A tall, frosty cooler of nutty amontillado sherry, lightly sweetened and shaken hard with orange and lemon wheels, then poured over a mound of crushed ice and crowned with mint and seasonal fruit. Low in proof and bracingly cold, it sips through a straw like chilled, citrus-bright wine, the sherry's dry, savoury edge rounded by sugar and lifted by the fruit's perfume.
Garnish: Mint Sprig, Orange Wheel
Shaken · Highball · Crushed
muddle
Lightly muddle the orange (and lemon) wheels with the simple syrup in a shaker.
add
Add the amontillado sherry and fill the shaker with ice.
shake
Shake briefly to chill and integrate.
strain
Pour, unstrained, into a highball glass packed with crushed ice.
garnish
Crown with a mint sprig and seasonal fruit (an orange slice or berries). Serve with a straw.
No one is known to have invented the Sherry Cobbler; it surfaces in the 1830s, and its earliest known mention comes from a diary Katherine Jane Ellice kept in 1838. Charles Dickens spread its fame abroad when Martin Chuzzlewit was won over by one, and from the 1840s through the 1880s it was arguably the most popular drink in America. Jerry Thomas set down a recipe in his 1862 Bar-Tender's Guide, and Harry Johnson's 1888 manual still judged it the nation's favourite, enjoyed by women and men alike.