Discover the Sherry Cobbler - Find. Eat. Drink.

The Sherry Cobbler - Find. Eat. Drink.

Sherry Cobbler, Cocktail, Recipe, Neal Bodenheimer, New Orleans, LA, Louisiana, Cure, Bellocq, Cane and Table, The Beagle, Dan Greenbaum, How To Make, The Best Sherry Cobbler, Fino, Manzanilla, Oloroso, Amontillado, Drink, Where to drink, Where to shop, Ingredients, Recommendations, Bartender’s Recommendations, Bartenders Recipes, Bartenders Tip, Insider Recommendations, Shop Where The Pros Shop

Turn back the clock to a simpler time with a cobbler cocktail. Cobblers are pre-prohibition, ice-laden, fruit cocktails that were all the rage back in the mid-1800s. The base wine or liquor is mixed with crushed ice, fruit and some sugar. The original and most popular base was sherry or other fortified wines. Over the years, bourbons and whiskeys became popular too. It’s a drink that is both refreshing and seasonally relevant throughout the year.

At The Beagle in New York and Bellocq in New Orleans, the Cobbler is having a renaissance. We asked bartender / owners Dan Greenbaum and Neal Bodenheimer for their take on the Sherry Cobbler, its ingredients and variations, as well as a couple of Cobbler recipes.

Tips & Recipes from The Beagle’s Dan Greenbaum & Bellocq’s Neal Bodenheimer

Discover the Sherry Cobbler

August 27, 2013

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Dan Greenbaum on the Cobbler

Dan Greenbaum is a bartender and co-owner of The Beagle in New York, NY

History

The Sherry Cobbler was indisputably one of, if not the most popular mixed drink of the second half of the 19th century. A recipe appears in Jerry Thomas’ The Bon Vivant's Companion in 1862, and by that point the drink was already well known, although there are references to it in books from much earlier.

A great part of the appeal of the cobbler was the novelty of crushed ice and the drinking straw, both relatively new aspects to drinking in that era. Sherry was the most popular at the time, but the cobbler is a style of drink that lends itself well to other wines such as Champagne, Madeira, Port, and Tokaji.

The Recipe

Jerry Thomas’ recipe calls for wine, sugar and crushed ice. Generally, fruit was reserved as a fanciful garnish, which was a common distinction with this drink. I find that muddling a little bit of fruit with the sherry adds another layer and makes the drink adaptable for different seasons.

Seasonal Cobblers

In the summer, we muddle some fresh raspberries with a little bit of lemon and a sharper Amontillado. In the winter, I like to switch to just citrus and change the style of sherry. It shows the versatility of the drink. There are so many different wines to use and sweetener options. I recently made one with Amontillado, Cynar, orange and honey.

Wine Varieties

Madeira works very well too, because of its acidity. Sweeter sherries and port are also cool, because they allow you to use less, or no sugar at all. A Champagne cobbler runs in the same mold of the sherry cobbler. Lastly, using liqueurs as sweeteners is another interesting twist on the drink.

A Cobbler at Beloocq in New Orleans

Photograph courtesy of Bellocq

Neal Bodenheimer’s Take

Neal Bodenheimer is a bartender and co-owner of Bellocq and Cure in New Orleans, LA

Cobblers in New Orleans

When my partner, Kirk Estopinal and I were opening Bellocq, we wanted to create a place focused on historical cocktail formats. Kirk is an extremely detailed cocktail researcher and used a number of books, including Convivial Dickens and some vermouth books. We also talked to Dave Wondrich a number of times and no question about it, he is a wealth of knowledge. Cobblers are one of our main cocktails and the sherry cobbler is the most famous of all cobblers.

Sherry Choices

We go back and forth on which sherry we use, but for Tales of the Cocktail, we created a cobbler using an unfiltered La Gitana Manzanilla that’s still has a little bit of flor in it. A lot of times we like to use the Pedro Romero Amontillado.

A Cobbler with Salers Gentian

I love Salers Gentian; it’s so delicious and I think it’s great. It makes an amazing cobbler with just a dash of sugar and a little bit of grapefruit peel. Salers is light, doesn’t have too much alcohol and has enough sugar.