Chapter Seven: Ginning Up for More

Hoffman House

The Hoffman House Hotel maintained New York’s best bar at a time when New York had nothing but great bars. Located at Broadway and Twenty-second Street, across from the très swank Madison Square (the park, not the hockey venue), it pulled in a strictly A-list clientele until it got hauled down and replaced with an office building. That was in 1915. Their version of the Martini is one of the most suave known to science.

2 ounces gin, preferably Plymouth
1 ounce white vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters
To finish: orange peel

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass; twist orange peel over the top.

Third Degree

This cops-and-robbers variant on the Dry Martini dates not to the Damon Runyon days of the 1930s but to the O. Henry days of a generation before. The name alludes less to its dash of absinthe, potentially torturous as that may be, than to its unusual dryness (these were mixed seven to one at a time when a standard Dry Martini was one to one). Of course, modern Martinis are far dryer—as are modern cops.

3 ounces Plymouth gin
Scant 1/2 ounce white vermouth
2 dashes absinthe or substitute (See Sazerac)
To finish: a cocktail onion

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass; drop in the onion.

San Martín

A 1920s cocktail book lists this as a South American favorite. That’s quite possible, though I suspect its popularity was limited to those South Americans who wore London suits and Paris frocks and spent their days at the Club, not the ones who actually worked for a living. A very fine cocktail, nonetheless. One thing: don’t use green Chartreuse instead of yellow; the results are unpleasing to the palate.

2 ounces gin, London dry gin, Plymouth gin or for true madness, Old Tom gin
1 ounce red vermouth
1 teaspoon yellow Chartreuse
To finish: lemon peel

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass; twist lemon peel over the top.

Rose

When Hemingway and Fitzgerald and all that crowd were in Paris, this dry delight was the hot cocktail. Johnny Mitta, barman at the Hotel Chatham, is said to be the genius responsible for its formulation, some time before 1922. Some (well, us) consider this one of the greatest cocktails ever invented.

2 ounces dry French vermouth
1 ounce imported kirschwasser
1 teaspoon raspberry syrup or Chambord liqueur
To finish: a maraschino cherry

Stir well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and garnish with a cherry.

Whitehall

An elegantish concoction, employing stuff you might find on the sideboard at any English country house—except with a lot more ice. The leanness of the gin and the dry sherry are compensated, but not overcompensated, by the lushness of the port, with the bitters tipped in to remind everyone to behave.

2 ounces gin
1 ounce dry sherry
1/2 ounce ruby port
2 dashes Angostura bitters
To finish: lemon peel

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass; twist lemon peel over the top.

Bronx

Ryan Demonstrates How To Make a Bronx.

Bronx
In mixing glass add;
1.5 oz Dry Gin
1.5 oz Orange Juice
1/2oz Sweet Vermouth
1/2oz Dry Vermouth
Add ice and shake
Strain into cocktail glass
Garnish with orange zest

Vesper

Ryan Demonstrates How To Make a Vesper.

Vesper
In mixing glass;
Add 2 oz London Dry Gin
1 oz of Vodka
1 oz Lillet Blanc
Shaken, not stirred.
Strain into chilled coupe glass
Garnish with wide cut lemon zest, making sure to coat the rim
of the glass with oil from the lemon swath

Bees Knees

Ryan Demonstrates How To Make a Bees Knees.

Bees Knees
In mixing glass add;
2 oz London Dry Gin
1/2 oz Honey
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
Add ice and shake
Strain into cocktail glass
*optional add 2 dashes of absinthe (Bee Sting)

Hanky Panky

Ryan Demonstrates How To Make a Hanky Panky.

Hanky Panky
In mixing glass add;
2 oz London Dry Gin
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
2 Dashes of Fernet Branca
Add ice and stir
Strain into chilled cocktail glass
Garnish with orange zest

Singapore Sling

Ryan Demonstrates How To Make a Singapore Sling.

Singapore Sling
In tall cocktail glass, add ice and set aside
In mixing glass add;
2 oz London Dry Gin
2 oz Pineapple juice
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Cherry Heering
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/4 oz Benedictine
2-3 Dashes of Angostura Bitters
Add Ice and Shake
Strain into tall cocktail glass
Top it off with sparkling water or club soda
Garnish with orange and maraschino cherry

Recipes reproduced from “Killer Cocktails” by David Wondrich