Black Velvet , a simple mixture of champagne and stout or porter, first surfaces in the 1830s as a German student’s drink, under the name Menschenfreund, or “Philanthropist.” A favorite with the future chancellor Otto von Bismarck, it had a reputation for fueling irresponsible behavior. The combination did not, as far as can be determined, catch on outside Germany until Bismarck stepped out on the world stage in the 1870s, when it was invariably pointed to as one of the symptoms of his “wild” youth in the many biographies of him that appeared in the popular press in Britain and America. While some called it a “strange and almost incredible beverage,” others, such as arch-colonialist Cecil Rhodes, latched onto it as the proper drink for a man of destiny. In the United Kingdom and its possessions, it was known by various names, including Bismarck, the mixologically precise Imperial Shandy, and Velvet, which accurately described its texture. American drinkers, most of them from the so-called sporting fraternity (boxers, gamblers, and their ilk), preferred the last of these.
The drink remained a minority taste, almost a curiosity, until the 1920s, when as Black Velvet (first attested to in 1922) it came into fashion in London, although there were still dissenters such as George Saintsbury, who considered the drink “at once vicious and vulgar” and a waste of good champagne. Presumably, Americans who encountered it at the Savoy and the Café Royal and the like brought it back across the Atlantic, and once Repeal ensured the easy availability of its ingredients, it rapidly gained popularity in America as well, in particular as a morning drink. While the Black Velvet’s popularity has fallen off since its peak in the 1930s, it is still found wherever fancy brunches are served.
Recipe: Half-fill a tall glass with chilled stout or porter; slowly top off with chilled champagne.
See also Saintsbury, George Edward Bateman.
“Eine Excursion in das Gebiet der Spitznamen.” Nurnberger Presse, September 7, 1872, 2–3.
“Facing the Music.” Leeds Mercury, March 3, 1902.
Johnson, Harry. New and Improved Illustrated Bartender’s Manual. New York: Harry Johnson, 1888.
Klaczko, M. Julian. The Two Chancellors: Prince Gortchakof and Prince Bismarck. London: Chapman & Hall, 1876.
Saintsbury, George. Notes on a Cellar-Book. London: Macmillan, 1920.
By: David Wondrich