Frosty Dawn

Historical Perspective

American bartender Albert Carrillo won the first prize twice in the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild (UKBG) competition held in the United States. The first time in 1954 with a cocktail called Frosty Dawn (a mixture of light rum, maraschino, falernum and orange juice). In 1959 he shook up again the winning cocktail, pretty similar to the Frosty Dawn, a cocktail he had then named Honeymoon. In the very early days what is now the United States Bartenders Guild (USBG), was initially an overseas chapter of the UKBG, causing members from both sides crossing the ocean at times, to compete in bartending competitions. The bartender's contest took place at the Beverly Hills Hotel, on 8 November 1954. Carrillo created the Frosty Dawn as a rum-based cocktail accented with falernum, a sweet syrup initially used in the Caribbean and tropical drinks. It was probably first invented in Barbados over 200 years ago and named after the renowned ancient Roma wine Falernian, known as falernum in Latin. The victory with Frosty Dawn won Carrillo, a resident from North Hollywood, a check of $ 1,000 US. Albert Carrillo ‘s working spot was a place called Hody’s Family Restaurant, a small chain of seven restaurants in the Los Angeles area that were extremely popular in the fifties. The menu included drink choices like “$ 1000 Honeymoon Cocktail” and “$ 1000 Frosty Dawn Cocktail”, both going for 65 cents, where the Manhattans and Martinis were served for just 50 cents, in those days. The recipe above is the formula for Frosty Dawn as Carillo mixed it at the International Cocktail Competition 1955, in Amsterdam – representing the USA – where he successfully shook it to a second place. On the picture, the cocktail champion poses beside the winner’s trophy with his winning cocktail.