How to make:

SHAKE first three ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled glass. TOP with ginger ale and lightly stir.

Review:

This pink, gin-based drink is light and fruity with lime juice balancing sweet raspberry liqueur and lengthened with ginger ale. Some make this with raspberry syrup rather than liqueur but why forgo the alcohol?

Variant:

Made with cognac in place of gin, this becomes a Floradora Imperial Cooler.

History:

Dating from the turn of the 20th century, this drink is eponymously named after a successful Edwardian musical comedy that originally opened in London in 1899 and then on Broadway the following year. The show was famous for its chorus line of Florodora Girls, a "sextette of tall, gorgeous damsels, clad in pink walking costumes, black picture hats and carrying frilly parasols [who] swished onto the stage and captivated New York for no other reason than they were utterly stunning."

This cocktail may be named after the Florodora Girls (spelt with three 'o's and one 'a'), but it notably features in Jacques Straub's 1913 Manual of Mixed Drinks as Floradora (spelt with two 'o's and two 'a's) so that's how I've spelt it here.

FLORADORA COOLER
Juice of ½ a Lime.
¼ Jigger Raspberry.
¼ Jigger Dry Gin.
1 Lump cube ice.
1 Pint Schweppes Ginger Ale.

Jacques Straub, 1913

Nutrition:

One serving of Floradora contains 221 calories