Posted on by kpelesky@gmail.com

Dry Manhattan Cocktail

Looking south down Broadway in Times Square, 1908
  • Take two dashes of orange bitters
  • One dash of Angostura bitters
  • Two liqueur-glasses of Rye whiskey
  • One liqueur-glass of French Vermouth
  • Fill the mixing-glass with ice
  • Stir well
  • Strain into a cocktail-glass
  • Twist in a small piece of lemon peel
  • Serve with a stuffed olive
Louis’ Mixed Drinks by Louis Muckensturm, 1906

Check out the Lost Cocktails eBook on Amazon

Posted on by kpelesky@gmail.com

Wild Irish Rose

Promotional photograph of Dennis Morgan as Chauncey Olcott and Andrea King as Lillian Russell in the 1947 film My Wild Irish Rose
Promotional photograph of Dennis Morgan as Chauncey Olcott and Andrea King as Lillian Russell in the 1947 film My Wild Irish Rose

As served at Auditorium Hotel, Chicago, Illinois

  • Use highball glass
  • One-half lime muddled
  • Small toddy
  • Spoonful of Grenadine Syrup
  • Three-fourths jigger Irish Whisky
  • Lump highball ice
  • Fill up with selzer
Beverages de Luxe, Edited by Geo. R. Washburn and Stanley Bronner, 1914

The Lost Cocktails eBook is now available on Amazon

Posted on by kpelesky@gmail.com

Manhattan Bell-Ringer

Empire State Building, New York City. [View from], to Chrysler Bldg. and Queensboro Bridge, low viewpoint, January 1932
Empire State Building, New York City. [View from], to Chrysler Bldg. and Queensboro Bridge, low viewpoint, January 1932

  • Fill mixing glass two-thirds full fine ice
  • 1/2 teaspoonful lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoonful syrup
  • 2 dashes orange bitters
  • 1 dash Peychaud’s bitters
  • 1/2 wine glass bourbon whisky (Old Crow)
  • 1/2 wine glass Vermouth
  • While you are stirring the above mixture put one-half teaspoonful of abricotine into a cocktail glass
  • Rinse it so that the abricotine will be evenly coated all over inside of the cocktail glass
  • Strain and rub a piece of fresh cut lemon around the edge of the cocktail glass
  • Serve
The 20th Century Guide for Mixing Fancy Drinks by James C. Maloney, 1900
Posted on by kpelesky@gmail.com

The Press

Reporters with various forms of "fake news" from an 1894 illustration by Frederick Burr Opper.
Reporters with various forms of “fake news” from an 1894 illustration by Frederick Burr Opper.

  • The white of an egg in the bottom of a glass
  • 3 dashes of lemon-juice
  • 1 spoonful of sugar
  • 2/3 of whiskey
  • 1 dash of St. Croix rum
  • 1 dash of calisaya
  • 1 dash of absinthe
  • Fill your glass with ice
  • Shake well
  • Strain into a fizz-glass
  • Fill the balance with seltzer
The Flowing Bowl by The Only William (William Schmidt), 1892
Posted on by kpelesky@gmail.com

Blue Blazer

Captain Eyre Massey Shaw in Punch. January, 1881
Captain Eyre Massey Shaw in Punch. January, 1881

  • 1/2 table-spoon sugar, dissolved in a little hot water
  • 1 wine-glass Scotch whisky
  • Set the liquid on fire, and, while blazing,
  • Pour 3 or 4 times from one mug into another
  • This will give the appearance of a stream of liquid fire
  • Twist a piece of lemon peel on top with
  • A little grated nutmeg, and
  • Serve

As this preparation requires skill, it is quite requisite that the amateur should practice with cold water at first.

Stuart’s Fancy Drinks by Thos. Stuart, 1896

Note from Lost Cocktails: Make this cocktail at your own peril. I thought it was interesting that the author suggested practicing with cold water.

Posted on by kpelesky@gmail.com

Hickeys Favorite

  • Tall, thin glass
  • Two lumps of ice
  • Squeeze one-half lemon in glass
  • A squirt of absinthe
  • A squirt of curaçao
  • A good drink of whiskey, gin or brandy
  • Fill up with Krause’s syphon soda
  • Stir
  • Serve
Mixology; The Art of Preparing All Kinds of Drinks “An All Right Book.” by Joseph L. Haywood, Mixologist, 1898
Posted on by kpelesky@gmail.com

Trilby Cocktail

Picture of Svengali from George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby, showing Svengali as a spider
Picture of Svengali from George du Maurier’s 1894 novel Trilby, showing Svengali as a spider

  • Use large bar glass
  • Fill glass with shaved ice
  • Two dashes absinthe
  • Two dashes orange bitters
  • Two dashes Parfait d’Amour
  • One-half wine-glass Scotch whiskey
  • One-half wine-glass Italian Vermouth
  • Stir with spoon
  • Strain in cocktail glass
  • Put in cherries
  • Squeeze lemon peel on top, and
  • Serve
The Hoffman House Bartenders Guide by Charles S. Mahoney, 1912
Posted on by kpelesky@gmail.com

Gin or Whiskey Sling

1905 ad for Old Valley Whiskey (part of an ad for distributor Continental Whiskey Company, Polk's Seattle City Directory, 1905).
1905 ad for Old Valley Whiskey (part of an ad for distributor Continental Whiskey Company, Polk’s Seattle City Directory, 1905).

  • Thin peel of an orange or lemon soaked in 1/4 pint of gin or whisky
  • Juice of 2 oranges and 1 lemon
  • Sugar to taste
  • Add 1 pint of pounded Lake ice
  • Use straws
Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks by William Terrington, 1869