Current Newsletter

  Archives
  eNewsletter
  Better Cocktails
  Stefanie Says








A Race for a Better Cocktail

In the mist of a cold September night a stripped down Chris-Craft is loaded to the gunnels, the wooden boat groans slightly under the sheer weight of the load. The dark clouds obscure what would otherwise be a beautiful night on the St. Lawrence River, a perfect night to make a dash across the border to the US and drop a precious load. If there are patrols out tonight, they stand little chance of seeing the boat with its finely varnished dark mahogany and stand an even smaller chance of catching the stripped down boat, should it unload its illegal contents. A powerful engine and some savvy locals at the wheel promise a wild chase back across the Canadian border. All along the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, and the border with Canada to the "12 mile line" off the shores of the Eastern Seaboard, this dark night will see hundreds, if not thousands, of border crossings, and all for the sake of providing Americans with an illegal...cocktail.

On many nights up and down the Eastern Seaboard a fleet of Nova Scotia, English or Cuban ships would drift 12 miles offshore, just beyond the US territorial waters that became known as the Rum Line. Each night a flotilla of small craft would sneak out of bays and harbors and make a bee line for the Rum Line. Often dodging Coast Guard and customs boats, the stripped down highly horse-powered boats would fill their holds with as much Johnny Walker and Jamaican run as they could take, and zigzag their way back to shore.
However, once the cargo was on its way back to the beach, the pursuit could begin in earnest. A classic cat and mouse game ensued, with each side employing the best 1930s technology to win the race. Rumrunners built some of the fastest, sleekest boats afloat. Crammed with aircraft engines, lined with bulletproof glass, and designed to haul the greatest volume of booze, these custom busters became legendary.

On the night of August 20, 1931, the Coast Guard cutter CG-808 was patrolling Long Island Sound. Herself a converted rumrunner, she was on the high seas looking for the most famous of all rumrunners, the Artemis. It was rumored she was bringing in a full load of liquid spirits for the Labor Day weekend. Spotting a shadow on the horizon, the cutter's captain cut his engines, doused his lights, and drifted in the moon light. He could hear the low rumble of diesels, as the shadowy boat approached.

Throwing on his main spotlight, he picked up the fore castle of the boat, just as it crashed into the cutter. It was the Artemis, riding low in the water, loaded with gin and high tailing it towards Greenport. The collision nearly knocked the crew off the cutter, but they quickly recovered, fired up their engines, and gave hot pursuit.

The Artemis was 4 knots faster than the cutter and began to lengthen the distance between them. The cutter hailed them to heave to, and put a shot over her bow. The Artemis ignored the exploding spray and began laying down a thick smoke screen. The cutter broke out everything they had - machine guns, carbines, deck gun 500 rounds in all. Disappearing into the smoke and fog, the Artemis lost the cutter. But she was hit, and headed for the nearest port. At dawn's light the Coast Guard began a search of both sides of the Sound. They found two of the crew members in Greenport, where they'd checked into the local hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. There was no sign of the Artemis, but its distinctive cargo was spotted near Orient Point beach. A number of smaller boats had brought the booze to shore, and a furious off-loading was taking place in broad light. As happened with so much illegal drink, most of it disappeared into thin air. And the Artemis? She was found under repair in a Port Jefferson shipyard, where she was seized and ironically, turned over to the Coast Guard for re-commissioning as a patrol boat!

- Montauk Life Magazine
The last time border security was such a contentious national issue, the nation was debating a much different issue. The argument was about being able to enjoy a great cocktail. In 1919, Congress, in their infinite wisdom, passed the Volstead Amendment. More commonly known as Prohibition, it outlawed the sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States from 1920 to 1933. As impossible as it seems today, having a gin and tonic at the end of the day became a federal offense.

In response to this, a new industry sprang up overnight to cater to those who still sought out a cocktail from time to time. Rum running, bootlegging, moon shining - call it what you want, but the importation, transportation, and distribution of the now illegal spirits became a very lucrative business. Run by newly organized crime, and abetted by the indifference of many average Americans, the process of supplying alcohol reached into nearly every community in America.

Naturally, this flow of spirits spawned a string of local speakeasies and attracted the high rollers of the day. John Barrymore, Errol Flynn, Ernest Hemingway all could not pass up the opportunity for a great cocktail. The challenge that most of the bartenders of the day faced was maintaining a steady supply of quality product. While at times the best European, Caribbean, and Canadian spirits were available, often times the lack of supply when shipments were disrupted was filled by “bathtub” spirits. The heyday of the cocktail began in earnest as bartenders were challenged to create great tasting cocktails to mask the bitterness of the often low quality spirits that were available to them. The Gin and Tonic, Highball, and Long Island Ice Tea were a few inspirations of Prohibition.

As the popularity of the cocktail began to surge and the American public became increasingly restless with the government’s meddling in "private" affairs, the Noble Experiment, as Prohibition was called, came to an end in 1933. The public had had enough of enforced temperance, along with the crime and corruption it spawned.

The creativity of bartenders during this time, as well as the romance and risqué of the nation’s illicit clubs, led to the Golden Age of the Cocktail in the 1930s as the knowledge that bartenders gained during Prohibition spread and was put to good use. The repeal of Prohibition also helped pull the nation out of the Depression. Now legal, the industry created jobs and provided the government with an enormous base of taxable goods. The popularity of the cocktail party even inspired the first cocktail dress. Popularized in the pages of Vogue and Vanity Fair, these black little numbers impress to this day. While we are currently enjoying the second coming of the great cocktail age, we are fortunate that we did not have to endure a second Prohibition to inspire it, but tip our hats to those who endured it and those whose creativity inspired an unsurpassed era of popular culture.

Cheers,
Gil

Click here for more Founders' Findings.