383. Zaza Cocktail

 My interpretation:
  1 oz Tinkerman’s Sweet Spice Gin
  1 oz Dubonnet Rouge

Fill mixing-glass with ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — Named after the play which debuted in 1901, this Martiniesque Duo first appears in the earliest Jack’s Manuals dating back to 1908 and remained part of the repertoire until the last. Straub adds 1 dash of Angostura bitters with no note whether to stir or shake, McElhone, in Barflies & Cocktails (1927) adds pepsin (pepson) bitters and attributes the recipe to a certain F. Newman of Paris, Craddock in The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) has no bitters but, like McElhone, calls for shaking it, and The Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931), based on an earlier source, has a softer 1:2 ratio of Old Tom gin and Dubonnet stirred with orange bitters stirred. The effect is simple and elegant.

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.
 

 

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).
 

358. Van Lee Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Castle & Key London dry gin
  0.75 oz Dubonnet Rouge
  0.25 oz The Famous Grouse scotch whisky

Fill mixing-glass with broken ice, stir, strain into a cocktail glass, serve. — This variant on an Apéritif Cocktail (be it Byrrh, Saint Raphael, or Dubonnet), spiced up with a notion of Scotch whisky, first appears in JM1910 with Byrrh instead of Dubonnet, as usual in the earlier books. It is not picked up by Straub, and appears to be named for one of the local fixtures at Jack’s bar.

353. Tussetto Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.25 oz Castle & Key London Dry Gin
  0.75 oz El Maestro Sierra Oloroso Sherry
  2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters

Fill mixing-glass half full of broken ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This recipe, otherwise known as a Sherry Martini, is closely linked to the Tuxedo Club, also spelled Tucseto or Tucsedo after the Indian term for which the eponymous community club was named. Grohusko’s spelling here seems unique, and may be regarded as an Italianized interpretation of the spelling, though it first appears that way not in JM 1916 but in Straub 1913. The Savoy (1930) has two Tuxedos of the martini+absinthe vein, neither with sherry. It is the most simple and elegant of all the Tuxedo-related drinks. Further information for this and the next drink, the Tuxedo proper, is found here.
 

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.
 

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.
 

345. Treasurer Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Castle & Key London Dry Gin
  0.5 oz Noilly Prat Extra Dry Gin
  1 slice orange (for mixing)

Fill mixing-glass with broken ice, stir, strain, garnish with orange twist, serve. — This strong dry martini with an orange twist appears in Straub 1913 by the slightly different name Treasury, with an orange slice instead of twist, to be shaken (frappéed) with the other ingredients. I have included the orange component on both ends for the added distinction from other similar recipes.

 

337. Star Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Laird’s Applejack
  1 oz  Casa Mariol Vermut Negra
  3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Fill mixing-glass half-full of ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This Applejack Manhattan with a NOLA twist is included in JM 1908. The same recipe occurs in Straub alongside a Star Old Fashioned calling for sugar and other fancy extras. McElhone is more fussy, building a stronger drink in equal parts gin and calvados tinged with a tsp of grapefruit and a dash each of dry and sweet vermouth. He describes it as a popular drink at the Plaza Hotel, NY. Grohusko’s simpler, sweeter recipe is more nearly echoed in the Old Waldorf Bar Days book, using orange bitters instead of Peychaud’s.
 

336. Stanton Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Beefeater Gin
  1 oz Noilly Prat Dry
  2 dashes D.O.M. Benedictine

Fill mixing-glass with ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This Dry Martini riff with Benedictine tinge first appears in JM1908, an apparent Grohusko original. Earlier instances of hte recipe specify dry gin, so the absence of a modifier here is not a hint at something less-than-dry, but probably a typo. Stanton is the name of a street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, not far from Baracca’s Eating-House / Jack’s bar.
 

331. Soda Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 tsp sugar
  3 dashes Angostura Bitters
  5 oz San Pellegrino Limonata

Line glass with water, pour out, then add sugar and angostura, fill with ice, top up with limonata, garnish with 2 orange slices, stir, serve. —The Soda Cocktail was retained unchanged from 1908. Straub has a similar cocktail with powdered sugar and lemon peel, and only mentions lemon soda.
 

326. Sloe Gin Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin
  0.5 oz Noilly Prat & Co. Rouge

Fill mixing-glass with ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This simple Duo that leans on the sloe gin and seemingly attempts to balance this with a smaller dose of sweet vermouth, first appears in JM1908. It is a simple aperitif for those who like sloe gin. Two other Sloe Gin Cocktails of note are Craddock’s and Crockett’s in the Savoy Cocktail Book and the Old Waldorf Bar Days respectively. The former turns Jack’s recipe into a Perfect by addition of dry vermouth, the latter reformulates it as 2:1 Sloe Gin and Plymouth Gin with orange bitters. This resembles Craddock’s Sloeberry cocktail, which adds Angostura and orange bitters to a glass of Sloe Gin.
 

318. Schulke Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Beefeater London Dry Gin
  0.5 oz home-infused orange gin (Gin Lane 1751 Old Tom + orange peels)
  0.5 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin
  1 T lime juice

Fill mixing-glass with broken ice, stir, strain, serve. — This interesting Trio balanced with a little lime juice, comes off like a Savoy punch-style drink, though it makes its appearance much earlier in JM1910. The orange gin of the day was Booth’s. Today a number of options are starting to appear again, but home-infused orange gin may still be the best resort in many parts of the States.

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.

 

312. St. John Cocktail

My interpretation:

  1 oz Gin Lane 1751 Old Tom Gin

  1 oz Casa Mariol Vermut Negra

  1 dash Fee Brothers Orange Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — The second of the three “saints” from the analogous section of Straub, this slightly sweeter Martini varies depending on the Martini recipe referred to. In Straub, it’s a 2:1 sweet vermouth Martini. Grohusko’s Martini is, as typical, adjusted to 1:1, favoring a cheaper mixture (or less-inebriated customer!).

 

300. Robert Burns Cocktail

My intepretation:
  1.5 oz The Famous Grouse blended Scotch whisky
  0.5 oz Noilly Prat Rouge
  1 dash St. George Absinthe Verte

Fill mixing-glass with broken ice, shake well (about 30 seconds), strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This classic Scotch cocktail goes heavy on the base, surprisingly similar to the modern version. In 1908, Jack was a little confused on the Scotch trio of recipes which appear in close proximity here. The first, the Robert Burns, was to be made with equal portions of Scotch whisky and French (Chappaz) vermouth, with 3 dashes of absinthe. This was only amended in JM1916, after Straub’s Manual appeared and according to that recipe, which also rightly introduced the option of Scotch (Robert Burns was himself Scotch, so it makes sense). The Irish option remained, perhaps due to the popular taste for that whisky among those of Irish descent living New York at the time. The drink ought to be stirred, as specified in the earlier, pre-Straub editions of Jack’s Manual.

298. Richmond Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
  0.5 oz Noilly Prat Rouge
  1 dash Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao

Fill mixing-glass with fine ice, stir, strain, and serve. — This light, vermouth-based cocktail first appears in JM1908. It is borrowed by Straub in 1913, which alters the ratio to 2:1 and changes stirring to shaking. The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) features a stiffer Richmond Cocktail, similarly a Duo, but composed of 2 parts Plymouth Vermouth and 1 part Kina Lillet, with a squeeze of lemon. While apparently different in effect, it’s possible that the color of the Kina Lillet (amber) and Plymouth Gin (clear) appeared to match the vermouth components of this Richmond, so that the recipe derives from the same source, if inexactly reproduced, or else intentionally amended. The Savoy Richmond, incidentally, is shaken like the Straub version.

296. Red Lion Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Castle & Key Dry Gin
  0.75 oz Noilly Prat Rouge
  0.25 oz home-infused orange gin

Stir with mixing-glass half-full of cracked ice, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This Dry Martini riff with a stiff orange twist appears in JM 1908 calling for high and dry gin, Ballor Vermouth, and Booth’s Orange Gin. The latter, by the symbol on its label, inspired the name for this drink, though, aside from the Booth’s Orange Gin, this mixture differs considerably from that sweet-sour one ascribed to A. A. Tarling.