The very first post I wrote for Edwardian Promenade was about the history of the cocktail. It was rather disconcerting to realize that the drinks we order at the bar today existed one hundred years ago! So for those of you aspiring to host an Edwardian-themed party, I give you a few recipes:
APPLEJACK SOUR
1 teaspoonful of sugar
Juice of one lemon
3/4 glass cracked ice
100% cider brandy
Stir with spoon, strain in glass, ornament with fruit in season.
AVIATOR
25% Dubonnet
25% French Vermouth
25% Italian Vermouth
25% dry gin
Fill glass with ice, shake, strain, and serve.
BACARDI COCKTAIL
50% Bacardi rum
25% Italian Vermouth
25% French Vermouth
Fill glass with broken ice. Stir, strain and serve.
BENZ COCKTAIL
90% French Vermouth
10% Absinthe
2 dashes Maraschino
Fill glass with cracked ice, shake, strain and serve.
CHOCOLATE COCKTAIL
Yolk of 1 egg
50% yellow Chartreuse
1/2 teaspoon of powdered sweet chocolate
Fill glass with cracked ice. Shake with shaker, strain and serve.
DOGS’ DAYS
100% Scotch whiskey
1 bottle ginger ale
2 slice of orange and serve,
GIN BUMP
(Use highball glass)
1 piece of ice in glass
Squeeze half of lime in glass
100% gin
Fill glass with ginger ale.
Stir and serve.
ILLINOIS THUNDERBOLT
85% cider brandy or applejack (Jersey lightning)
15% grenadine
Fill glass with broken ice, stir, strain and serve.
ROMAN PUNCH
2 teaspoonsful sugar
1 tablespoonful raspberry syrup
Juice of half lemon
Juice of half orange
1/2 glass cracked ice
2 dashes of Curacao
100% of brandy
2 dashes of Jamaica rum
Stir with spoon, trim with fruits in season. Sprinkle little port wine on and serve.
SILVER FIZZ
Juice of 1 lemon
1 spoonful sugar
The white of 1 egg
50% dry gin
Fill glass with cracked ice, shake and strain. Top off with fizz (seltzer) water, and serve.
WHITE PLUSH
50% rye whiskey
25% maraschino
1 fresh egg
1/2 glass cracked ice. Fill glass with milk. Shake well with shaker, strain and serve.
— Jack’s Manual (1910)
Not disconcerting at all 🙂 Those Edwardians certainly knew how to have sophisticated fun inside and outside the home. I am always thrilled by their picnics, country house weekends, cabarets, fashion parades with champagne etc etc
And your recipes show that you don’t need blenders to create great cocktails.
Very cool. I will simply have to try each one in the name of research!
I was surprised when I first learned there are cocktails dating back to the 19th or even 18th century, too. I think a lot of Americans associate them with Prohibition. It’s pretty cool to think an ancestor 100 years ago was drinking a Manhattan. 🙂
The comparison, even today, between the continental-style Rivoli Bar at the Ritz and the American Bar at the Savoy is fascinating. Americans moved cocktails on hugely at the beginning of the twentieth century. (As a side note, the Queen’s favourite drink is a stripped down “Aviator”. She is partial to Dubonnet and gin, served over ice with a slice of lemon.)
I just love the names of these. The only one I’ve actually tried is a Silver Fizz and it was quite tasty. Now I want to try my hand at making Gin Bumps!
Great names for cocktails and I love the diversity. You’ll find some stuff for men and women. Good post.