ENDANGERED COCKTAIL OF THE MONTH: ARMILLITA CHICO

MODERN cocktailians love tequila, and we LUPEC gals are no exception. Classic cocktails made with tequila do not abound however, as the spirit really only became popular in the US in the 193Os and beyond. A gem that you might consider adding to your repertoire is the Armillita Chico brought to us by Charles H. Baker Jr. from Vol II of his Gentleman’s Companion published in 1939 as being an exotic drinking book or Around The World With Jigger, Beaker, And Flask. Add Mr. Baker to your repertoire, too.

Born on Christmas day in 1895, he was a bon vivant who spent his life traveling the world writing about food and cocktails for the likes of esquire, town & country, and gourmet. Sounds tough. Family money, an inheritance, and marriage to wealthy mining heiress Pauline Paulsen meant that Baker didn’t have to work, but he did so prolifically. Thankfully so: his Gentleman’s Companion Vol. II (reprinted and sold today as Jigger, Beaker, Glass) is a delightful read. Baker’s tales of exotic cultures and flavors sparkle and are bound to turn you into a real armchair adventurer at cocktail hour. They will also make you thirsty.

Look closely at the ingredients in this cocktail and you’ll find a drink that strongly resembles that famous tequila concoction which begins with an M and is imbibed eagerly by Americans on Cinco de Mayo. But Baker’s description is what makes the drink truly special. It is an original he concocted with wife Pauline and named after Mexico’s “foremost, most finished, most graceful, most dramatic bullfighter. His work with the cape, banderillas, and sword rank him with the Spanish immortals of all time,” writes Baker. “He gets fifteen hundred dollars for a Sunday afternoon’s performance, Hollywood please note.” Today that would amount to over $24,3OO. Please note indeed. Baker suggests mixing this drink in a frappe style with an electric mixer, which we believe today would probably amount to blending, or even trying over crushed ice.

Baker lived a long, rich life, retiring in Naples, Florida where he passed away in 1987 at the age of 91. We’re thrilled to raise a toast in his honor and will let his captivating prose transport you to Mexico circa 1939, or at least to your kitchen to mix up a drink: “In dallying with tequila in the bosom of our own bar we finally set upon this formula as being worthwhile, and promptly dedicated it, a standing toast with Sydney Franklin by our side, to Armillita Chico.”