Knickerbocker

History

The Knickerbocker was created sometime in the mid-19th century, and I have been one of those who previously went with the assumption that it was created at New York City's grand Knickerbocker Hotel. However, the luxurious Knickerbocker Hotel with its Beaux-Arts architecture was not built until 1906, while this drink first appears in print in 1862.

What is a knickerbocker?: The name 'Knickerbockers' originally referred to the style of pants, rolled up just below the knee, that Dutch settlers wore. (This is where the word 'knickers' comes from.)

In 1809, author Washington Irving wrote the satiric A History of New York under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker. The book became known as Knickerbocker's History of New York and the word 'knickerbocker' came to signify a New Yorker who could trace their ancestry to the original Dutch settlers. The term 'knickerbocker' became linked to anything from New York, including Jacob Ruppert's Knickerbocker Beer and the 1938 Broadway musical Knickerbocker Holiday.

So, the name suggests the Knickerbocker Cocktail was first made in New York, but by whom remains unknown. However, thanks to printed recipes, we do know how the drink evolved.

Cocktail's timeline: The Knickerbocker cocktail first appears in Jerry Thomas' 1862 The Bartender's Guide.

Knickerbocker.
(Use small bar glass)
½ a lime, or lemon, squeeze out the juice, and put rind and juice in the glass.
2 teaspoonfuls of raspberry syrup
1 wine-glass Santa Cruz rum.
½ teaspoonful of Curaçoa.
Cool with shaved ice; shake up well, and ornament with berries in season. If this is not sweet enough, put in a little more raspberry syrup.

Jerry Thomas, The Bartender's Guide, 1862

The cocktail then appears in William Terrington's 1869 Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks with two different versions, the "Knickerbocker à la Monsieur" which is virtually identical to Jerry Thomas' recipe above, and the quite different "Knickerbocker à la Madame" which calls for "½ pint lemon-water ice, ½ pint sherry or Madeira, 1 bottle seltzer water and ¼ pint shaven ice."

In his 1882 New and Improved Bartender's Manual, Harry Johnson lists just one version, simply called Knickerbocker, but adds pineapple and orange to Jerry Thomas' recipe.

KNICKERBOCKER.
(Use a large bar glass.)
2 table-spoonful of raspberry syrup;
2 dashes of lemon juice;
1 slice of pineapple;
1 slice of orange;
1 wine glass full of St. Croix rum;
One-half glass of Curaçao;
The fill the glass with fine shaved ice; stir of shake well, and dress with fruit in season; serve with a straw.

Harry Johnson, New and Improved Bartender's Manual, 1882

Then, in his 1888 Bartender's Manual, Theodore Proulx publishes a recipe that mimics previous Knickerbocker cocktails, but he omits the all-important raspberry syrup.

Knickerbocker.
In a cobbler glass, syrup and lemon juice as in a punch, one slice of orange and one of pineapple, one-half pony of curacao, one jigger of St. Croix rum, fill with ice and straws.

Theodore Proulx, Bartender's Manual, 1988

Thomas', Terrington's, Johnson's and Proulx's Knickerbocker cocktails are all served over shaved (crushed) ice in a tumbler or goblet. The straight-up serve comes from Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book where Craddock lists two quite different recipes: The Knicker-Bocker Cocktail and The Knicker-Bocker Special Cocktail. The Knicker-Bocker basically being a Gin Martini shaken with sweet and dry vermouth, while the 'Special' version closely resembles previous Knickerbocker recipes above.

It's presumed Craddock's second 'Special' version should also be shaken and served straight-up as it appears in the 'cocktails' section of the book, where most cocktails include the instruction "strain into cocktail glass". However, a specific instruction to the method of serve is missing from the recipe, and it could be that The Knicker-Bocker Special only appears in this section of the book due to its name, and Craddock simply omitted the instruction to hide what could be considered a miscategorisation. Interestingly, whoever edited the much later 1985 edition of The Savoy Cocktail Book omitted the martini-style Knicker-Bocker and added the instruction "Shake well and strain into cocktail glass" to the Knicker-Bocker Special.

KNICKERBOCKER COCKTAIL.
1 dash Italian Vermouth.
⅓ French Vermouth,
⅔ Dry Gin.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon peel on top.

KNICKERBOCKER SPECIAL COCKTAIL.
1 Teaspoon Raspberry Syrup.
1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice.
1 Teaspoon Orange Juice.
1 Chunk of Pineapple.
⅔ Rum.
2 Dashes of Curaçao.

Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book, 1930