Our next Founding Father, John Adams, was one of the leaders fighting for our independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. He became our first vice president, serving two terms before becoming our 2nd president of The United States.
Before his presidential terms, Adams was also a devoted husband (love letters between he and his wife have been published as a book), an attorney, Commissioner of France, writer/avid journalist, a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress and thus one of the leaders of the Revolution. His writing skills were drafted in the writing of the Declaration of Independence as well as the Massachusetts Constitution. And this only scratches the surface of Adam's many accomplishments.
Surprisingly, this great leader started "almost every morning with a hard cider" as noted my Mark Will-Weber's book, "Mint Juleps with Teddy Roosevelt: The Complete History of Presidential Drinking." He was also known to drink "porter beer, rum and copious amounts of Madeira."
Madeira is a fortified wine hailing from the Portuguese Madeira Islands. Ranging from dry to sweet, this wine, I feel, has fallen out of favor in America and remains unknown to the younger generations. I would like to change that and therefore have pulled cocktail recipes that call for Madeira as an ingredient.
Madeira Cobbler
2 1/2 oz dry Madeira (Sercial)
1/2 oz Demerara Rum
1 tsp simple syrup
2 orange peel strips
1 lemon peel strip
5+ blackberries
Fill a mint julep cup with crushed ice. In a cocktail shaker with ice, shake Madeira, rum, simple syrup, peels and 5 blackberries, until chilled. Strain into prepared cup and top with extra blackberries and insert a short straw.
Shagbark's Sangaree (created by Shagbark's Derek Salerno in Richmond, VA)
2 oz Malmsey Madeira
1/2 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
freshly grated nutmeg
Chill a coupe glass. Combine Madeira, syrup and lemon juice in cocktail shake with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into chilled glass and top with a light grating of nutmeg.
Madeira & Tonic (created by The Expat's Jerry Slater in Athens, GA)
3 oz Rainwater Madeira
4 oz tonic water
Lemon peel strip
Fill a collins glass with ice. Add Madeira, tonic water and stir. Garnish with lemon peel.
Madeira Veux Carre (St. Anslem, Washington, DC)
3/4 oz rye whiskey
3/4 oz Broadbent Madeira
3/4 oz VS cognac
1/4 oz Benedictine
3 dashes Angostura bitters
lemon twist
Fill glass with ice. Add all ingredients, stir to still and garnish with a lemon twist.