339. Strawberry Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Martell Cognac VS
  0.5 oz homemade strawberry syrup
  1 dash Luxardo maraschino
  2 dashes Regan’s orange bitters

Fill mixing-glass with ice, shake, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This fruity, “improved” strawberry and brandy dessert duo is first found in Straub 1913 and is borrowed for JM1916. The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) features a large-format (6 serving) drink made with strawberries, orange juice, whisky, and ice. Closer is the Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931) recipe, which only differs by reduction of orange bitters by 1 dash.

 

327. Slome Cocktail

My interpretation:
  0.75 oz Old Forester Signature / 100 pf
  0.75 oz Martell VS
  0.66 oz Dubonnet Rouge

Fill shaker half-full with fine ice, frappé / shake vigorously 20 seconds, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This fine Bourbon-Brandy Manhattan riff (with Dubonnet doing double-duty for vermouth and bitters) first surfaces in Straub 1913. The formula yields a nice foam that lingers for a couple minutes if undisturbed, or pleasantly tickles the lip of the anxious imbiber. One wonders if the name is a corruption of Salome, and if it was thus another cocktail in commemoration of that erstwhile famous play / operetta (though nothing in the recipe suggests the exoticism met by the other recipe with its celery leaves).
 

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.”

272. Pheasant Cocktail

My interpretation:

  1 oz Rémy Martin VSOP

  1 oz Hayman’s Old Tom Gin

In mixing-glass half-full of broken ice shake 20–30 seconds, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — My interpretation of the recipe here is admittedly incorrect. Though no type of gin is specified in 1933, the earlier editions all indicate some form of dry (or Gordon’s) gin. My error came from the (usually correct) assumption that an unspecified “gin” in JM 1933 means something not “dry,” i.e., Old Tom, or occasionally, Holland Gin. Nevertheless, the recipe works well this way, and is a bit softer and more blended in effect. The original formulation is more bracing. We might call this variant the Tom Pheasant. The Pheasant Cocktail first appears in JM1908 and is picked up by Straub in 1913. Gordon dry is still indicated in JM 1916, but the last edition introduces the generic switch for unknown reasons.

68. Café au Kirsch Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Clear Creek Cherry Brandy
  1 oz Remy Martin VSOP
  1 Vital Farms pasteurized egg white
  1 oz Portland Brew Columbian roast coffee, ice-brewed (roasted by Summit Coffee Co.)

Frappé, or shake well with finely crushed ice until frost forms on shaker, about 20-30 seconds. Strain into goblet sufficient to hold 4–5 oz. drink so that no ice chips mar the egg-white head; serve. — This classic drink, a cocktail in name only, appears in JM 1916 following the same recipe as Straub 1914, which notably lacks sugar. It may be that Straub meant cherry cordial instead of Kirschwasser; Cherry Heering in fact works wonderfully here but makes for an entirely different drink. Preferably, if the customer desires, dissolve 1 tsp sugar in coffee before mixing.

52. Brandy Cocktail

My interpretation:
  3 oz Courvoisier VSOP
  1 dash Angostura bitters

Fill mixing-glass half full of ice, stir, strain, serve. Garnish with lemon rind if desired. — A nice, simple classic. The 1908 Edition of Jack’s Manual is significantly different enough to warrant inclusion, and shows the proclivity toward simpler, less finnicky, and stronger or drier drinks:

 If you have Boker’s bitters, or a decent imitation, and some gum syrup on hand, this would probably be preferable, and is surely more historic. Nevertheless, here is the 1933 version:
 

10. Antilles Cocktail

 

My interpretation:
  0.75 oz Yzaguirre Blanco
  0.75 oz Martini & Rossi Extra Dry
  1.25 oz Courvoisier VSOP
  1 dash Noirot Orange-Flower Water

I substitute the Yzaguirre Blanco for the sweet vermouth. Fine ice is achieved with bag and mallet. I also add an orange twist garnish for visual interest to match this gustatorily interesting mixture.