With its combination of spirits, fortified wine and bitters, the Country Life bears a striking resemblance to the Manhattan. But the drink is an outlier within that family, and it speaks to a precise moment in cocktail history while also nodding at some of the most antique strains within American drinking culture. Today, this time capsule of a drink finds its way to the menu at Wm. Farmer & Sons in Hudson, New York.
The original recipe for the Country Life (bourbon, Jamaican rum, port and bitters) is attributed to Crosby Gaige, who included it in his 1944 book, the Standard Cocktail Guide. Gaige was a wildly successful Broadway producer who was obsessed with food and drink and the culture around it. (It would have been hard for him to avoid; Broadway and the American Cocktail grew up together in New York City, after all.) When, in the 1930s, the Depression put a damper on his theatrical endeavors, Gaige started writing a culinary column for Country Life magazine—which is surely where this cocktail got its name.
The rise of bourbon (over the traditional rye) as a base for Manhattans was still in its infancy in Gaige’s era, so that choice reflects the contemporary cocktail culture of the day. At the same time, though, the drink’s other main spirits—rum and port—hark back to the pre-Cocktail days of 18th-century taverns; by the 1940s, aged Jamaican rums weren’t as popular in cocktails and port had fallen by the wayside.
Not one of the most common sources of inspiration for modern bartenders, Gaige’s 1944 book, a follow-up to its more amusing predecessor, Crosby Gaige’s Cocktail Guide and Ladies’ Companion (1941), must have come under the trained eye of bar industry veteran Richie Boccato (Dutch Kills, The Gem). Boccato has long been the bar consultant for Wm. Farmer & Sons, where the Country Life has landed back on the winter cocktail menu after an absence of five or six years.
Boccato’s recipe is extremely similar to the original, maintaining the ratio of two parts bourbon to one part each of Jamaican rum and port. Though the original recipe calls for bitters—three dashes of Angostura and one of orange—Boccato’s omits them. Wm. Farmer & Sons bar manager Jay Manrique says that bitters have the effect of muting the three main ingredients’ flavors; the omission lets them speak more clearly.
When Wm. Farmer decided to put the Country Life back on the menu, Manrique set about making sure he had just the right brands and styles for each of the three main ingredients. The bourbon, he decided, would be an easy choice—Old Grand-Dad, which is the bar’s well bourbon. Manrique says that the whiskey provides the drink’s backbone while letting the other ingredients shine. At 80 proof, it also doesn’t send the already boozy cocktail over the top.
The choice of Jamaican rum was another matter altogether. “I tried this cocktail 10 different ways with 10 different Jamaican rums,” says Manrique. “For this cocktail we thought that overfunkiness was not the way to go.” So he settled on Appleton Estate Signature Blend for its classic molasses profile and relatively mild character.
Gaige’s original recipe doesn’t specify which type of port to use, so Manrique had a challenge on his hands. Though he did try the spec with ruby, he found that to be too fresh and lively, so he went with tawny. Manrique says that the bar used Niepoort for years, but that, in this cocktail, the resulting drink was too dry. He sought out a tawny port that was a bit sweeter and rounder, landing on Porto Kopke’s fine tawny expression.
In looking at other recipes for the Country Life, Manrique found several that called for a cherry garnish, which is likely due to the drink’s categorization as a Manhattan riff by modern cocktail bartenders. But Boccato’s choice of orange twist, he says, is ideal here, plus it has the added effect of nodding at the orange bitters in Gaige’s original recipe.
Manrique sees the Country Life as a great wintry cocktail that “feels comfortable,” especially for fans of the Manhattan. Wm. Farmer bartender SJ Lafferty cites its transportive qualities. “For me, it’s very appropriate to its namesake,” she says. “It reminds me of a cottage in a colder climate, something that’s really like a hearth and home.”
