382. York Cocktail

 My interpretation:
  2 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
  0.5 oz fresh lime juice with expended peel

Fill mixing-glass with cracked ice, shake, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This simple Vermouth Service first appears in JM1912. The next year, Straub offers his version of the York, a Scotch-Vermouth duo with orange bitters shaken (aka Rob Roy Cocktail). Oddly enough, Straub’s recipe is the one found in The Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931), which seems to point to this as the original. Craddock’s York Special, however, is 1.5 oz Vermouth, 0.5 oz maraschino, and 4 dashes of orange bitters. Despite them all, Jack sticks to his Vermouth+lime recipe till the end.

379. Wonder Cocktail

 My interpretation:
  1.25 oz Bombay Sapphire
  0.75 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
  1 quarter slice pineapple

Fill mixing-glass with broken ice, shake vigorously (frappé), strain into cocktail glass, garnish with fresh pineapple slice — Yet another martini+pineapple combination, it appears first in Straub 1913 in a 2:1 ratio, then in JM1916 with the present 3:2, as usual.

378. Williams Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Tinkerman’s Sweet Spice Gin
  0.5 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso
  1 oz fresh orange juice 

Fill mixing-glass with broken ice, shake, strain into sufficiently sized glass or goblet, serve. — This sort of pre-Bronx Blossom / Harvester first appears in JM1910, where the gin is specified as “dry.” It remains a stable part of the JM tradition despite not being picked up by Straub or other manuals.

375. White Elephant Cocktail

My interpretation:

  1.25 oz Tinkerman’s Sweet Spice Gin

  1 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino

  1 egg white

Fill mixing-glass with chipped or broken ice, shake well (about 30 seconds), strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This creamy Sweet Martini + Egg White first appears in Straub 1913 in a 2:1 ratio. When it was taken into JM1916, it was weakened slightly to 3:2. The 2:1 ratio also appears in The Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931), doubtless a belated record of the original source.

372. Wedding Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Tinkerman’s Sweet Spice Gin
  0.25 oz Noilly Prat Extra Dry
  0.25 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso
  2 barspoons Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
  1 oz fresh orange juice

Fill mixing-glass with cracked ice, shake, strain into a claret glass (a stemmed glass of about 5 oz capacity), and serve. —This cocktail as described in JM1933 is without precedent. However, McElhone and Craddock both mention a similar cocktail consisting of gin, orange juice, cherry brandy, and Dubonnet, called the Wedding Belle or Wedding Bells, of which this may theoretically represent a variant. In effect, it is a long Bronx sweetened by addition of curaçao and additional juice.

370. Waxen Cocktail

My interpretation:
  0.5 oz Gine Lane 1751 Old Tom Gin
  0.5 oz Cocchi Vermouth
  0.5 oz Laird’s Bonded Apple Brandy
  0.5 oz Yellow Chartreuse

Fill mixing-glass with ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This recipe first appears in Straub 1913 and is borrowed from thence for JM1916. The same recipe is found in McElhone’s Barflies . . . under the name “Warday’s” with the notable and in fact sensible reduction of chartreuse to 1 tsp., leaving the rest in equal thirds (about 0.75 oz each). That recipe and name are reproduced exactly in The Savoy (1930). While the Warday’s Cocktail is rightly deserving some attention today, it is well to note that Straub and Grohusko did it first, sort of, and to give credit where due. They may be independent creations, but I find it unlikely, given their proximity in the alphabet. The Waxen is also getting attention here and there.

369. Watkins Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Tinkerman’s Gin (Sweet Spice)
  0.5 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
  0.5 oz Martini & Rossi Extra Dry
  1 slice pineapple in mixing-glass
  1 slice orange in mixing-glass

Fill mixing-glass with cracked ice, shake, strain, serve. — This fruit-laced Perfect Martini recipe, first appearing in JM1912 bears a close resemblance to the later Straub’s Waldorf Queen[’s] (see above) added in 1916—which might stand out more if the Old Waldorf Bar Days recipe for the Waldorf Bronx (2:1 gin to orange juice, with 2 pineapple slices) had been followed.

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.

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.

362. Vienna Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso (sweet vermouth)
  1 oz Noilly Prat extra dry vermouth
  1 dash St. George absinthe verte

Fill mixing-glass with fine ice, frappé (shake vigorously), strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This vermouth x2 duo + absinthe first appears in Straub 1913. A light drink that can be enjoyed anytime, it can easily be imagined being deposited on a small café table in Vienna, Austria or Vienna, Virginia.

361. Vermouth Cocktail

2 oz Martini & Rossi sweet vermouth
1 dash Fee Brother’s cardamom bitters
1 dash Luxardo maraschino

Fill mixing-glass with fine ice, frappé (shake well), strain into cocktail, serve. — This recipe appears in JM 1908 following the Vermouth Frappé, the distinction apparently confined to the addition here of maraschino. Boker’s bitters is best replicated by Dr. Elmegirab’s Boker’s bitters, but any aromatic bitters will do adequately here if the vermouth has a harmonious character. The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) gives the option sweet or dry vermouth, and of 4 dashes orange bitters or 1 dash Angostura, but no maraschino; the drink is stirred rather than shaken. The Old Waldorf Bar Book (1931) lists the French and Italian Vermouth Cocktails separately, calling for one dash of orange bitters for each.

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.
 

350. Turf Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Castle & Key London Dry Gin
  1 oz Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth
  2 dashes St. George Absinthe Verte
  2 dashes Luxardo maraschino
  2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters
  1 dash Fee Brothers Cardamom Bitters

Fill mixing-glass half full of ice, stir well, strain into cocktail glass, drop in olive, serve. — This Dry Martini augmented by dashes from half the liquor cabinet appears in JM1908 and continues unchanged. It becomes the Turf Cocktail No. 1 in Straub 1913, where the No. 2 is Holland gin, sweet vermouth, and bitters—essentially a Sweet Martini with genever, which is the recipe named “Turf Club” in JM1916 (see the next post), but simply “Turf” in the Old Waldorf Bar Book (1931).

 

347. Trowbridge Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Castle & Key London Dry Gin
  1 oz Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth
  1 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters

Fill mixing-glass half full with ice, stir, strain into whisky glass, garnish with orange twist, serve. — This Sweet Martini with a twist, served down, first appears in Straub 1913 in a 2:1 ratio, sweetened up to 1:1, as usual, when copied by JM1916. There is no mention of ice, so a legitimate form of this drink would include a direct pour, esp. if the vermouth is duly chilled.

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).

342. Tango Cocktail

My interpretation:

  1.25 oz Castle & Key Gin

  0.75 oz Vermut Lustau

  1/2 tsp Copper & Kings brandy

Fill shaker with ice, shake about 40 strokes, serve. — This recipe comes from Straub 1914 (not in 1913 ed.) where the brandy is specified to be Apricot Brandy. That specifier is unapologetically omitted in JM1916. McElhone in 1927 uses the name Tango for a combination of Plymouth gin, sweet vermouth, orange juice, and curaçao, finished with an orange twist. The Savoy (1930) follows suit, omitting the twist. The Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931) has two Tangos: 1 is a dry martini with egg white, shaken; 2 calls for dry and sweet vermouth, rum, gin, and orange juice frappé, essentially a variant on the McElhone recipe.

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.
 

335. Sphinx Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.25 oz Beefeater Dry Gin
  0.33 oz Dolin Dry
  0.33 oz Vermut Lustau

Fill mixing-glass with ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, garnish with lemon peel or slice. — This perfect martini riff with thin lemon garnish first appears in Straub 1913 and is picked up in JM1916.

328. Smallwood Cocktail

My interpretation:
  0.5 oz Beefeater Gin
  0.5 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
  0.5 oz Vermut Lustau
  0.5 oz Cherry Heering 

Fill mixing-glass with cracked ice, shake, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — The origins of this perfect martini + cherry cordial are obscure. It appears only in JM1933 and nowhere in the earlier usual suspects. Whether named for the revolutionary general and governor of Maryland, or the vacationers’ hamlet in Bethel, New York, is unknown.
 

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.