Travel with me to New York City at the beginning of the 20th century: when Neapolitan opera singer Enrico Caruso sung at the Metropolitan Opera, lived in the Knickerbocker Hotel and drank at the Forty-Second Street Country Club.

Caruso was a larger than life person who dominated the news for many reasons, not all of them good. His PR was run by Edward Bernays who marketing types revere as the father of public relations, which might explain why he remains so well-known when so many other tenors are forgotten.

It is hard to tell who created the sweet cocktail that bears his name. Some claim that he invented it, others that a barman at the Country Club named it after him. Various nebulous stories exist about how it came to have the great opera singer’s name.

Whatever the provenance of the name, one thing is for sure: this is a drink that can be enjoyed at any time of the day, much like the Italian tenor’s opera. It is a tad sweet so perhaps it is best enjoyed as a dessert drink after dinner.

As they say in certain parts of New York – Salute!

Ingredients

(Serves one)

• 50 ml (1 2/3 fluid oz) Gin
• 30 ml (1 fluid oz) dry vermouth
• 15 ml (1/2 fluid oz) creme de menthe

I find that Bombay Sapphire Gin is the best gin for this cocktail as it has neither that strong after taste that Tanqueray or Gordon’s has nor the aromatic addition of roses that Hendrick’s brings to a cocktail.

The original recipe also calls for a full 30 ml (1 fluid ounce) of creme de menthe but I found the taste of mint to be overwhelming which is why I use half this measure.

Directions

• Fill a mixer with ice
• Measure and pour the ingredients into the mixer
• Stir the lot with a bar spoon
• Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The chilled cocktail glass is important because you don’t add ice to the drink directly; you only use ice when mixing it. A frosted glass, apart from looking cool (pun intended), keeps your drink cool for longer.