"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." This memorable call to action in President John Fitzgerald Kennedy's inaugural address inspired and challenged Americans in 1961. Roughly 40 years later legendary bartender and author Dale DeGroff created the Fitzgerald at the Rainbow Room in New York. Compared to its original name (Gin Thing), the name Fitzgerald evokes more class.

2 ounces gin
1 ounce super simple syrup
Juice from 1/2 lemon
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake as if you're excited to have a drink with a certain President (JFK) or author (F. Scott Fitzgerald), and strain into a chilled glass. Lemon wedge garnish optional.

The Fitzgerald is easy to make, tasty, and refreshing.  It is more or less the gin equivalent of a Whiskey Sour or a Lemon Drop with bitters. DeGroff uses an ounce and a half of gin to an ounce of simple syrup, but I like the Fitzgerald better with a 2:1 ratio. The bitters make it vaguely pink. Reputedly President Kennedy preferred a Daiquiri or a Bloody Mary, but my guess is he would have had a Fitzgerald or three while going toe to toe with the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis (read a book about it or see the movie Thirteen Days). Feeling Presidential? Think about having a Roosevelt, a Fireside Chat, or an El Presidente.

And so my fellow cocktailians -- ask not what a Fitzgerald can make for you, ask when you can make a Fitzgerald.

Originally known as a Whiskey Cocktail, Americans started ordering the Old Fashioned in the first half of the 19th century. The history behind the name is unclear. The earliest clear reference to the Old Fashioned is in an 1880 Chicago newspaper article, and within 15 years cocktail books used the same name to describe the same drink. The name change may have occurred when many drinkers, confronted with evolving and more complex cocktails, demanded a return to the days of simpler drinks.

2 ounces bourbon or rye
.25 ounces super simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Combine in a mixing glass with ice, stir with some old fashioned fun, and strain into a rocks glass over ice. Orange peel garnish optional.

Why do I describe the Old Fashioned as a true cocktail? Besides its iconic status in the cocktail world, the Old Fashioned meets the technical, modern definition of a cocktail -- it consists of a spirit, sugar, water (the ice), and bitters. For the spirit, some people insist you only can use bourbon in an Old Fashioned, while others insist you only can use rye. My suggestion? Try making two Old Fashioneds, one with each spirit, and see which one you like. I prefer using simple syrup instead of muddling a sugar cube with the bitters and a little water. I'm not a fan of adding fruit to the Old Fashioned, because in my opinion fruit detracts from the drink's elegant simplicity.

Sometimes the term “old fashioned” can be derogatory and refer to something that should be consigned to the dustbins of history. The Old Fashioned is the glorious opposite.