Better than the martini? Rolls Royce vs Ford

Welcome back, friends. It's Anders. Today, we are making two martini variations and we are going to get to the bottom of what is better. The Ford or the Rolls Royce? You may think I'm talking about cars here, but I'm not because this is a cocktail channel. I do think it's funny that we haven't done a martini video yet. I think it's funny because I'm in control of what we do, and I have decided I don't want to do the martini yet. I will. So we are doing these two variations on the martini, and I think they should be as famous as the martini because these are excellent drinks. And for years, I've gotten these two cocktails confused. They're very similar. Thank you to Bright Cellars for sponsoring today's video. If you're new to the channel, hit that subscribe button for more sips, tips and recipes. And let's go make the Ford cocktail and the Rolls Royce to the bar between the two cocktails. The older is the Ford cocktail. Now, I always thought that this drink was named after the motor company. Ford, when you hear the name Ford, that's what I think of. I don't think I'm alone there. But this actually predates the automaker. First print of this cocktail was in 1895. It's in the book Modern American Drinks by George Kapler. Now, it's speculated that this drink was named after someone named. Well, I have to look at this. Malcolm Webster Ford, and that's according to Ted Hay in Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. I'll leave a link down below. Fascinating book. Good cocktails. Ford. Yeah. So the Ford cocktail is really old. It's an old gin drink that's very much like a martini and has a little bit of Benedictine in it, which makes it special. Makes me think, why don't we drink more of these? Because they're really, really good. However, 30 years later, 35 years later, the Rolls Royce comes out. And this drink was created by Harry Craddock. You first see print of it in 1930 in the Savoy cocktail book. And it calls for dry gin, sweet and dry vermouth and Benedictine. So on the one hand, one is similar to a really wet martini, meaning there's a good amount of vermouth in the drink. The other one is considered more of a perfect martini, meaning equal parts sweet and dry vermouth. So they're both very much like a martini, depending on how you like your martini. I know this, though. The Rolls Royce was named after the motor company Rolls Royce. And when I say Rolls Royce, for me, it sparks luxury, elegance, sophistication. It also makes me think of the 1980s commercials of Grey Poupon. If you don't remember those, then I'm sorry. I think those were Rolls Royces. Could have been old Bentleys, which I think was owned by Rolls Royce years ago. Now Rolls Royce is owned by BMW. I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole. I don't know it off the top of my head. But this drink I know off the top of my head and I don't make it the way that Harry Craddock did. So I'm going to show you how I make it, which I think has become standard for the Rolls Royce. Anyway, let's jump into the booze. But first, a word from our sponsor. Today's video is sponsored by Bright Cellars. Bright Cellars is the ultimate online monthly wine subscription. Do you freak out when you go to the wine shop because you have no idea what you're looking at? You have no idea what to buy. You're not alone. Bright Cellars takes care of all of these problems for you. Let me explain how this works. You go online and you fill out a 30 second questionnaire based on like foods you like and drinks you like. With that information, the algorithm will match you up with the perfect bottles of wine for you. In the box, you will see cards that correspond with all of the bottles of wine, which will tell you everything you need to know. Vintage, varietal, food pairings, you name it. It even has a little QR code that you can scan to rate your bottle of wine. Before long, you have got the perfect bottle of wine in your lap. Cabernet Sauvignon from France. Strawberry, raspberry, cocoa, and leather. Serving temp 55 to 60. Probably, probably about right. Maybe I should have a little chill on this. Maybe. Pairings, French onion soup. I don't have any here. Red wine braised chicken. I don't have that. Weekend movie night. I can get down with that. I would rate this five out of five. And if you use my link down below, you will receive 50% off your first six bottle box of wine. Thank you, Bright Cellars. Back to the video. Now the booze. All right, let's start with the Ford cocktail because that is the older of the two. For this drink, we will need an Old Tom gin, dry vermouth, Benedictine, and orange bitters. This cocktail, remember, is really old. Back in the 1800s, Old Tom was the standard style of gin. It's slightly sweeter than a London Dry style, and it works great in this drink. This is a local one for me. Dry vermouth, I'm using Dolan because I like it. Benedictine, it's pretty much Benedictine. And orange bitters, whatever your favorite is. Now for the Rolls-Royce, instead of the Old Tom gin, we are gonna use a dry gin. We'll get rid of the orange bitters, and we'll add in sweet vermouth. Now as far as the sweet vermouth, I am using the Dolan. I did try it with the Cocchi Vermuta Torino, which is a heavier Italian vermouth. It's one of my personal favorites, but I found that it overpowered the dry vermouth. And this was easier to balance with because I wanted to keep this cocktail perfect, meaning equal parts sweet and dry. Of course, I say use whatever vermouth you want. You may have to adjust the ratios to your liking, but this is your cocktail. Use what you like. Now let us build. Let's start with the forward cocktail. An ounce and a half of the Old Tom gin, an ounce and a half of dry vermouth. I know a lot of people will double up on the gin, and I've done that myself, but I actually really like it equal parts too. One quarter of an ounce of Benedictine, and orange bitters. It's a two to three dashes. This bottle dash is slightly smaller than if I were just dashing from this bottle. I'm gonna go three dashes. Now we can set this off to the side and make the Rolls Royce. For the Rolls Royce, we're gonna do two ounces of dry gin. Now we can add half an ounce of dry vermouth, half an ounce of sweet vermouth, and one bar spoon of Benedictine. Now we can add ice and stir. 30 seconds, chill and dilute. You'll see the Rolls Royce is a darker color because of the sweet vermouth. Grab your chilled glassware. Double strain right into the cocktail glass. We're gonna garnish these with a little citrus oil. For the Ford, we'll do an orange zest right across the top. I'm gonna put this on the drink because I think it looks really pretty on the cocktail. A lemon for the Rolls Royce right across the top. Here we are, really. Two pretty cocktails, the Ford cocktail and the Rolls Royce. Cheers. Oz, would you like to join me? All right. I'm gonna lose the garnish. Yeah, let's lose the garnish. Which one to start with? Why don't you start with the Ford cocktail? Okay, I'll start with the Ford cocktail. Here we go. I'll start with the Rolls Royce. Okay, cheers everyone. Cheers. Ooh. Don't say anything. Okay, okay. So I'm trying the Rolls Royce now. And I'm trying the Ford cocktail. Here we go. Ooh. They're similar. Yeah, but they're different. Yeah, so the Ford cocktail really is like a wet martini. You taste that vermouth. This is a good time to mention use good vermouth. It will turn, so keep it in the fridge. Good as a not off. Right, exactly. Fresh vermouth. On the count of three, you say which one your favorite is. And I will say which one my favorite is. One, two, three. Ford cocktail. Ah! Oh, I was gonna say. Well, yeah. But really, the Rolls Royce is very, very good. What I like about the Ford is it has this richness to it without it being sweet. Yeah, but it's also clean. It is very clean. And refreshing. Yeah, I feel like the Rolls Royce is a bit more crisp. The Rolls Royce is crisp, but I think it's a little fruitier also. It is fruitier. Both of these cocktails should be as well-known as the martini. Yeah. Because they're outstanding. To the classics. Underrated cocktails. Seriously. Thank you to Bright Cellars for sponsoring today's video. Thank you, the viewer, for viewing today's video. We will see you next time. Also, have you noticed how easy it is to hit the like button? Is it? It's incredibly simple. Wow. It's a really great system. Well, you know what? If you, you know what? Dislike it. If you don't like it, dislike it. I don't care. Like or dislike. Try it right now. You don't like it, don't like it. It's right there. I don't care. I say like it.