalyptus bitters I saw all over town, helping drive this trend.
They use them in their Gin & It, as well as in their version of Sam Ross' Penicillin.
At the bar Rouge at the Skt. Petri Hotel, the bar program changed literally between me visiting it in the afternoon and the same evening. (Rumor has it they've changed over and over in the past few years.) But the menu that they showed me during the day also had the Penicillin with eucalytpus bitters. By nighttime, it was a short menu of about eight classic cocktails.
At Umami, they also have a eucalyptus drink on the menu. I thought I stole a copy of the menu but I can't seem to find it now.
At MASH, they use eucalyptus syrup in their Signature Margarita.
Now I'm wishing I brought some eucalyptus bitters as a souvenir; and odd taste that unites the great bars of Copenhagen.
In the Solid Liquids Project I've experimented with various methods to dehydrate liqueurs into solids. I've found that not every liqueur does crystallize through conventional heating methods to boil off the alcohol and water. Ones that do not crystallize usually leave a thick, sticky, gummy glob at the bottom of their container.
I have not figured out why some liqueurs don't crystallize, though I've had some theories.
Here is my list of liqueurs I've tried to crystallize (most of them in silicone cupcake cups in the oven) and whether or not it worked.
Liqueur Crystallization
| Liqueur | Crystallizes? | Notes |
| Campari | Yes | |
| Midori | Yes | |
| Amaretto | Yes | |
| Luxardo Maraschino | Yes | |
| Green Chartreuse | Yes | |
| Rhum Clement Creole Shrub | Yes | |
| Emmett's Irish Cream | Yes | Dairy |
| Aperol | Yes | |
| Tuaca | Yes | |
| Hiram Walker Triple Sec | Yes | |
| Licor 43 | Yes | |
| Creme de Violette | Yes | |
| DeKuyper Peppermint Schnapps | Yes | |
| Pallini Limoncello | Yes | Beet sugar |
| Luxardo Bitter | Yes | |
| Cointreau | Yes | Beet Sugar |
| Wild Turkey American Honey | No | Honey |
| X-Rated Fusion Liqueur | No | Fruit Juice |
| Hypnotiq | No | Fruit Juice |
| Irish Mist | No | Honey |
| Courvoisier Rose | No | Fruit Juice |
| Velvet Falernum | No- Squishy, thick | |
| Hiram Walker Gingerbread Liqueur | No- Mostly Solid | |
| Combier Roi Rene Rouge | No- Mostly Solid | Cherry Juice? |
| Firelit | No- Hard puck | |
| Potters Creme de Cacao | No-Thick, Squishy | |
| Hiram Walker Blueberry Schnapps | No- Soft Squishy | |
| Patron Citronge | No-Soft, squishy | |
| Barenjager | No- Crusty top gel beneath | Honey |
| Drambuie | No- Crusty top gel beneath | Honey |
| St.Germain | No- Crusty top gel beneath | |
| Cynar | No- Crusty top gel beneath | |
| Solerno | No- Gel | |
| J. Witty Chamomile | No- Crusty top thick gel beneath | Agave? |
| Benedictine | No- Crusty top gel beneath | Honey |
| Cherry Heering | No- Dense Gel | |
| Root | No- Solid Puck | |
| Kahlua | No- Full volume gel | |
| Domaine de Canton | No- Gel | |
| VEEV | No- Crisp, glassy puck |
It is possible that your results may differ for some of these, or that you have tried other liqueurs with successes and failures to share. If so, please let me know in the comments.
The Solid Liquids Project is sponsored by Skyy Spirits. Content created and owned by Camper English for Alcademics. For the project index, click on the logo above or follow this link.
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