Pre-Prohibition Cocktails

While it's true that the 1920s and early '30s gave us iconic cocktails like the Tom Collins and the Sidecar, the period between 1860 and the start of Prohibition was the real golden age of cocktails. Experts then with basic ingredients of the traditional cocktail bitters, simple syrup, Citrus twists and predominantly Whisky, Brandy, Gin and Rhum were blending hundreds of different drinks depending on their regions and available natural ingredients from the East, to the South and the West Coast.

It was Jerry Thomas (is widely regarded as the father of mixology) born in 1830 in New York, a pioneer in American bartending having worked in St. Louis, Chicago, San Francisco, Charleston and New Orleans, who documented in 1862 the art of mixology, by publishing America's first bartender's guide: How To Mix Drinks, or The Bon vivant’s companion, containing clear and reliable direction for mixing all the beverages used in the United States, together with the most popular British, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish receipes, embracing Punches, Sours, Slings, Cobblers, Shrubs, Toddies, Flips in endless variety. Included were 10 recipes for drinks referred to as "Cocktails."

Similar tomes, such as Albert Barnes' The Complete Bartender and Tim Daly's Bartender's Encyclopedia, followed in 1884 and 1903, respectively. We leafed through both books and found 10 forgotten gems that deserve a second shake.

Note that old-timey measurements are translated and a few slight tweaks have been made for the modern home mixologist. Where Barnes and Daly call for 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, half an ounce of simple syrup can be substituted for a smoother sip.

Milk Punch
From Albert Barnes' "The Complete Bartender"

1 tbsp. sugar (Demerara is best)
4 oz. brandy
2 oz. dark or spiced rum
6 oz. milk
Nutmeg

Add first three ingredients to a cocktail shaker and stir to combine. Top with milk and cracked ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a rocks glass and top with grated nutmeg.

Champagne Cobbler
From Albert Barnes' "The Complete Bartender"

2 orange wheels
3 to 4 fresh berries
1 tbsp. sugar
Champagne

Muddle fruit and sugar in a rocks glass until well combined. Fill glass halfway with crushed ice, top with Champagne, and "stir well and ornament with fruit, berries, etc. in season."

Whiskey Smash
From Tim Daly's "Bartender's Encyclopedia" (1903)

[The Whiskey Smash is a very old cocktail. The exact story behind the creation of the Smash as a style of cocktail is nebulous, but in The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails, historian David Wondrich traces the cocktail category’s origins to the 1840s. Named after the act of muddling chunks of lemon, the Smash is closely related to the classic Julep, as evidenced by the use of fresh mint. Like many popular cocktails of this era, it was made with a variety of base spirits, with the most popular being Cognac, before being revived as a whiskey-based cocktail. The Whiskey Smash is a variation of the Julep, and the lemon is a key ingredient that differentiates it from a traditional Julep. Tim Daly's recipe doesn't include the lemon - ?]

1 tbsp. sugar
4 oz. seltzer water
2 to 3 mint sprigs
4 oz. whiskey

Add first three ingredients to a mixing glass and stir until mint is nicely bruised. Add cracked ice and whiskey and stir until combined. Strain into a "fancy stem glass" or coupe and garnish with fruit.

American Velvet
From Tim Daly's "Bartender's Encyclopedia"

"One of the good ones, where the cost is not to be considered and the best ingredients should be used." — Daly

Champagne
Guinness

Fill a Champagne flute halfway with the beer, top with Champagne, and stir. (You can also reverse the order and leave it unstirred — this is called a Black Velvet.)

Hot Brandy Sling
From Albert Barnes' "The Complete Bartender"

1 cube sugar
4 oz. brandy
Lemon peel
Boiling water
Nutmeg

Add first three ingredients to a mug, top with boiling water, and stir. Garnish with grated nutmeg.

Tuxedo Cocktail
From Tim Daly's "Bartender's Encyclopedia"

2 dashes orange bitters
2 dashes maraschino liqueur
2 oz. French vermouth
2 oz. gin
1 tsp. maple syrup

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with cracked ice and stir well. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry and a lemon twist.

Mamie Taylor
From Tim Daly's "Bartender's Encyclopedia"

"The foregoing offers a pleasing form for a person to partake of whiskey without feeling the harsh effect that plain whiskey would have, and imparts the same stimulating effect." — Daly

1/2 lime, juiced
4 oz. Scotch
Ginger ale

Build in a rocks glass with a few cubes of ice and stir to combine.

Coffee Cobbler
From Tim Daly's "Bartender's Encyclopedia"

1 oz. brandy
1 tbsp. sugar
1 oz. heavy cream
Black coffee (cold brew or room temperature is best)

Stir brandy and sugar in a rocks glass until combined. Add in heavy cream and top with ice. Fill glass with coffee and stir well to combine.

Banker's Punch
From Tim Daly's "Bartender's Encyclopedia"

"This is much sought after by bankers and brokers and considered by them unequalled." — Daly

3 dashes raspberry syrup
1 tbsp. powdered sugar, dissolved in a bit of seltzer water
1 lime, juiced
4 oz. whiskey
1 oz. Jamaican rum
4 to 5 raspberries
4 to 5 blackberries
1 slice pineapple

Muddle fruit in the bottom of a rocks glass and set aside. Add remaining ingredients to a mixing glass with ice, stir until combined, and strain into the rocks glass with fruit.

Tim and Jack
From Tim Daly's "Bartender's Encyclopedia"

"This is the most recent cold weather resuscitator, and as a nourishing stimulant is unsurpassed." — Daly

1 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tbsp. sugar, dissolved in a bit of hot water
1 1/2 oz. Cognac
1 1/2 oz. dark or spiced rum
Warm milk

Build in a mug, whisking first four ingredients until combined and topping with warm milk.