What is modern? In the early 1980s, the Datsun 280Z was the newest car. To be stylish, you had to wear a burgundy turtleneck, a short zipper, etc. The list can be made longer.

Time can make us laugh, making our efforts to create something new seem silly and futile. There are still some things that are fresh and modern, no matter how old they may be. Although the first Dry Martini was probably made in the 1880s and early 1890s, a sip of one will still shock you and probably make you happy!

Many other drinks can escape the time capsules too. They are simple, elegant, and free from any eccentricity to anchor them to a particular era or place. However, the Modern Cocktail is not one of them, despite the name.

The Modern cocktail was created in the first decade by Charlie Mahoney (head bartender at New York’s Hoffman House hotel on Madison Square) and combines two of the most popular ingredients of the period: sloe gin and scotch whiskey! It would be hard to believe that this pairing would work. Yet, it did.