The Atty Cocktail

Review:

My recipe remains pretty faithful to Craddock's classic 1930s proportions, but in line with modern bartending conventions, I now disregard Craddock's instructions and stir rather than shake this cocktail. However, arguably, shaking yields an even more delicious cocktail, and if you decide to shake, consider doubling the measures of both crème de violette and absinthe. Shaken or stirred, this Martini-style cocktail is dry and aromatic with subtle floral and aniseed notes.

History:

Adapted from a recipe in Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book.

ATTY COCKTAIL
¼ French Vermouth.
3 Dashes Absinthe.
¾ Gin.
3 Dashes Crème de Violette.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

Harry Craddock, 1930

Many of the recipes in Craddock's 1930 book are borrowed from Hugo-R-Ensslin's 1917 Recipes For Mixed Drinks (the last major pre-Prohibition cocktail book) and, while there is no Atty cocktail, there is a cocktail called "Attention" in Ensslin's book which shares the same ingredients, listed in the same order, as the Atty but in misbalanced (equal parts) proportions:

ATTENTION COCKTAIL
¼ French vermouth
¼ Absinthe
¼ Gin
¼ Crème de Violette
Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain and serve.

Hugo R. Ensslin, 1917

Due to the similarities, many have concluded that Ensslin's Attention inspired Craddock's rather better, perhaps abbreviated, Atty cocktail.

Nutrition:

One serving of The Atty Cocktail contains 163 calories