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.

357. Union League Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.25 oz Gin Lane 1751 Old Tom
  0.75 oz Offley Tawny Port
  1 dash Fee Brothers Orange Bitters

Fill mixing-glass half full with ice, stir well (about 30 seconds), strain into cocktail glass, serve. — The Union League comes to JM1916 from Straub 1913/1914, where it has the slightly stronger ratio of 2:1 rather than 3:2. It is named for one of the famous conservative clubs, perhaps that in New York on Union Square, which has since moved; though since this recipe is found first in Straub, who spent time in Chicago, that Union Club may be the originator. Its similarity to Kappeler’s Princeton Cocktail is notable (Jack’s is a Gin Cocktail topped with Seltzer), except that he layers in the port neatly instead of stirring it in. The Union League is all but forgotten as such (a brand new, impostor “Union League” with whisky and orange juice is now being promoted), with the Princeton slightly more common. The most famous Gin+Port drink at present seems to be the more citrusy Crimson.

 

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.
 

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).

 

181. Improved Manhattan Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1.5 oz Hochstadter's Rye
  1.5 oz Alessio Chinato
  1 dash Fee Bros. Cardamom
  1 dash Luxardo maraschino

Stir with 1/2 glass (about 6 oz) cracked ice, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This recipe appears first in Jack's Manual 1908 with specification of Martini Rossi vermouth and Boker's Bitters. It “improves” the traditional Manhattan simply by adding maraschino. Straub omits this recipe while retaining the Improved Martini (see next).

128. Evans' Cocktail

 My interpretation:
  2 oz Hochstadter’s Straight Rye
  1 dash Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
  1 dash Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur
  1 dash Fee Brothers Cardamom Bitters (Boker’s Style)

Fill mixing-glass with cracked ice, stir 30 seconds, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This JM 1908 standby, a variation on a traditional “fancy” whisky cocktail, originally called for Boker’s Bitters, though this specification soon fell away before the 2nd edition in 1910 (I use Fee Brothers cardamom in tribute to this, and it fits really well with the profile). The apostrophe in the name was added in 1933. Straub borrows the recipe in 1913, omitting bitters altogether. Note that I have taken apricot brandy to indicate the sweeter, fruitier brandy-based liqueur, rather than a drier brandy distilled from apricots; this is supported by the small dosage required, suggesting a more flavorful quality.
 

114. Devil's Cocktail

My interpretation:
  2 oz Martini & Rossi Extra Dry Vermouth
  0.25 oz homemade Devil Bitters mixture

Fill mixing-glass with broken ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — Devil Bitters apparently refers to Fred Kalina’s Stomach Devil-Cert Bitters, formerly produced in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Fred seems to have been of Bohemian extraction; the word “cert” means devil). While many empty bottles for this bitters can be found among private collections, the recipe, apparently a 70-proof digestive bitter, is not recorded and there is no known emulation of this specific concoction. I present my own interpretation, assuming by its name that it featured a mild tincture of piquant ingredients common at the time. Thus I have combined Fee Brother’s Cardamom Bitters, Underberg’s stomach bitters, and a small but powerful tincture of cayenne and sweet paprika in neutral spirit, melded by means of a little gum syrup. The effect is not unpleasant, but rather savory and medicinal. One notes that the Devil’s and Diabolo cocktails from the Savoy Cocktail-Book are quite different.