Nadia George
April 30, 2024
The word ‘boulevardier’ means a man about town, perhaps fashionable and social. During the 1920s, one would find, on the magazine stands of Paris, one named Boulevardier, aimed at the expats living in the city.
In the book, in a piece titled Cocktails Round Town, by New York Herald, Paris’ Around the Town columnist Arthur Moss, writes, “Now is the time for all good Barflies to come to the aid of the party, since Erskine Gwynne crashed in with his Boulevardier Cocktail: ⅓ Campari, ⅓ Italian vermouth, ⅓ Bourbon whisky.
The Boulevardier did not spread far and wide. Between 1927 and 2007, there are almost no cocktail books that mention or even reference the cocktail in passing. Major cocktail collections regularly omitted the drink.
It was in a 2007 article, in the March/April issue of Imbibe where, writing as Dr Cocktail, Ted Haigh rediscovered the cocktail. He later published a recipe in Haigh (2009) with more articles. While it was still picking up in the 2010, by the mid-2010s, the cocktail had become popular.
Ingredients: 45 ml Bourbon or Rye Whiskey, 30 ml Bitter Campari, 30 ml Sweet Red Vermouth
Pour all the ingredients into a mixing glass with ice cubes. Stir well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with orange zest, optionally a lemon zest.