Crusta cocktails & How to rim and garnish a Crusta
Words by Simon Difford
Crustas are cocktails containing spirit, lemon juice, sugar and aromatic bitters. They are served in stemmed glasses or old-fashioned with a sugar crust rim and an extra-large lemon (or sometimes orange) zest.
Crustas always contain a spirit, lemon juice and sugar – sometimes in the form of a liqueur or liqueurs. They are so named due to their sugar rim, which should be applied hours before the drink is made so that it is dried hard, or indeed 'crusted', when the drink is served. Crustas are also distinguished by being garnished with a band of orange or lemon zest around the inside rim of the glass.
As David A. Embury writes in his 1948 The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, "The distinguishing feature of the Crusta is that the entire inside of the glass is lined with lemon or orange peel. The drink may be served in either a wineglass or an Old-Fashioned glass, although it is much harder to make the peel fit in the Old-Fashioned glass."
Embury goes on to say, "While the 'Brandy Crusta' is the most common form of this drink, it is, after all, merely a Sour-type drink served in fancy style. Substitution of a different liquor as a base will give a Gin Crusta, a Rum Crusta, an Applejack Crusta, A Whisky Crusta, and so on."
How to rim and garnish a Crusta
There are two ways to incorporate the all-important lemon or orange zest in a crusta: the cheat's way and the right way.
Cheats rim the glass with sugar as usual and then cut a thick lemon zest long enough that it will spring open to grip the inside of the glass and slightly protrude above the rim of the glass. If you do this, instruct the drinker to push the peel into the cocktail before drinking.
The proper way:
1. Choose a suitable glass. I favour small flute-style glasses which are slightly tapered. e.g. Urban Bar's Classic Flute.
2. Find a lemon, the pole of which fits into your chosen glass tightly enough that when finished, it will act as a watertight extension to the glass.
3. Cut off both ends of the fruit to leave a central slice approximately 20mm ( ¾inch) thick.
4. Using a sharp pairing knife, carefully remove the pulp to leave a barrel-shaped ring of skin.
5. Place the citrus ring into the glass so the fruit protrudes above the rim of the glass.
6. Moisten the edge of the glass and the exposed fruit shell with lemon juice (some prefer rich (2:1) sugar syrup. As when I rim other glasses, I cut an orange in such a way that it acts as a depth gauge to help me achieve an even rim of sugar.
7. Run the outside moistened edge of the glass and fruit rim around in a bowl of white caster sugar to frost the edge of the citrus peel and glass. Holding the glass upside down over a sink, knock the glass to remove access sugar. Then, run a knife tip around the inside of the fruit rim to remove access sugar. I also like to scrape sugar from the top of the fruit rim.
8. Leave for a couple of hours for the sugar to form a hard crust, which helps fix the lemon in the glass and form a watertight seal.
9. Place the glass in a freezer to chill prior to use.
The drinker then drinks from the rim of the fruit rather than the glass.
History
The invention of the Crusta is credited to Joseph Santini at the Jewel of the South or the City Exchange in New Orleans, sometime during the 1840s or 1850s. It first appeared in print as 'The Brandy Crusta' in Jerry Thomas' 1862 Bartender's Guide.
THE COCKTAIL & CRUSTA.
The "Cocktail" is a modern invention, and is generally used on fishing and other sporting parties, although some patients insist that it is good in the morning as a tonic. The "Crusta" is an improvement on the "Cocktail, " and is said to have been invented by Santina, a celebrated Spanish caterer.
116. Brandy Crusta.
Jerry Thomas, The Bart-enders' Guide, 1862
(Use small bar glass.)
Crusta is made the same as a fancy cocktail, with a little lemon juice and a small lump of ice added. First, mix the ingredients in a small tumbler, then take a fancy red wine-glass, rub a sliced lemon around the rim of the same, and dip it in pulverized white sugar, so that the sugar will adhere to the edge of the glass. Pare half a lemon the same as you would an apple (all in one piece) so that the paring will fit in the wine-glass, as shown in the cut, and strain the crusta from the tumbler into it. Then smile.
117. Whiskey Crusta.
(Use small bar glass.)
The whiskey crusta is made the same as the brandy crusta, using whiskey instead of brandy.
118. Gin Crusta.
(Use small bar glass.)
Gin crusta is made like the brandy crusta, using gin instead of brandy.
Links to Crusta cocktail recipes
Bourbon Crusta
Brandy Crusta
Feather Duster Crusta
