367. Ward Eight Cocktail.

My interpretation:
   1.5 oz Bulleit Rye
   1 tsp Jack Rudy Grenadine
   2 T orange juice
   1 T lemon juice

Shake well (30 seconds), strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This venerable (ca. 1898) Bostonian, spirit-forward take on a Whisky Sour with grenadine appears in no previous edition of Jack’s Manual. It appears, e.g., in Cocktails and How to Mix Them (1922) by “Robert of the Embassy Club.” The Mr. Boston Bartender Guide was, of course, not printed until 1935.

319. S. G. Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz William Wolf Rye
  1 oz fresh lemon juice
  2 T fresh orange juice
  1 tsp Jack Rudy grenadine

Shake well, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This classic punch-style recipe, too sweet for a Sour, too sour for a Blossom, is found in McElhone’s Barflies & Cocktails (1927) in an equal-thirds formulation, where it is described as being popular among the Scots Guards, hence the initials. The Savoy (1930) changes the rye to Canadian Club whisky (i.e., Canadian rye).

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.

 

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).

243. Narragansett Cocktail

This recipe with a toponymic name, as if the Rhode Island yacht-clubbers’ take on a Manhattan, appears in a 2:1 ratio in Straub 1913 (where absinthe is used instead of anisette), which translates, as usual, to a slightly less tipsy 3:2 ratio when borrowed by JM in 1916. The vermouth, anisette, and olive recall the Montana Club listed a few entries above on the same page, but the effect with sweet vermouth and rye is decidedly different. Both authors likely got the recipe from the old Waldorf manual, which finds expression in the Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931). There we see first the important note “No Bitters.” This was to prevent the bartender from automatically adding the typical bitters to a drink which had every sign of being a cocktail, which everyone knew meant liquor, sweetener, bitters, and dilution. This delves back into the pre-cocktail Sling. Here the anisette (is this an indication that JM is more faithful to the original?) serves the purpose of bitters, though. Incidentally, the Old Waldorf also specifies straining the drink onto the olive, not dropping the latter in after. I include the Straub version with absinthe for comparison:

238. Millionaire Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Rittenhouse Rye
  1 egg white
  1 tsp Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
  2 dashes Jack Rudy Grenadine
  1 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters

Shake well (30 seconds) with cracked ice, strain into large (claret) glass, serve. — Note that while I usually humor JM when it calls unnecessarily for shaking, I could not here countenance the prospect of imbibing a drink in which the egg white is merely stirred. However, the stirring technique is specific all the way back to Straub 1913, from which it is reproduced in JM 1916. This must be an error. The same recipe in Barflies and Cocktails (1927) is indeed well shaken, where it is also attributed to the Ritz Hotel, London. The Savoy Cocktail Book has two Millionaire cocktails, neither of which we need concern ourselves with here. The only resemblance is that one of them has an egg white (well shaken, naturally).

There is, however, in the Jack’s Manual tradition a different, earlier “Millionaire’s” (with possessive) recipe going back to JM1910 and corroborated to some degree in the 1931 Old Waldorf Bar Book, where it is called “Millionaire” and described as a Martini with grenadine poured on top, in a glass. JM1910 is a little more complex but essentially the same drink: A 5:4:1 mix of dry gin, dry vermouth, and grenadine with juice of 1/2 lime, stirred. This drink was no doubt replaced by the richer but unrelated Ritz / Straub drink to avoid confusion. Pictured below is the result of that later recipe:

 

205. Lawhill Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Rittenhouse Rye
  1 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
  1 dash Hiram Walker Anisette
  1 dash Luxardo Maraschino
  1 dash Angostura bitters

Shake well (30 seconds), strain into cocktail glass. — This riff on a dry Manhattan appears to be a variation of that in the Savoy Cocktail Book (1930), substituting generic rye for Canadian Club and anisette for absinthe. Jack has also adjusted the proportion of base and vermouth from 2:1 to 1:1. The combined result is slightly weaker and less expensive, but none the less interesting.
 

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:

199. Judge Smith Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.75 Hochstadter’s Bonded Rye
  0.25 Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur

Stir with ice 25 seconds, strain, serve. — This cocktail, essentially a cold, diluted rye service with apricot for sweetener, first appeared in JM 1908; it is otherwise known simply as Judge. Straub 1913 picks it up and gives it a 7:1 proportion under this more generic name.

181. Improved Manhattan Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Hochstadter's Rye
  1.5 oz Alessio Chinato
  1 dash Fee Bros. Cardamom
  1 dash Luxardo maraschino

Stir with 1/2 glass (about 6 oz) cracked ice, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This recipe appears first in Jack's Manual 1908 with specification of Martini Rossi vermouth and Boker's Bitters. It “improves” the traditional Manhattan simply by adding maraschino. Straub omits this recipe while retaining the Improved Martini (see next).

178. Hurricane Cocktail

My interpretation:
  0.5 oz Big Gin
  0.5 oz Hochstadters Rye
  0.25 oz Hiram Walker Crème de Menthe
  2 T lemon juice

 Shake well (20 seconds), strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This bracing cocktail is taken from the Savoy Cocktail Book (1930). The now more popular, tropical-style drink by the same name, invented only much later in the 1940s in New Orleans, is clearly unrelated, except for the large amount of juice.
 

177. Hunter Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Hochstadters Straight Rye Whisky (100 pf)
  0.5 oz Cherry Heering

Stir, strain, serve. — This Jack’s Manual original Duo (good for an aperitif) was picked up by Jacques Straub in 1913 for his own manual, the ratios being altered, as typical, from 3:1 to 2:1.

129. Ewing Cocktail

My interpretation:
  2 oz Hochstadter’s Straight Rye
  3 dashes Angostura bitters

Fill mixing-glass with ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, and serve. — This traditional whisky cocktail with an extra dose of bitters appears in Straub 1913, from whence it is borrowed by JM 1916. Mr. Ewing liked his whisky bitter.
 

124. Dutch Charlie's Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Hochstadter’s Straight Rye
  1 oz Dubonnet
  0.5 Dolin Rouge
  2 dashes Angostura bitters

Fill mixing-glass with ice, stir 30 seconds, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — From Straub 1913, this vinous Manhattan riff was borrowed for JM 1916, changing the original 1:1:1 recipe to 2:2:1.
 

112. Dean Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Bulleit Rye
  1 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
  1 dash Amaro CioCiaro
  1 dash Luxardo maraschino

Fill mixing-glass with ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — A good Manhattan riff, similar to the Brooklyn with its bitter orange quality, dating back to the first JM 1908.
  

105. Cotton Cocktail

My interpretation:
   1.5 oz Bulleit Rye
  0.5 oz Dolin Rouge
  0.5 oz Noilly Prat Extra Dry
  1 dash St. George Absinthe
  2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters

Fill mixing-glass with broken ice; stir, strain into cocktail glass, and serve. — This “perfect” Manhattan riff with added dash of absinthe and use of lemon peel, first appears in the Third Edition, JM 1910 (II) and continues to JM 1933.
 

81. C. H. P. Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz St. George Americano Bruto
  1.5 Bulleit Rye

Fill mixing-glass with cracked ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, and serve. — This JM 1933 original is a nice stiff aperitif Duo, kind of a simpler, less sweet Boulevardier. I can’t yet comment on the Brandy version, nor how it might work with Campari or even Cynar. For the time being, however, I do like the faint floral quality of the St. George Americano Bruto mingling with the peppery Bulleit rye. Needless to say, there are lots of options here with lots of nuances possible, so the experiment might take several repetitions. And yet with the eight combinations possible, there are even more possibilities for determining the significance of the recipe’s mysterious name. What could C. H. P. signify to a post-Prohibition Manhattanite?

73. Campill Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Bulleit Rye
  0.75 Dolin Extra Dry
  0.75 Yzaguirre Rojo
  1 dash Grande Absente absinthe

Fill mixing-glass with cracked ice; stir, strain, and serve. — A favorite standard JM feature from 1908, it was not picked up by Straub, but continued without change to the 1933 edition. Taking a cue from the Manhattan, it resembles a Waldorf Cocktail with added Sweet Vermouth and no Angostura bitters.
 

66.5. Byrrh Cocktail*

Note: I am departing slightly from my formerly stated intentions in order to include a recipe which, being featured in two early editions of JM, as well as in Straub 1913/1914, was sadly omitted in JM 1916, and in JM 1933 for all intents and purposes was replaced by the B. V. D. Cocktail, at least positionally speaking—hence the half-number.

My interpretation:
  0.75 oz Noilly Prat Extra Dry
  0.75 oz Bulleit 95 Rye (90 pf)
  1.5 oz Violet Frères Byrrh Grand Quinquina

Fill mixing-glass half-full of fine ice (hand-cracked or mallet-broken), stir, strain into cocktail glass, express orange peel, garnish, and serve. — The 1908 edition specifies Noilly Prat Vermouth, which I was happily able to obey. This turns out to be a good cocktail, justifying its inclusion here. One wonders whether Byrrh stocks or importations were reduced after the Sad Era. JM 1933 features Byrrh in only one recipe: The Byrrh Wine Daisy, where JM 1910 additionally offers the Byrrh Wine Rickey.

60. Brown Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.75 oz Bulleit Rye
  1.25 oz Bombay Sapphire
  1 dash Fee Brothers Orange Bitters

Shake with cracked ice, strain, and serve. — This bracing concotion first came to JM 1916 presumably from Jacques Straub’s 1913 recipe book. It is without sweetening agent, though some may be obtained from the proper Rye, and dilution by shaking with cracked ice provides the desirable consistency and potency. The Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book (1935) remembers it being “ascribed to students of Brown University, an early Rockefeller Center.”