Manhattan Cocktail (No. 1)
Use small Bar glass.
2 Dashes Curacao or Maraschino.
1 Pony Rye Whisky.
1 Wineglass Vermouth (Mixed).
3 Dashes Angostura Bitters.
2 Small Lumps of ice.
Shake up well, and strain into a claret glass. Put a quarter of a slice of lemon In the glass and serve. If preferred very sweet add two dashes of gum syrup.
The Savoy Manhattan Cocktail (No. 1) is pretty much verbatim from the 1887 edition of Jerry Thomas’ Bar-tender’s Guide:
Manhattan Cocktail.
(Use small bar-glass.)
Take 2 dashes of Curacoa or Maraschino.
1 pony of rye whiskey.
1 wine-glass of vermouth.
3 dashes of Boker’s bitters.
2 small lumps of ice.Shake up well, and strain into a claret glass. Put a quarter of a slice of lemon in the glass and serve. If the customer prefers it very sweet use also two dashes of gum syrup.
The only real differences being the directive to use “1 Wineglass Vermouth (Mixed)”, which I can only assume to mean a mixture of Dry and Sweet Vermouth and Angostura vs. Boker’s.
I was trying to think of way to make this a little more than, as David Wondrich describes it, “a vermouth cocktail with a stick.” The first thing that occurred to me was to use a cask strength whiskey. I contemplated the Handy, and then decided to go with the…
Yeah, well, sorry about that. On the bright side, the new Buffalo Trace Antique Collection should be available again soon. And, well, speaking of things that it is unlikely that many other people have…
Yeah, the bitter truth guys made a stab at a Boker’s replica a while ago. It’s a nice old-school bitters with a strong cardamom element.
At this point, I’m thinking, heck if I’m going to use 2 obscure ingredients, I might as well use 3…
So, the cocktail is:
1 teaspoon Bols Dry Orange Curacao
1 oz George T. Stagg Whiskey
1 oz Carpano Antica Vermouth
1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
1 tsp. Bitter Truth Boker’s Bitters
Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Lemon Peel.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this cocktail. I have to admit I’ve never gone this far into whiskey debt when making a Manhattan, nor have I ever had the courage to add that much bitters.
To be honest, it doesn’t really taste like what I think of when I imagine a Manhattan. But it is, actually, a very nice cocktail. Very complex with only a little hint of the brawn of the whiskey towards the end of the cocktail when it warms up.
Very drinkable.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.
Gibson Cocktail.
1/2 French Vermouth. (1 1/2 oz Dolin Dry)
1/2 Gin. (1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin)
Shake (well, I’d stir) well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon peel on top. (Garnish with cocktail onion.)
Interesting that the Savoy Recipe neglects the cocktail onion garnish. Or maybe they just forgot it.
Colleen Graham over at About.com has written a nice piece debunking some of the stories about the Gibson Cocktail.
According to Miss Graham, she received a note from the family of W.D.K. Gibson, claiming he invented the cocktail around 1898 at the Bohemian Club in San Francisco, some 30 years before Charles Dana Gibson claimed to have invented it.
The story goes that WDK Gibson objected to the way the bartender at the Bohemian made martinis. He preferred them stirred, and made with Plymouth Gin. He also believed that eating onions would prevent colds. Hence the onion. In his version–which I’ve not seen in later bar books, a twist of orange was held over the glass so that a bit of the oil would fall on the top.
With Plymouth this would have been better around 60-40 than 50-50.
It is just too soft to stand up to that much vermouth.
Regarding the onion, since Craddock and the Savoy editors are often lax when it comes to remembering to include garnishes I was checking through various Gibson recipes.
Amusingly, P.G. Duffy, who does tend to be fastidious about accurately transcribing recipes and including garnishes, suggests a cherry(!) in the 1934 edition of “The Official Mixer’s Manual.” By the Beard edited 1960s edition that has changed to an onion.
The Gibson is also one of the cocktails pointed out in Beard’s introduction to the newer edition. He says something like, “we don’t make our Gibsons with that much vermouth any longer.” Oh how I dread reading “expanded and revised” on the cover of an edition of a classic cocktail book.
In any case, it seems, onion or not, at the time of the Savoy, the real differentiating point between a Gibson and a Martini is the lack of orange bitters in the Gibson.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.
Gazette Cocktail
1 Teaspoonful Syrup. (1 tsp. Depaz Cane Syrup)
1 Teaspoonful Lemon Juice
1/2 Italian Vermouth. (1 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso)
1/2 Brandy. (1 oz Cerbois VSOP Armangac)
Shake (stir?) well and strain into cocktail glass.
Could go either way, shaking or stirring with this one.
A bit odd and pretty OK as cocktails go. Don’t know of too many cocktails that combine sweet vermouth and citrus, aside from the Bronx. As with the Bronx, I found it significantly improved with a drop or two of Aromatic Bitters (Bitter Truth in this case).
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.
Full House Cocktail
1/4 Swedish Punch. (generous 1/2 oz homemade)
1/4 French Vermouth. (generous 1/2 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth)
1/2 Bacardi Rum. (generous 1 oz Flor de Cana Extra Dry)
Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass. (Squeeze Lemon Peel over glass.)
You may recognize this as the Four Flush Cocktail without the grenadine. I suppose, nominally less sweet than that ridiculously sweet cocktail.
I dunno, as much as I preferred the flavor of the homemade punch, this cocktail seemed to show an unpleasant aspect of the Flor de Cana Rum, pumping up some of the harsher alcohol smells and tastes as I finished the drink.
I’m going to have to try this again side by side with commercial punch. Maybe the next time I have low blood sugar.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.
Froupe Cocktail
l Teaspoonful Benedictine.
1/2 Italian vermouth. (generous 1 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso)
1/2 Brandy. (Generous 1 oz Cerbois VSOP Armangac)
Stir well and strain into cocktail glass.
Another Savoy typo, it appears. Robert Vermeire calls this the “Fioupe Cocktail” and states, “Monsieur Fioupe is a familiar figure known all along the Riviera, by everybody, from prince to cabman.”
Sadly, I can’t find any more information than that regarding Monsieur Fioupe.
The cocktail, though, being basically a Brandy version of the Bobby Burns, is right in my comfort zone. Yum.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.
Fluffy Ruffles Cocktail
1/2 Bacardi Rum. (1 oz Flor de Cana Extra Dry, 1/4 oz Inner Circle Green)
1/2 Italian Vermouth. (1 oz Martini and Rossi Rosso)
The Peel of 1 Lime or Piece of Lemon. (Peel from a lime)
Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass. (For extra fun, I added the peel to the drink for the picture. It looked neat, but made it difficult to drink.)
OK, I couldn’t resist slipping a little “character rum” in to zip up the flavor of the Flor de Cana in this cocktail. If Havana Club is any indication of the flavor vintage Bacardi Rum had, it probably had a little more funk than the very clean Flor de Cana.
The Fluffy Ruffles is a pleasant, lime tinged, rum Manhattan. I dare you to order it out at a bar!
A quick google tells me “Fluffy Ruffles” was a musical comedy by Hattie Williams which made its theatrical debut at New York’s Criterion Theatre in the fall of 1908. Many of the songs in this production were co-written by Jerome Kern. Also, I find sheet music from earlier dates than that, so it appears it was first a ragtime song, or perhaps just that it was a popular name for songs, well, being that it refers to the fluffy ruffles of women’s petticoats.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.
Five-Fifteen Cocktail
1/3 Curacao. (3/4 oz Luxardo Orange Triplum)
1/3 French Vermouth. (3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth)
1/3 Sweet Cream. (3/4 oz Cream)
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.
I knew I’d made something like this before: Bud’s Special Cocktail. This is nominally closer to the idea of a Creamsickle in drink form than the Bud’s Special had been and a bit more pleasant. Still, not really the sort of drink I can finish.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.
Fantasio Cocktail (No. 1)
1/6 White Crème de Menthe.
1/6 Maraschino.
1/3 Brandy.
1/3 Dry Gin.
Stir well and strain into cocktail glass.
Fantasio Cocktail. (No. 2.)
1/6 White Crème de Menthe. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Creme de Menthe)
1/6 Maraschino. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Maraschino)
1/3 Brandy. (3/4 oz Brandy)
1/3 Dry Gin. (3/4 oz Gin)
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.
I’ve stared and stared at these two Savoy Cocktail Book recipes for Fantasio No. 1 and No. 2 and can find no difference between them, aside from the shaking detail. In the 1934 edition of Patrick Gavin Duffy’s “Official Mixer’s Manual” they are actually both stirred, but the No. 2 gets a cherry. God knows why there are two versions of this cocktail in either book.
Gin and Brandy isn’t one of those things that really pops into my head as a great combination, so I thought about this one for a while, comparing the gins I had in the house. Eventually, I decided to go with a Jonge Genever. It seemed like the slight maltiness would complement the brandy well.
I also nominally cheated on the recipe ratio. Just couldn’t quite face that much liqueur.
Fantasio, slight variation
1/4 oz Brizard White Crème de Menthe
1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino
3/4 oz Cerbois VSOP Armagnac
1 oz Boomsma Jonge Genever
Stir, strain, cherry.
Maybe I’m on crack, but this isn’t half bad. Sort of a more complex Stinger. The cherry is a nice touch and I like the flavors it brings towards the end of the cocktail after soaking in the booze.
…Some time later…
Well, this is rather embarrassing.
While the Fantasios in the Savoy Cocktail Book are exactly the same, (excepting the stirring/shaking detail,) I was looking through 1934 Patrick Gavin Duffy for the umpteenth time, and noticed the two Fantasios are slightly different:
Fantasio Cocktail No. 1
1/6 White Creme de Menthe (1/2 of 3/4 oz Brizard Creme de Menthe)
1/6 Maraschino (1/2 of 3/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino)
1/3 Brandy (3/4 oz Señor Lustau Solera Reserva Brandy de Jerez)
1/3 French Vermouth (3/4 oz French Vermouth)
Stir well and strain.
Use glass Number 1.
Fantasio Cocktail No. 2
1/6 White Creme de Menthe
1/6 Maraschino
1/3 Brandy
1/3 Italian Vermouth
Stir well in ice and strain. Add a cherry.
Use glass number 1.
Uh, oops! I’ve no explanation for completely missing the fact that he calls for vermouth instead of Gin. I guess sometimes you see what you want to see!?
So that makes it more of a Brandy Manhattan variation, than a, well, whatever the hell the Savoy Brandy and Gin concoction is.
But the big question, is it any better with vermouth? I tried No 1 exactly as written and unfortunately my answer is, “No, not really.” Still disgustingly sweet.
However, again, something like this ain’t bad:
2/3 Brandy (1 1/2 oz Señor Lustau Solera Reserva Brandy de Jerez)
1/3 Sweet Vermouth (3/4 oz Carpano Antica)
1 tsp Creme de Menthe
1 tsp Maraschino Liqueur
Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Add a cherry (preferably Luxardo or Toschi).
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.
Elk Cocktail
1/2 Prunelle Brandy. (1 1/2 oz mixture 1/2 Trimbach Kirsch, 1/2 Prune Syrup)
2 Dashes French Vermouth. (Dolin French Vermouth)
1/2 Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz Beefeater Gin)
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. (Garnish with a prune.)
When I first made this I thought that “Prunelle” was a difficult to find liqueur made from Prune Plums.
So I decided I would approximate it by mixing prune syrup with eau-de-vie.
I thought of buying actual Prune brandy to mix with the Prune syrup, but figured might as well use the Kirsch I had instead. The oddest thing happened when I added the Kirsch to the Prune syrup. It gelatinized.
The texture of the cocktail ended up really weird, with cold gin and vermouth floating between gelatinized globules of kirsch flavored prune syrup. The flavors were good, but the whole thing was a little bit of unintentional molecular mixology.
Interestingly, it turns out that if there is enough pectin in a solution it will gelatinize when exposed to alcohol. Prunes, I’ve since discovered are unusually high in pectin.
(For more about pectin and it’s potential mixological uses, check out this recent article by Darcy O’Neil over on Art of Drink: Fruit Pectin)
I’ve also discovered that I had a bit of confusion about “Prunelle”. “Pruneaux” is a preserve made with plums and armagnac. “Prunetta” is an Italian liqueur made from prunes. “Prunelle” on the other hand is the french word for the fruit of the Blackthorn bush, otherwise known as Sloes. Prunelle is a liqueur made from those Sloes, as in “Sloe Gin”. Except instead of Gin, the French use Neutral Spirits or Brandy to make this liqueur. So really a better solution to this Savoy cocktail would be something like 2/3 Sloe Gin, 1/3 Vodka, 1 teaspoon French Vermouth.
1 1/2 oz Lindesfarne Sloe Gin
3/4 oz Stillwater Vodka
1 teaspoon French Vermouth
Stir and strain into a cocktail glass.
Ooof, that isn’t quite there. Without any sweetening the Lidesfarne Sloe Gin is quite bitter and tart.
Maybe reverse the proportions?
1 1/2 oz Stillwater Vodka
3/4 oz Lindesfarne Sloe Gin
1 teaspoon French Vermouth
Stir and strain into a cocktail glass.
Oof, that isn’t very good at all. No Gin taste.
Ok, last chance:
3/4 oz Beefeater Gin
3/4 oz Stillwater Vodka
3/4 oz Lindesfarne Sloe Gin
1 teaspoon French Vermouth
Stir and strain into a cocktail glass.
Well OK, that is drinkable. I think it would probably be even better with the slightly sweeter Plymouth Sloe Gin. Or maybe a less funky vodka than the Stillwater. Not bad, though.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.
Du Barry Cocktail
1 Dash Angostura Bitters.
2 Dashes Absinthe. (Marteau Verte Classic)
1/3 French Vermouth. (3/4 oz Noilly Prat Dry)
2/3 Plymouth Gin. (1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin)
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Add slice of orange.
Close, but no cigar?
If I hadn’t made my version of the Fourth Degree Cocktail recently, I would probably enjoy this more. It’s OK. But, splitting the vermouth between sweet and dry is waaaaaay better, at least to my taste. Though, I should try it with my spiffy new Dolin Vermouth. It’s possible, my Noilly Dry was getting a bit tired.
Googling DuBarry, one of the first things that comes up is Marie-Jeanne, Comtesse du Barry, professional courtesan and royal mistress to Louis XV.
Executed during the French Revolution, her last words to the executioner were reported to be, “Encore un moment, monsieur le bourreau, un petit moment,” (“Just a moment, executioner, just a brief moment”).
Even though I enjoyed the Fourth Degree a bit more, there are certainly worse ways to pass the time while waiting for the executioner, than the Du Barry Cocktail.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.
