Casino

Serve in a

Garnish:

Luxardo Maraschino cherry

How to make:

SHAKE all ingredients with ice and fine strain into chilled glass.

Review:

This recipe is a very broad interpretation of Ensslin's 1916 original and Casino recipes that followed in other classic tomes. Although as Ensslin merely specifies "dashes" of lemon juice, his recipe maybe not so far removed from mine.

My Casino recipe is close to being an Aviation without crème de violette which is appropriate as Ensslin's book also contains the first know reference to the Aviation cocktail.

Variant:

Blue Moon

History:

The Casino recipe first appeared in Hugo R. Ensslin's 1916 Recipes For Mixed Drinks, written when he was head bartender at New York City's Hotel Wallick which stood at the corner of Broadway and Forty-third Street:
"Casino Cocktail
2 dashes Maraschino
2 dashes Orange Bitters
2 dashes Lemon juice
1 drink of Old Tom
Stir well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain and serve with a cherry."

If you are seeking a Casino more in keeping with Ensslin's recipe above, try stirring 45 old tom gin, 5ml maraschino liqueur, 2.5ml lemon juice, and 2 dashes orange bitters, stirred with ice and strained into a chilled Nick & Nora glass.

Ensslin's 1916 book is best known for being the first print reference to an Aviation cocktail and his Casino is essentially a stirred Aviation without crème de violette but a lot more lemon juice.

Harry Craddock's repeats Ensslin's Casino Cocktail, amongst verbatim, in his 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book.

Then, in 1948, my hero, David Embury published his version of the Casino with orange juice in place of orange bitters. Tellingly, Embury preferences the following recipe with the instruction to "Follow directions for mixing the Aviation."
"40 Gin
5 Maraschino
5 Lemon juice
5 Orange juice"

Embury's recipe translates as 40ml gin, 5ml maraschino liqueur, 5ml lemon juice and 5ml orange juice.

More cocktails by Hugo R. Esslinn

Nutrition:

There are approximately 150 calories in one serving of Casino.