384. Zazarac Cocktail

My interpretation:
  2 oz McKenna 10 Year Bourbon
  1 dash St. George Absinthe Verte
  1 dash Peychaud’s bitters
  1 dash Angostura bitters
  1 tsp sugar

Take chilled glass from cooler, dip rim in sugar, carefully strain stirred ingredients into glass over large lump ice, serve. — This fairly well-known cousin of the Sazerac, what might be called a Fancy Bourbon Old-Fashioned, yet legitimate in its own right, is described by Jack Grohusko from 1908 onward in the above manner, only that the name is spelt Zazarack until 1933, when the k is dropped. Straub himself effects this change earlier, along with specifying these differences: 1 dash of anisette is added over and above 2 dashes of absinthe, orange bitters are substituted for Peychaud’s, an option of bourbon or rye is given, and a lemon peel is twisted over the glass, nor is a sugar rim called for. Grohusko continues his recipe in 1916 unaffected by Straub’s variant. The Savoy Cocktail Book resembles Straub somewhat, with rum, Canadian club, gum syrup, anisette, angostura, orange bitters, and absinthe; this drink is shaken and strained into a cocktail glass and finished by squeezing over it a lemon peel.
 

376. White Lion Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Bacardí Blanc
  1 oz lemon juice
  3 dashes Angostura bitters
  3 dashes Jack Rudy grenadine (in lieu of raspberry syrup)
  
 Fill mixing-glass with ice, shake well, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This “red” version of the venerable pink-hued “Daiquiri Rose” (recently, paler-hued variants have appeared), appears in Harry Johnson’ manual, where it has powdered sugar, both raspberry and curaçao, and gives the option of lemon or lime juice. In early editions, the drink is built as a Fix, in a glass full of fine ice and garnished with seasonal fruit and a straw; later it morphs into a strained Sour; both have only 2-3 dashes of citrus. Johnson’s strained recipe is also echoed in the earlier Grohusko manuals JM1908, 1910, and 1912, which all call for pulverized sugar, half lime or lemon, curaçao, raspberry, and straining into a stemmed glass. Probably following Straub 1913/1914, JM1916 introduces the newer simplified recipe presented here, dropping the lime option and the curaçao and approaching more nearly the sort of Rum Rose we know today.

374. Whiskey Cocktail

My interpretation:
  2 oz Henry McKenna 10 Year Bonded
  1 dash Angostura Bitters
  1 dash Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao 

Fill mixing-glass with ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This traditional recipe recalls the earlier phase of mixology when bitters and sugar or sweetening liqueur were dashed in with ice to round off the edges of a bourbon. Straub 1913 specifies cube sugar instead of syrup, with Green River Whisky (“the whisky without a headache”) and lemon peel; for all intents and purposes, an Old Fashioned. The new fashioned, of course, exchanged syrup for sugar; here, it is curaçao. McElhone in 1927 specifies gomme syrup with Scotch or Rye for the base. Craddock has 4 dashes of syrup and uses Canadian Club for his base. The Old Waldorf Bar Book, showing the older recipe, calls for whisky with dashes of angostura and of gum (misprinted “gin”), and then gives the “old style” option with lump sugar, lump ice, and lemon peel. Grohusko figures, what’s the use?—new is better than old.
 

 

373. West India Cocktail

My interpretation:

  2 oz Martini & Rossi Extra Dry

  2 dashes Angostura Bitters

  2 lemon peels (for the shaker)

Fill mixing-glass with ice, shake, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This recipe is first found in Straub 1913; from there it makes its way to JM 1916. McElhone has a related West Indian Cocktail built in a tumbler with sugar, Angostura, gin, lemon juice, and ice. This stronger drink is reproduced by Craddock as well. Though featuring a different base, these drinks indicate that the West India was visually conceived, at least, as a lowball drink, and ought properly to be presented as such here. The Old Waldorf Bar Days recipe splits the difference, half Tom gin and half dry vermouth, with Angostura or (any other) West India bitters available; in which recipe no sugar is added, the Old Tom being sweeter already. This drink is stirred rather than shaken, and though not specifying the tumbler or lowball glass, this instruction may hint at as much.

368. Washington Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.75 oz Noilly Prat Extra Dry
  0.25 oz Copper & Kings Brandy
  1 dash Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
  1 dash Angostura bitters

Fill mixing-glass with broken ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This light, vermouth-forward aperitif recipe first appears in JM1912 and remains a standard part of the JM repertoire. It later appears from an undetermined source in McElhone’s Barflies & Cocktails (1927) in the ratio 2:1 vermouth to brandy, with 2 dashes of syrup instead of curacao, and 2 dashes of bitters. That recipe is reproduced exactly in
The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930).
 

363. Virgin Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Plymouth Gin
  1 oz Martini & Rossi sweet vermouth
  3 dashes Angostura bitters
  2 dashes homemade raspberry syrup

Fill mixing-glass half full of ice, stir well (30 seconds), strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This martini + raspberry and angostura first appears in JM 1908 specifying Plymouth gin. The specification falls away by 1933. A different recipe by the same name appears in Barflies & Cocktails (1927) calling for Forbidden Fruit liqueur, creme de menthe, and gin, which is also in the Savoy Cocktail Book (1930). This book has also has a Virgin Special, a large-format drink with raspberry, gooseberry, redcurrant, brandy, gin, and fruit.

348. Tucker Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky 100 pf
  0.5 oz Noilly Prat Extra Dry Vermouth
  1 dash Angostura bitters

Pour ingredients directly in glass with large piece of ice and lemon twist. — This Dry Manhattan served down on the rocks appears first in JM1910. The instructions generally seem to imply that the lemon twist should be placed in the glass first before stirring.
 

346. Trilby Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Castle & Key London Dry Gin
  1 oz Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth
  1 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters
  1 dash Angostura aromatic bitters
  2 barspoons Rothman & Winter crème de violette

Fill mixing-glass half full with ice, stir well (20-30 seconds), strain into cocktail glass, add cherry, add crème de violette carefully so that it settles in a clear layer at the bottom of the glass. — Of all the recipes going by the name Trilby, this one may be the most perplexing, due to the fact that the specific gravity of the concoction is not high enough to support a crème of any kind on its surface. This cannot be traced back further than JM1916. Straub 1913 has the recipe but calls only for a 1/6 jigger of Crème Yvette and does not specify floating or layering of any kind. He also uses Old Tom gin (that is usually the source of Grohusko’s generic term “gin,” and indeed it is supported by earlier editions calling for Tom gin). McElhone’s 1927 recipe replaces the Old Tom gin with scotch and the
Crème Yvette with Parfait d’Amour. The Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931) keeps (or rather, is the source of) Grohusko’s recipe, without specifying float or layering of the Crème Yvette, thus confirming the propriety of laying the blame at the feet of Grohusko (or whoever was his direct source).

324. Silver Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Beefeater Gin
  1 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
  2 dashes Regan’s orange bitters
  2 dashes Luxardo maraschino
  1 dash gum syrup
  1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir well (30 seconds) in mixing-glass half full of ice, strain into cocktail glass, squeeze lemon peel, garnish, serve. — This recipe is first found in JM1908 and continues without change to JM1933. Straub 1913 shows a simpler formula with sweet vermouth and no gum syrup. McElhone’s recipe in Barflies & Cocktails (1927), ascribing the authorship to Pat O’Brien of the Knickerbocker, uses dry vermouth, but instead of gum syrup calls for egg white and orgeat—for which Jack’s use of gum syrup would be a reasonable, if lackluster, substitute. The Savoy Cocktail Book simplifies on Jack’s recipe by dropping the Angostura and gum syrup, bringing it closer to an augmented dry Martini or Tuxedo. This idea is also reflected in the Old Waldorf Bar Days book, which calls for a Martini with maraschino, frappé.
   

317. Scheuer Cocktail

 My interpretation:
  1 oz Vermut Lustau
  1 oz Dubonnet Rouge

Fill mixing-glass with cracked ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This simple, light, vermouthy Duo appetizer goes back to JM1908 and continues unchanged. In 1913, Straub includes the recipe (perhaps they both may be traced to the same source) with the probably wise addition of 1 dash Angostura Bitters, but the dash of Bitters is not incorporated by Grohusko in 1916 or 1933.

315. Saratoga Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Copper & Kings Brandy
  0.75 oz Noilly Prat Rouge
  0.25 oz Rittenhouse BiB
  2 barspoons pineapple syrup
  2 dashes Angostura bitters

Fill mixing-glass with cracked ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This pineapple-tinged Brandy-Vermouth cocktail—no relation to the Saratoga Cooler as found in Harry Johnson—with an added slug of Rye, betrays the great care and consideration that went into its alteration, and the effect is admirable. This late-19th century favorite appears, e.g., in the Hoffman House Bartender’s Guide (1905) with maraschino, strawberries, and champagne, but Jack Grohusko includes his own pared-down, more historic version from the outset in 1908 and continues unchanged. The drink by this name in Straub is 2 oz of brandy with pineapple syrup, maraschino, and orange bitters—this is the modern version; but Grohusko does not apparently feel the need to conform to new ideas, with the exception of pineapple syrup (much as serious coffee-houses usually, reluctantly, offer some sort of analog to a Starbucks “caramel macchiato”). Dominique Migliore’s 1925 L’Art du Shaker is more similar to Grohusko but forgoing the novel pineapple: brandy and sweet vermouth with Angostura, curaçao, and absinthe. McElhone, in Barflies & Cocktails (1927) restores to Straub’s version of the newer recipe the missing two strawberries and a top-up of champagne as the turn-of-the-century Hoffman House version. The pineapple in the Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) is a slice rather than syrup, and the champagne top-up is downgraded to seltzer.

 

288. Princeton Cocktail

 

My interpretation:
  1.75 oz Castle & Key Gin
  2 dashes Angostura Bitters
  0.25 oz carbonated water


Stir gin and bitters with ice, strain into cocktail glass, add cold carbonated water, twist lemon peel, garnish, and serve. — One of several cocktails named for colleges of the Ivy League, this version, first appearing in Straub 1913, has proved the more prosaic and less popular than the other Princeton, which layers port and Old Tom gin and orange bitters (this is found in Barflies & Cocktails, 1927 and Savoy, 1930). At least the light fizz of the soda on top produces something a little more interesting than the Gin Cocktail. Old Waldorf Bar Days, the putative originator of the drink, and at least flagship of the New York / American school of early 20th c. mixology, has the present Gin-and-Soda thing, specifying Old Tom Gin, which seems to commend itself to this simple recipe, and also be supported by the generic term “gin” here, which in the JM tradition more often than not means the older standard Old Tom (or Ancient Thomas).
 

268. Pat (Pat's) Cocktail

My interpretation:
 1 oz Aria American Dry Gin
 0.75 oz Casa Mariol Vermut
 1 dash Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
 1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir with cracked ice, strain into bar glass, stein, or cocktail glass, garnish with lemon twist, serve. — This Martinez-like recipe, a JM 1908 original apparently designed for a customer and variously called Pat’s or Pat Cocktail (perhaps related to the Savoy recipe by the same name), is a little scant on details, but on closer inspection probably describes a lowball drink, best served in a whisky glass or small stein (6-8 oz glass with handle). In 1933, the recipe has been altered or accidentally distorted, since the 40% percent is in all previous cases Dry Vermouth, and the 10% Sweet Vermouth is omitted, so that the 40% is given to Sweet Vermouth. The specification of bar glass or stein has also been omitted:

Jack’s Manual 1908

Jack’s Manual 1912

Jack’s Manual 1916

Jack’s Manual 1933 (interpreted)

Jack’s Manual 1912–1916

261. Palmetto Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Appleton Estate
  1 oz Casa Mariol Vermut
  3 dashes Angostura bitters

Add ice to fill mixing-glass half way, stir well (20 seconds), strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This Rum Manhattan riff first appears in JM 1908 and continues unchanged until 1933. It also appears in other New York books with small variation. In 1913, Straub picks up the recipe, substituting Dry Vermouth for Sweet and frappéing for stirring. The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) has sweet vermouth, but calls for 2 dashes of orange bitters and shaking. The Old Waldorf Bar Book (1931) based on the older bar manual, specifies 1 dash of orange bitters and stirring.

252. Olivette Cocktail

My interpretation:
   1 oz Beefeater London Dry Gin
   1 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
  3 dashes Fee Brothers Orange Bitters
  3 dashes St. George Absinthe Verte
  1 dash Angostura Bitters
  1 dash gum syrup

In mixing-glass half-full of ice stir well (20-30 seconds), strain into chilled cocktail glass, express lemon peel over glass and garnish with fresh lemon peel. — The original recipe for this Martini riff from JM 1908 omits vermouth, has 2 dashes of syrup instead of 1, and includes an olive alongside the lemon peel, the latter point being perhaps rather on the nose for a drink by this name. 

These differences all reflect a reorientation of the original recipe, an enhanced Plymouth Gin Cocktail + olive, in conformity with the Martini style recipe in Straub 1913/1914, which cuts the gin with vermouth, dials down the syrup, and drops the olive. In 1927’s Barflies and Cocktails, however, we find the older recipe without vermouth, with 2 dashes syrup, and with the olive. This earlier recipe is again found in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book. A less similar Olivet in the Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931) has gin paired with sweet vermouth, orange bitters, and an olive, a Martinez-riff.
 

251. Old Fashioned Cocktail

The recipe speaks for itself. 100% liquor suggests 2 oz, though this may be adjusted according to the glass (rather adjust the glass and ice than the liquor, though!). The 1908 garnish is a lemon twist. Generally the instructions continue unchanged, even being imitated by Straub in 1913/1914. Barflies & Cocktails (1927) still shows the later popularity of the squeezed lemon peel, but specifies caster (granulated) sugar in place of cut loaf sugar. Either will do. What won’t do is a syrup instead of sugar. The mixing of the sugar and water in the glass is one defining characteristic of the Old Fashion(ed). The curiosity here is the inclusion of Curaçao, which is unknown elsewhere, neither in Strau, nor in Harry’s book, nor in the Old Waldorf book, the latter of which gives an interesting anecdote (besides specifying a small spoon, like the Junkins):

 Thus the dash of Curaçao must be considered unique to Jack Grohusko, perhaps suggested from an earlier old-fashioned or otherwise “fancy” or “improved” preparation of liquor, for which Curaçao and Maraschino were so often called on to play the augmenting role. Nevertheless, a change in the garnish is not noted until 1933, after Prohibition, when we are suddenly met with the fanciful orange-lemon-cherry garnish. In 1931, however, the Savoy Cocktail Book specifies in addition to the lemon twist a slice of orange. This fits happily with Jack’s unique use of curaçao alongside bitters. The orange-lemon-cherry garnish, and the drink overall, is prophetic of the direction it would take by the middle of the century.

 I include pictures of the four versions mentioned specifically, though obviously others are intimated (e.g., Scotch, Tom gin, Irish whisky, apple brandy).

249. Ojen Cocktail (Spanish Absinthe Cocktail)

My Interpretation:
  1 oz Hiram Walker Anisette
  1 oz Copper & Kings White Absinthe
  2 dashes Angostura bitters
  Carbonated water

Using an absinthe dripper, or else manually, drip seltzer into mixing-glass filled with Ojen (or substitute) and cracked ice while stirring, approximately 45 seconds. Add bitters after stirring and strain into chilled cocktail glass. If Ojen is not available, a mixture of anisette and white absinthe may serve the purpose. — While Jack had an Ojen Cocktail before Straub’s Manual (1913), this particular cocktail, identified as the Spanish version, uses angostura bitters rather than Peychaud’s, and gives a detailed instruction for preparation, taken directly from Straub. After borrowing the Spanish recipe in 1916, Jack renames his older Peychaud’s recipe the American one, which is to say, that derived from New Orleans. See no. 249 (following).

248. Nutting Cocktail

My Interpretation:
  1.25 oz Beefeater London Dry Gin
  0.75 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
  1 dash Angostura bitters
  1 dash Fee Brothers orange bitters

Shake with ice, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This Martini riff calling lavishly for two bitters, is first found with this name in Straub 1913, borrowed in 1916, when the 2:1 ratio became 3:2. In 1933, “dry gin” was changed to “gin” either accidentally or without effect (a vague term in 1916 and 1933).

230. McCutcheon Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Beefeater London Dry Gin
  0.5 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
  0.5 oz Casa Mariol Vermut Negra
  1 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters
  1 dash Angostura Bitters
  1 dash Hiram Walker Anisette

Fill mixing-glass with ice, stir ingredients except Anisette, strain into cocktail glass, finish with Anisette using spoon or mister. — This enhanced perfect Martini first appears in Straub 1913 and is then included in JM1916.

221. Manhattan Cocktail

 

My interpretation:

  1.5 oz Rittenhouse Rye

  1.5 oz Casa Mariol Vermut

  1 dash (3 drops) Angostura bitters

Stir with 1/2 glass cracked ice, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — The original JM1908 called for Ballor Vermouth and Boker’s Bitters. Boker’s original recipe, or a good approximation of it, is not readily available, though Fee’s Cardamom is worth a try (perhaps mixed with Angostura). Ballor Vermouth may have been closer to a Turin chinato like Alessio. Casa Mariol has plenty of interesting qualities, if not the bitterness. In any event, Martini & Rossi was preferred by 1916. For the whisky (note that rye is crossed out in this copy), a spicy bonded rye like Rittenhouse works perfectly.