This past weekend, I was at the annual Providence Art Club Founder’s Day celebration, raising a glass in their honor. And I was again asked to create the drink we toasted the evening with!
First, some history…
The Providence Art Club is the third-oldest art club in the United States. The Philadelphia Sketch Club was founded in 1860. New York’s Salmagundi Club, founded in 1871, came next. But they were both founded by an all-male board. The Providence Art Club is the oldest art club in the nation that also included women. And that was back in 1880! That’s especially huge when you see what’s going on in our country even today…and it’s even more special to me because my wife was elected president of the Providence Art Club last year, making her only the second woman to hold that post in the club’s history!
Several years ago, they asked me to come up with a cocktail for their first Founders Day celebration. One hundred glasses were raised to honor the founding fathers of the Providence Art Club.
Silhouettes of past art club founders, influential members, and presidents line the walls of the Providence Art Club, so my wife came up with the name of the cocktail: The Silhouette. Little did she know that her own silhouette would grace the hallowed walls of the Providence Art Club this year!
In the past, I based my Silhouette cocktail on the Boulevardier, a delicious but strong drink that substitutes bourbon for gin in the classic Negroni. (See the recipe at the bottom of this page.)
But with my wife’s election as the new president at the art club, I thought a new Silhouette was in order, too…and it’s my own recipe for a cocktail I’ve made for many years. I call it Velvet Elvis. Keeping the silhouette theme, we decided to call it The Velvet Silhouette for this Founders’ Day celebration.
The Velvet Silhouette is my version of a fresh pineapple-infused vanilla vodka. (I use Stoli Vanil.) Here’s how it’s done…
Get a gallon-sized glass jar with a lid. Peel, core and slice the pineapple, and place all the pieces in the jar.
Pour in one 1.75l bottle of Stoli Vanil. Swirl to mix, then screw the lid on and keep the jar at room temperature for 3 weeks.
After 3 weeks, strain the liquid, making sure to squeeze out as much as you can from the pineapple pieces. Discard the pineapple and keep the Velvet Silhouette in the fridge until ready to serve. Serve it on the rocks, or as a martini, shaken in a cocktail shaker with ice.
Toasting at the Providence Art Club with the Velvet Silhouette.
The original Silhouette was mighty tasty, but a bit too strong for some of the senior art club members. Nonetheless, a favorite of mine. Here’s the recipe…
2 oz. Eagle Rare 10-year bourbon
1 oz. Antica Formula sweet vermouth
1/2 oz. Campari
2 shakes Regan’s orange bitters
In a cocktail shaker with ice, stir the ingredients and then strain into a rocks glass with one large ice-cube.
Garnish with an orange twist.
Cheers!
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Lol, I’m not a senior club member but the old one was too strong for me. I missed this year’s event but look forward to trying the velvet recipe soon. Thank you Al for your ever important service to the club 😉
Christine
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Hi, Christine! Didn’t mean to imply only the old folks didn’t like it! It had its place, harking back to those older, bolder days. But it was very black-and-white: you either loved it or you didn’t. I wanted to do something that was more of a crowd pleaser and lighter in flavor profile. I think it worked. Thanks!
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The original silhouette was too strong, so now you’re giving them straight vodka! How Lithuanian a solution!
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But it’s smoooooth!
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After I initially left a comment I appear to have clicked on the
-Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on every time a comment is added I recieve
four emails with the exact same comment. There has to be a way you are able to remove me from that service?
Thank you!
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I’ll look into it!
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