SANTA CRUZ FIX

1/2 c. Santa Cruz rum
1/4 c. water
1/4 lemon
1 tbs. sugar

Fill a tumbler two-thirds full of shaved ice and add the above. Stir with a spoon, and dress the top with fruit in season.

From The Bon-Vivant's Companion by Jerry Thomas, 1862

Comment: Anyone not sufficiently confused by 19th century cooking should take a plunge into drinking as it was done in the period. Here we see a drink called a "fix." This particular one requires rum, but recipes exist for whiskey, gin, brandy and other versions.

The problem comes when we notice that we also have a recipe for a "Santa Cruz Fiz." How do you tell the difference between a fix and a fiz? The fiz, or fizzes if you're having more than one, has seltzer water in it, and a fix does not. Would that all problems were so easily solved.

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