316. Savoy Tango Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Plymouth Gin
  1 oz Laird’s Applejack 

Shake 20 seconds, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This boozy Duo recipe (of course it takes two to “tango”), originally from the Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) is first borrowed for JM1933, but with the unfortunate typo which turns the original sloe gin into an unspecified kind of gin and makes a less palatable drink (esp. if you only have Applejack instead of the Bonded Apple Brandy), which is why we cannot suppose the alteration from sloe gin to gin to be purposeful (usually in JM1933, “gin” represents an older Tom gin, while dry gin and plymouth gin are specified by name).
 

The original Savoy cocktail is less boozy and more balanced:
 

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.

289. Pueblo Cocktail

My interpretation:
  .33 oz Hiram Walker crème de menthe (dyed green)
  .33 oz Raspberry syrup
  .33 oz Luxardo Maraschino
  .33 oz Copper & Kings Brandy
  .33 oz Chartreuse Yellow
  .33 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao (dyed brown)

Combine ingredients in shaker with ice, shake 20 seconds, strain into cocktail glass (or pousse café glass if you like), serve. — This interesting and somewhat sweet, if not beautiful, concoction seems like a jest, but likely has a very practical origin as a way to use a botched Pousse Café, e.g., when poured incautiously, sequenced incorrectly, or accidentally disturbed. Into the shaker it would go, given a new name and so the ingredients salvaged (it may have been offered at a discounted rate or even on the house, in which case, at least the ingredients did not go to waste). If this indeed is the case, and as the recipe suggests, the drink produced will be only a little larger than a Pousse Café due to dilution while shaking; thus a smaller glass may be preferred. Otherwise, if one actually sets out to make a Pueblo, the ingredients might well be enlarged to a 1/3 oz each.

We find this recipe in Straub, and then JM 1916, under the name “Peblo,” and in the Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931) as “Peplo.”
 

287. Princess Mary Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Plymouth Gin
  1.25 oz Hiram Walker Crème de Cacao (white)
  0.25 oz light cream

Fill shaker with ice, shake 25-30 seconds, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — If you think this sounds like an Alexander, wel, it is—at least, what is now thought of as an Alexander. In 1908, Jack Grohusko had an Alexander of a far different stripe: 2:1 rye and Benedictine, down, on a rock, with an orange twist; somewhat similar to the Colonel. This is found in JM and Straub until 1933. In Harry of Ciro’s ABCs of Mixing Cocktails (1923), the recipe is found by this description, along with its claim by the author of the book: it was invented by Harry McElhone in 1922 for the marriage of HRH Princess

Mary to Lord Lascelles; Harry’s Alexander has brandy, not gin—thus a Brandy Alexander. Barflies & Cocktails (1927), which also has the Princess Mary (along with repeated details on its creation), likewise gives the Alexander as brandy, cacao, and cream. The Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931) gives it with gin, cacao, and cream—identical to the Princess Mary, but that cocktail by McElhone is not present to confuse. In brief, while the Alexander appears in a variety of forms, the Princess Mary appears only with cream, cacao, and gin, usually in equal parts. It appears that the inclusion of the creamy Alexander occurs only in 1933 (along with addition of Alexander’s Sister) and without noting similarity to the Princess Mary). Note: I have used Plymouth Gin here, though the style is not specified in the recipe.
 

256. Orange Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Beefeater London Dry Gin
  0.5 oz Vermut Lustau
  1 dash Chartreuse
  0.25 oz (1 T) fresh orange juice

Fill mixing-glass with broken ice, shake, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This recipe first appears in JM 1910 (2nd ed.) with one small but distinct difference:

This suggests that the Orange Cocktail had a unique vessel, a hollowed orange-peel, perhaps half an orange peel set intact into a coupe. This novelty was eventually dropped, as demonstrated by JM 1916. Here I have chosen a rounded wine glass in homage of the name and original presentation.

228. Mary Garden Cocktail

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

Fill mixing-glass with cracked ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — Named after the famous, early-20th c. opera singer (d. 1967), this lighter, aperitif wine-based cocktail first appears in JM 1916.

219. Maiden's Blush

 

My interpretation:

  2 oz Bluecoat American Gin

  4 dashes Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao

  4 dashes homemade raspberry syrup or Jack Rudy grenadine

  1 dash lemon juice

Shake well, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This refreshing cocktail first appears in The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930), from which it is taken without change into JM1933. Another recipe by this name, but with absinthe, appears earlier in the 1927 Barflies and Cocktails. As in former days grenadine or raspberry syrup were sometimes interchangeable, I found that my raspberry syrup provided a better “blush” than my “good” natural grenadine. You might have better (brighter) success with Rose’s Grenadine, but you would have to deal with that candied-fruit aftertaste, not to mention the corn syrup. Below I show first the Grenadine version (closer in hue to peach or skin tone) and secondly the better-looking version with raspberry syrup.

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.
 

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.

198. John Wood Cocktail

My interpretation:
  0.5 oz The Famous Grouse
  1.5 oz Casa Mariol Vermut Negra
  1 T lemon juice
  1 dash homemade kümmel
  1 dash Angostura bitters

Shake well (30 seconds), strain, and serve. — This cocktail, resembling almost a punch in its attentive balance, appears first in the Savoy Cocktail Book with Irish rather than Scotch whisky, and is then picked up for JM 1933 with a slight change. I have to admit, I think Jack improved this recipe by the substitution of Scotch, though I don’t know if John Wood approved it.

 

123. Duplex Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Old Forester Signature
  0.5 oz Martini & Rossi Extra Dry
  0.5 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino

Stir in mixing-glass with ice, strain into cocktail glass, and serve. — A perfect Manhattan, hold the bitters, first appearing in JM 1916. A Straub 1913 recipe (identified as an alternate of the “Albern”) is, somewhat more logically, equal parts dry and sweet vermouth with two dashes of orange bitters. The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book uses the same recipe, specifying as alternative to orange bitters two squeezes of orange peel.

5. Alexander Cocktail

 My interpretation:
  .75 oz Hiram Walker Creme de Cacao (white)
  .75 oz Uncle Val’s Restorative Gin
  1.5 oz heavy cream

Shake on cracked ice, strain, and serve. Garnish with grated nutmeg (and spill some on the counter). Heavier on the cream and lighter on the gin than I’m used to, but fully conceivable as an early 1900s dessert cocktail.