Do some newly unearthed classic cocktails deserve to be buried once again?

With the rise of nouveau speakeasies like the Toronto Temperance Society and SpiritHouse, there’s been an increased interest in some of the classic cocktails previously lost in the mists of time (witness SpiritHouse’s 11-page drink list, broken down by historical epoch). But what if some of those old cocktails deserve to be forgotten? Over on the New York Times’s Dining Journal, Robert Simpson recapped a panel at last weekend’s Manhattan Cocktail Classic in which prominent mixological types weighed in on that very question. The Brooklyn? “Not a good drink.” The Aviation? “Tastes like hand soap.” Hemingway’s signature Papa Doble? “Why should we have our drinking habits dictated by Hemingway’s diabetes problem?” Where exactly this leaves the Toronto, a mixture of rye, fernet branca, syrup and bitters that’s been popping up on cocktail lists around town, remains to be seen. Read the entire story [Diner’s Journal] »