382. York Cocktail

 My interpretation:
  2 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
  0.5 oz fresh lime juice with expended peel

Fill mixing-glass with cracked ice, shake, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This simple Vermouth Service first appears in JM1912. The next year, Straub offers his version of the York, a Scotch-Vermouth duo with orange bitters shaken (aka Rob Roy Cocktail). Oddly enough, Straub’s recipe is the one found in The Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931), which seems to point to this as the original. Craddock’s York Special, however, is 1.5 oz Vermouth, 0.5 oz maraschino, and 4 dashes of orange bitters. Despite them all, Jack sticks to his Vermouth+lime recipe till the end.

352. Turn Cocktail

My interpretation:
  2 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin
  4 dashes Fee Brothers Cardamom Bitters

Fill mixing-glass with cracked ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This mostly sweet, slightly bitter postprandial recipe first appears in JM 1912 under this name, and is evidently unknown by that name in other books. It represents a mild improvement on unadulterated sloe gin, and a great improvement on the room-temperature variety.
 

351. Turf Club Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Bols Genever
  1 oz Martini & Rossi Vermouth Rosso

Fill mixing-glass half full with ice, stir well, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This sweet Martini riff calls simply for “gin” here, which in Jack’s Manual should be a clue that a non-dry gin is meant, usually Holland or Old Tom. In JM 1912, the first JM appearance, the Holland gin is called for. The analogous recipe in Straub 1913 (called “Turf Cocktail No. 2” and adding bitters), has a malty, bread-like quality which is offset nicely by the vermouth and distinguishes the drink from the standard sweet Martini. Straub’s version with the bitters shows up again in The Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931), as he probably got it from the Old Waldorf bar. Depending on the vermouth, bitters could improve the drink; with a vermouth like Cocchi it might overdo it.
 

341. Swan Cocktail

My interpretation:
  2 oz Copper & Kings white absinthe
  1 oz fresh orange juice

Fill mixing-glass with broken ice, shake 20 seconds, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This breakfast bracer (or anytime bracer) duo first appears in JM1912. The next year, Straub listed a recipe by the same name but dissimilar in every other way. It is a dry martini with bitters and a dash of lime. The key here is that this other recipe is named for the brand name of Swan gin, a notable brand of genever from Schiedam, Netherlands. That recipe derives from the earlier Old Waldorf manual, which was published later in 1931 under the title the Old Waldorf Bar Days, which adds absinthe as well. Long story short, the Grohusko recipe is unique and unrelated, lending dignity to the name as descriptive of the drink itself, reflecting the beauty and elegance of that noble bird. The other simply plays upon a popular name for genever.

307. Royal Smile Cocktail

My interpretation:
  2 oz Castle & Key Dry Gin
  2 T orange juice
  1 egg white

Beat egg white and orange juice briefly, then add gin. Shake well (30 seconds), strain into claret glass, serve. — There are different recipes by this name, to which is variously appended, or not, the epithet “Cocktail.” Straub has a “Royal Smile,” implied to be a cocktail, consisting of apple brandy, dry vermouth, grenadine, and lime (or lemon) juice shaken with egg white and served in a claret glass. McElhone has similar, replacing the dry vermouth with gin. In fact, JM 1912, where we first find our present recipe, has that recipe also, but without the “Cocktail” epithet, and without the egg white:

 The applejack-gin-grenadine-sour (here lemon instead of lime) omits the egg (as does the Old Waldorf) and makes it essentially a Jack Rose stiffened with a little gin—but Jack’s Jack Rose has a squirt of seltzer. Meanwhile, the Royal Smile Cocktail here is written out, unusually, in 19th-century paragraph form, is an orange blossom with egg white, served in the other drink’s claret glass. — I believe this cocktail has its cousin in the Savoy “Royal Cocktail No. 1” which gives lemon juice and powdered sugar instead of orange juice, and uses the whole egg (with the yolk); the color would be about the same, and an inaccurate visual memory of the drink’s preparation might explain the difference. This in turn is related to the Royal Fizz, which adds seltzer. Indeed, the drink resembles the basis of an orange-gin fizz minus the fizz. The present recipe might well be of Jack’s own devising.

 

302. Rob Roy Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz The Famous Grouse
  1 oz Noilly Prat Rouge
  3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Stir with 1/2 glass full of cracked ice, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This famous Scotch-Manhattan, supposedly named for the opera rather than the folk hero, originally appeared in JM 1908–1910 as a sherry-based cocktail with sweet (Ballor) vermouth and a dash of orange curaçao. Only in 1912, the third edition, is the present, presumably more correct, recipe introduced (with Peychaud’s being spelled “Peychard’s”—indistinguishable in an old New York accent). The version incorporated by Straub called for 1 dash each of Angostura and Orange bitters instead. This is similar to the Robber Cocktail of Barflies and Cocktails (1927) which forgoes Orange Bitters. The Savoy (1930) also calls only for Angostura, and notes interestingly: “Particularly for St. Andrew’s Day, to open the evening for the usual enormous annual gathering of the clans at the Savoy.” The Old Waldorf Bar Days only specifies Orange Bitters, no Angostura. It is well to note that the Waldorf, as the originator, may be expected to present the recipe most faithful to the original. Also note, no cherry garnish is specified in any of these recipes.

254. Opal Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Copper & King’s Blanche Absinthe
  1 oz Casa Mariol Vermut

Fill mixing-glass half-full of ice, shake, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This bracing recipe first appears in JM 1912. A recipe by the same name in Straub 1913/1914 is a stirred dry Martini with a dash of absinthe on top. This suggests a common source imperfectly reproduced in one or either of the books. Straub is corroborated by reference to the 1931 Old Waldorf Bar Book, which also inserts 1 dash of Orange Bitters in the dry Martini. A different cocktail by the same name in The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) is a large-format cocktail for 6 people consisting of gin, orange juice, and curaçao, etc.
 

246. Nicholas Cocktail

This luxuriant dessert Duo, first appearing in JM1912, might be construed as a sweet-tooth variant on the old Gin-Sweet Vermouth workhorse cocktail base which finds so many iterations in the old books. The orange-infused gin is not much sweeter than a Tom Gin (I use Hayman’s as the base here), though the original Booth’s Orange Gin may have been much sweeter (it was 60 proof, thus more of a liqueur based on gin), and (here) Plymouth Sloe Gin—Jack used Field’s Sloe Gin—which is only slightly thicker and more syrupy than the deepest, darkest sweet vermouth. The balance when the two combine is pleasantly surprising. Foolishly attempting to use a cheap sloe gin here will get you an incongruous cotton-candy note and medicinal aftertaste. Incidentally, Straub, who picks this up in 1913, specifies Old Tom gin (Booth’s brand) instead of orange gin. Here is my take of Grohusko’s recipe with my own home-infused orange gin.

214. Lone Tree Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Bluecoat Gin
  0.5 oz Noilly Prat Extra Dry
  0.5 oz Alessio Vermouth Chinato

Fill mixing-glass with ice, shake, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This perfect Martini riff is shaken instead of stirred, and found in several books. The first JM to feature it is the Third Edition (1912 or 1910s) where it is misspelled “Lond Tree.” This recipe is reflected in the Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) in a “thirds” ratio, with the addition of Orange Bitters, while McElhone (1927) calls for simply squeezing the orange peel in the shaker. These niceties might have been missed by Jack and anyone else peeking at the old Waldorf bar manual. A variant recipe in Straub (1913) and the Waldorf Bar Book (1935) indicates equal portions of Old Tom Gin and Sweet Vermouth with a dash of Orange Bitters. The latter publication traces the origin to drink enjoyed at the Old Waldorf by golfers playing at a certain course outside Philadelphia.

204. La Roche Cocktail

 My interpretation:
  0.75 oz Castle & Key Dry Gin
  0.75 oz Dolin Dry
  0.75 oz Lustau Vermut
  2 T fresh orange juice

Frappé (shake with cracked ice), strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This Bronx riff (resembling a perfect martini with OJ) comes in equal portions for easy preparation and makes a decent brunchtime libation. Its first appearance in JM 1912 (1910s) is in paragraph form rather than list form, which to me suggests borrowing from another, older-style source, like Boothby, which uses paragraphs. However, I have been unable to locate any possible source to date. Jack’s instruction to “frappez” here is rare, and as such, difficult to interpret precisely. He may simply mean shake hard with ice, or else he may refer to crushed or shaved ice being placed in the glass with the strained drink; but then, the instruction to shake is absent. I take it here as an synonym for shake.

203. Larchmont Cocktail

 My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Lustau Amontillado
  1.5 oz Alessio Vermouth Chinato

Fill glass with cracked ice, stir, serve. — The first time I did this, I unconsciously inserted the word “strain” into the recipe, and got what is essentially an Adonis:

However, this is incorrect. There is no “strain.” Ever since the Third JM in 1912, this recipe has simply said “fill glass with cracked ice, stir, and serve.” So I realized it had to be served on cracked ice. This could mean in a larger, perhaps claret-sized, glass, though none is specified. Here is my latest preparation, using Lustau for the vermouth as well as the sherry. It kind of resembles an iced tea this way.

200. Junkins Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Hochstadter’s 100 Pf Rye
  0.5 oz Alessio Chinato

Stir with ice, strain into whisky glass with piece ice, twist lemon peel, serve with spoon. — A recipe under this name first appears at least in JM 1910 (2nd Edition) — the 1st Edition before me lacks the appropriate page— with the following recipe:

However, after the publication of Straub 1913, the JM recipe follows his Rye or Gin + Vermouth variation. It is possible that this was closer to the source which JM was trying to replicate based on visual memory. In 1912, JM had a different variation (again with a small glass, spoon, and lemon peel), resembling a sort of “Improved Rye Cocktail” served down:

Pictured below is the post-Straub recipe as it appears in JM 1933:

192. Jenks Cocktail

 My interpretation:
  1 oz Captive Spirits Big Gin
  1 oz Alessio Chinato
  1 dash Benedictine

Stir, strain, serve with slice of pineapple. — This JM 1908 recipe originally had no garnish. The pineapple first appears in JM 1912 (Third Edition) and helpfully serves as a visual indicator to distinguish the drink from an old style Martini.