Boothby Cocktail

Serve in

Garnish:

Skewered Luxardo Maraschino cherry

How to make:

STIR first 4 ingredients with ice and strain into chilled glass. TOP with sparkling wine.

Review:

"A delectable Manhattan, with a champagne float."

Variant:

Millionaire's Martini

History:

Named after The Honorable William T. "Cocktail Bill" Boothby (1862-1930), bartender, cocktail book author, prosecuted speakeasy operator, and California Congressman. Surprisingly, the Boothby Cocktail doesn't appear in any of the numerous books he penned during his lifetime, other than a verse in his 1908 The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them.

THE FIND OF BACCHUS
(From the modern mythology.)
Bacchus in a languid mood one day,
Cloyed with the purple essence of the vine,
Cried out, "I tire of all this sweetness and the wine;
If there be aught that's new, cup-bearer mine,
I pray thee serve it now without delay."

Whereat young Gannymede, there standing by,
Bowed to the one he served and laughed,
Saying, "Lo, I shall brew thee a draught,
The nectar of the gods, in sooth," and Bacchus quaffed
In haste, nor stopped he 'til the cup was dry.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Gone was his wanton languidness and pain,
No more he sat disconsolate and pale,
But cried, "Tis found! Oh wondrous tipple, hail!
Its name? Ah yes, I see: A Boothby Cocktail.
Oh! Gannymede, just set 'em up again!

The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them, 1908

When Boothby died of cancer on 4th August 1930, just three years before the repeal of Prohibition, close to 100 bartenders attended his funeral. (As the Santa Cruz Evening News reported on the 8th August 1930,) "One of these, T. E. Collins of Seattle, told yesterday at the Palace Hotel of Boothby's famous beverages.
"The younger generation," he said "should have known of the famous 'Boothby Cocktail,' invented by Bill when he was head bartender at this very hotel. It consisted of a delectable Manhattan, with a champagne float – a drink that never the gods of high Olympus quaffed."

More cocktails by The Honorable William T. “Cocktail Bill” Boothby

Nutrition:

162 calories

Alcohol content:

• 1.9 standard drinks
• 26.9% alc./vol. (53.8° proof)
• 27 grams of pure alcohol