Hair of the Dog is Cookthink’s Monday morning cocktail column by Rob Chirico, the author of the Field Guide to Cocktails. Read more about Rob here.

According to Harry Johnson in his Bartenders’ Manual, “[The Sherry Cobbler] is without doubt the most popular beverage in this country … It is a very refreshing drink for old and young.” Don’t be too distraught if you have never heard of Cobbler, let alone tasted one, since the venerable barman wrote that back in 1888.

The earliest mention of a Cobbler was in the 1809 edition of Washington Irving’s History of New York, and the drink was already immensely popular by the middle of the century. In their earliest versions, Cobblers were wine or spirit-based drinks made with sugar, garnished with fruit or mint and served in a tall goblet with plenty of ice. If this is beginning to sound like the basis for a julep or any number of iced drinks, that is because a Cobbler is essentially a long, cool drink simply meant to stave off the heat of summer.

Then there is the matter of shaking or stirring — an issue that has led some to fisticuffs regarding another popular cocktail. On that note, while one immediately associates the cocktail shaker with the Martini, it was the Cobbler that truly heralded the advent of the modern shaker. In his Craft of the Cocktail, Dale DeGroff points out that Cobblers were initially shaken with the fruit, but that technique passed out of favor by the 1930s, and fruit was added later as a garnish. Stirring also replaced shaking, but the resulting drink was always served in a large glass filled to the brim with cracked ice.

Over time, Cobblers were made with rum, applejack, gin, whiskey and even Champagne, but the Brandy Cobbler seems to have garnered the widest audience of aficionados. When made with shaved ice, Cobblers are something on the order of snow cones for adults. So, with a hint of summer already in the air, perhaps it is time to delve back into history a little and cobble up a refreshing drink.

Recipe: Basic Brandy Cobbler (Hair of the Dog)

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