Food - Drink
Why The Millionaire Isn't Just One Cocktail
By KATIE HORST
The first recorded recipe for the Millionaire called for dark rum, apricot brandy, and sloe gin, but now there are up to five drinks bearing the Millionaire name, and their variations are distinct. How does a cocktail with the same name vary even down to its boozy base? It all comes down to the time in which it was created.
Alcohol was illegal during Prohibition, but bars, while clandestine, did not go away. In fact, in many cases, they experienced a rise in sales. The Millionaire was a cocktail from that period that was a representation of the times and while one speakeasy made it with bourbon, another made it with rum leading to multiple recipes.
If you want to create a drink that tastes like a million bucks, choose your liquor base, add some sweet liqueur and finish with lemon or frothy egg white. The Millionaire is a cocktail with one name but a million ways to make it.