366. Waldorf Queen Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Tinkerman’s Gin (Sweet Spice)
  0.5 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso
  0.5 Dolin Dry
  1 quarter orange
  2 quarter-slices pineapple

Muddle pineapple in shaker, add ingredients and fine ice, rappé well (shake vigorously 30 till nicely frosted), strain into cocktail glass, serve. — In 1913, Jacques Straub, ever the entrepeneur of all things Waldorf, includes this Bronx variant under the name Waldorf Queen’s. JM1916 picks up with slight variation, dropping the possessive marker (and thus any connection to a New York borough name, a là Bronx). The same drink proved popular and was included in books like McElhone’s 1927 Barflies & Cocktails (under the simplified name Waldorf). The Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931), which usually holds the best claim, calls it the Waldorf Bronx and makes it much simpler than a Bronx, with only gin, orange juice, and pineapple slices:

Here is my version of Jack’s recipe.

344. Tiptop Cocktail

My intepretation:
  2 oz Martini & Rossi Dry Vermouth
  4 dashes DOM Benedictine
  3 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters
  1 dash Angostura aromatic bitters

Shake with ice, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This light, vermouth-based drink appropriate for any time of day, first appears in print in Straub 1913, from which it is borrowed for JM1916. The drink probably originates with the Old Waldorf bar. The 1931 publication of the manual includes this recipe with the following differences: 2 dashes Angostura (not 1), no orange bitters, stirred (not shaken), lemon twist.

301. Robin Cocktail

 My interpretation:
  1.75 oz The Famous Grouse blended Scotch whisky
  0.25 oz cinchona-calisaya liqueur

Fill mixing-glass half-full with ice, stir 20 seconds, strain into cocktail glass, garnish with amarena cherry, serve. — This orange-tinged, slightly bittersweet, Scotch-forward cocktail, perfectly finished by the cherry, first enters the JM canon in 1916, a borrowing from Straub or otherwise inherited from the Old Waldorf tradition. The Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931) renders the drink in equal parts Scotch and calisaya, specifies stirring and straining (hence implying ice), and also features the cherry. The Robber Cocktail in Barflies & Cocktails (1927) is tantalizingly close, a Rob Roy served with a cherry. We may view the Robin as a riff on the Rob Roy replacing both vermouth and bitters with calisaya.

299. Riding Club Cocktail

My interpretation:
  2 oz home-infused cinchona-calisaya liqueur
  1 dash Angostura bitters
  3 drops Extinct Horsford’s Acid Phosphate

Fill mixing-glass with ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This bitter-sweet-tart cocktail first appears in Straub 1913 and is borrowed for JM 1916. It also appears in the Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931), suggesting a common heritage. There, the recipe specifies red calisaya (as opposed to white) and 1/2 pony of acid phosphate; our three drops are then discovered to be generous drops. The use of acid phosphate here is significant—it balances the bitterness of the Calisaya and Angostura by a neutral sour without lemon or lime overtones.
  

286. Prince Henry Cocktail

My interpretation:
  0.75 oz Aria American Dry Gin
  0.75 oz Noilly Prat Rouge
  0.5 oz Hiram Walker Crème de Menthe (white)
  1 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters

 Frappé (shake vigorously with fine ice), strain into chilled cocktail glass, serve. — This cooling, minty Martini-riff appears first in laconic Straub, from which it is borrowed for JM 1916 without filling in the directions. Frappé drinks in this time are almost always strained. In the Old Waldorf Bar Book (1931), the Prince Henry is a Martini with a dash of crème de menthe on top, while the Prince is whisky with crème de menthe and orange bitters. This is further support for a Martini-style strained drink, rather than one served on fine ice (which frappé usually signifies today). The Old Waldorf Bar would be more trustworthy in this case than Straub, since it is based on the original recipe book to which Straub may or may not have had access. The 1935 revision by Crockett attributes the Martini-style drink to the commemoration of a visit by Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia in 1902.
 

284. Prairie Cocktail

My interpretation:
  2 oz Castle & Key gin
  1 egg
  1 dash salt
  1 dash pepper

Pour .5 oz gin in glass, spoon egg gently into glass, shake on salt and pepper, top up with remaining gin. — This strengthening cocktail, otherwise known as the Prairie Chicken (to distinguish it from the Prairie Oyster) is related to the latter, but with a strong liquor base and omitting the worcestershire sauce and other savories. The recipe is first found in Straub before appearing in JM 1916. The Savoy (1930) has both a Prairie Hen and a Prairie Oyster, both with worcestershire and neither with liquor. The Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931) has the recipe and further calls for “covering the egg with gin” and serving in a claret glass and with a napkin. I serve it here in a small stem glass.
 

270. Peacock Cocktail

My interpretation:
  2 oz Copper & Kings Brandy
  1 dash Amaro Ciociaro
  1 dash St. George Absinthe Verte

Fill mixing-glass with ice, shake, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This recipe, a sort of augmented Brandy suitable for daytime and pre-dinner (where brandy is usually after dinner), is first found in print in Straub 1913, and is first borrowed in JM 1916. While modern drinks bearing this name often include brightly-colored mixers in honor of the name, our present mixture may possibly be named by portmanteau from the formula “Pic(on)” + “Cock(tail).” But the Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931) suggests as the origin the famous Peacock Alley corridor originally connecting the two halves of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. A movie and a restaurant by the same name came later. Note that Amaro Ciociaro is used here in place of the Amer Picon or “Picon bitters,” unobtainable in its old formula. Bigallet China-China Amer would also work.

263. Pan-American Cocktail

My interpretation:
  2 oz Rittenhouse Rye (or if it’s too woody for you, Old Granddad)
  1 dash gum syrup
  1 dash lemon juice

Shake (20 seconds), strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This drink, not named for the Pan-American Airways (which existed from 1927 to 1991) but rather for John Barrett’s association of all (North and South) American countries, as we are told in the Old Waldorf Bar Book, appears first in Straub 1913 before showing up in JM 1916. The Old Waldorf calls for a half lemon muddled and three dashes of syrup. At any rate, your dash should be substantial enough to be noticed in this liquor-forward whisky service, and yet not result in a Whisky Sour. The emphasis here is only on smoothing the whisky.