341. Swan Cocktail

My interpretation:
  2 oz Copper & Kings white absinthe
  1 oz fresh orange juice

Fill mixing-glass with broken ice, shake 20 seconds, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This breakfast bracer (or anytime bracer) duo first appears in JM1912. The next year, Straub listed a recipe by the same name but dissimilar in every other way. It is a dry martini with bitters and a dash of lime. The key here is that this other recipe is named for the brand name of Swan gin, a notable brand of genever from Schiedam, Netherlands. That recipe derives from the earlier Old Waldorf manual, which was published later in 1931 under the title the Old Waldorf Bar Days, which adds absinthe as well. Long story short, the Grohusko recipe is unique and unrelated, lending dignity to the name as descriptive of the drink itself, reflecting the beauty and elegance of that noble bird. The other simply plays upon a popular name for genever.

274. Pick-Me-Up Cocktail

 My interpretation:
  0.75 oz Rémy Martin VSOP
  0.75 oz Lustau Vermut
  0.5 oz St. George Absinthe Verte

Frappé (shake intensely with fine ice) 25-30 seconds, strain, serve. — This bracing morning recipe first appears in Straub 1913 in perfect thirds, and from thence is borrowed for JM1916 with a slight reduction of the absinthe. Typical of a class of drinks reputed to lift the spirits especially in the morning, it resembles similarly named recipes in a number of mixology books. Most notably, I may mention the 1931 Old Waldorf Bar Days recipe, 1:1 Absinthe to Sweet Vermouth with 2 dashes acid/lemon phosphate; shake, strain. Though absinthes vary in character, the principle that guides Jack’s adjustment here is well to note. With a softer white absinthe, for example, one might choose to use equal thirds, with a VS cognac, perhaps reduce its quantity. However, the drink should not be perfectly balanced. It should be “bracing.”