Recipes
Drinks from the old books, with and without alcohol. Each one names its source and scales to the size of your party.
Drinks from the old books.
Or start from what you have at home25–36 of 228 recipes
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La Vida en Rosa, Cognac, Grenadine and Lime Frappé, 1939
Two ounces of cognac with a teaspoon of grenadine and half a lime, served frappé with a cherry: a daiquiri-style brandy drink from Havana’s Bar La Florida, printed in 1939.
Milano-Torino Cocktail, Grassi’s Shaken Campari and Vermouth, 1936
Half Turin vermouth, four tenths Campari and one tenth Piedmont grappa, shaken and served with lemon peel: a Lugano bartender’s own Milano-Torino of 1936, a cousin of the Negroni.
Murderer’s Cocktail, Calvados, Swedish Punch and Rum from 1927
Calvados, Swedish punch and rum in equal thirds, with bitters and absinthe: the Murderer’s Cocktail printed in Barflies and Cocktails in Paris in 1927, with a joke about fire extinguishers.
Presidente Cocktail, Gold Rum, Vermouth and Curaçao, Havana 1939
Vermouth and gold rum, three parts to two, stirred cold with half a teaspoon of curaçao and served with cherries and orange peel: the Presidente of Havana’s Bar La Florida, printed in 1939.
Always alcohol-freePussyfoot Cocktail, the 1922 Bartender’s Mocktail
Lemon and orange juice shaken with a little syrup, mint and egg white: the alcohol-free cocktail a London bartender named in 1922 for the dry campaigner Pussyfoot Johnson.
R.A.C. Cocktail, the Royal Automobile Club’s Gin and Two Vermouths
Gin with French and Italian vermouth, a dash each of grenadine and orange bitters, stirred and served with a cherry: the house cocktail of London’s Royal Automobile Club, credited to Fred Faecks, 1914.
Always alcohol-freeRose Cocktail, a Strawberry, Pineapple and Orange-Flower Mocktail from 1922
Strawberries, pineapple, orange and lemon shaken with orange-flower water and strained into a small wine glass under rose petals: the alcohol-free Rose Cocktail of a 1922 London bar book.
Shandy Gaff, the 1869 Ale and Ginger Beer
Cold ale topped up with ginger beer, the shandy before lemonade: William Terrington’s one-line recipe of 1869, and Oxford students knew it by 1853.
Always alcohol-freeSummer Cocktail, Shaken Red Berry Juice from 1922
Currants, raspberries and strawberries mashed with sugar, the juice shaken with lemon and water and strained into a small wine glass: an alcohol-free cocktail from a 1922 London bar book.
Vendome Cocktail, Dubonnet, Gin and Vermouth from 1933
Dubonnet, gin and French vermouth in thirds, with a little more Dubonnet and a little less vermouth: the Vendome Cocktail from Hollywood Cocktails, 1933, the Savoy’s Salomé under a Hollywood name.
Ward Eight, Rye, Orange and Lemon from 1922
Rye whisky shaken hard with orange and lemon juice and a teaspoon of grenadine: the Ward Eight as a London bar book printed it in 1922, with its own story of where the name came from.
Yellow Rattler, the 1922 Martini Shaken with an Onion
Gin and sweet vermouth with a dash of orange bitters, shaken with a small bruised white onion and strained: the Yellow Rattler, which a 1922 London bar book called a cowboys’ cocktail.
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Absinthe Frappé, Shaken until the Shaker Frosts
A pony of absinthe and a pony of water with a dash of anisette, shaken with fine ice until the shaker frosts, strained and topped with seltzer: the absinthe frappé of 1895.
Absinthium Romanum, Roman Wormwood Wine
Apicius’s Roman vermouth: mild white wine steeped for a day with wormwood, mastic, bay and saffron, unsweetened and bitter by design.
Always alcohol-freeAdynamon, Pliny’s Wine Without Strength
White grape must boiled with half its volume of water until the water is gone: the Roman ‘wine’ given to people who were not allowed wine. Alcohol-free.