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Self-starter
Kina aperitif and dashes of absinthe add all-important bitterness to balance this gin-based apricot-flavoured aperitif
Chris Brislawn
27th November 2024 at 04:24
Hmmm...not sure where your link to the book is. I did, however, find the 2014 revision of the Savoy Cocktail Book online at openlibrary.org. It reproduces the original artwork by Gilbert Rumbold from the 1930 edition, but the recipes have been expanded and differ somewhat from the 1930 Martino Publishing reproduction I have. The historical forward to the 2014 edition is very helpful for sorting out the messy history of this book. As for my copy, there is no indication in the material at the front of my reproduced edition that it is any kind of revision or update of an earlier edition. The Scoff-Law is the last cocktail on p. 143 in my version, followed on p. 144 by Scotch Mist and Scotch On-the-Rocks above a Rumbold drawing of a Spanish dancer and guitarist, then (on p. 145) is the Screwdriver, immediately followed by the Seventh Heaven #1 and #2; no Self-Starter or Sensation. For comparison, in the 2014 revised edition, p. 143 has the same 4 recipes as my edition, ending with the Scoff-Law; the text is slightly edited and re-typeset. On p. 144, the Scotch Mist and Scotch On-the-Rocks above the dancer and guitarist have been replaced by the Self-Starter and the Sensation, indicating significant re-typesetting of the document, i.e., a revised edition containing new recipes contributed by unidentified staff from the Savoy Hotel. There is no Screwdriver in the 2014 edition. On p. 145 of the 2014 edition is the September Morn (not found in my edition), the Seventh Heavens, etc. My best guess: Santa gave me a photo-reproduction of the original 1930 Craddock edition, while the "1930 edition" you are using is actually a later, revised edition that may have reproduced the artwork and the original 1930 title page, as in the 2014 edition, but with a somewhat revised selection of recipes. For instance, my version contains the Scotch Mist and Scotch On-the-Rocks recipes, which consist of scotch poured over, respectively, shaved ice or cubed ice and garnished with a lemon twist. These look like prime candidates for removal and replacement by actual recipes a bartender might mix, suggesting that my edition is an early one. Take a look at the historical forward in the 2014 edition and see what you think. Slainte!
27th November 2024 at 06:05
Please click on the name of the book in the "History" under the recipe.
28th November 2024 at 02:16
Found it. I had no idea you had collected so many links to vintage cocktail books, thank you for finding and posting them! The EUVS library copy of the Savoy book with Harry Craddock's signature, dated October 1931, is clearly a 1930 or 1931 printing of the first edition, and there's the Self-Starter on p. 144. Examining the EUVS copy, however, reveals a big difference between it and the Martino Fine Books reproduction, which is widely available (e.g., on Amazon and other online sources) and seems to be coming out in near-annual reprintings. Although Martino appears to have reproduced a very early edition, lacking a listing of previous printings or editions in the front-matter, the recipes in the edition they reproduced make no mention of absinthe. Drinks containing absinthe in the EUVS copy either have the absinthe changed to "Pernod" in the Martino copy (e.g., the Sazerac, the Saucy Sue,...) or else are missing altogether (the three "Absinthe" cocktails on p. 16, the Atty,....) There doesn't seem to be a consistent strategy to this bowdlerizing, since some drinks with just a dash or two of absinthe (like the Bombay #2 and the Self-Starter) have been omitted from the Martino copy while others with considerably more absinthe have survived after having the absinthe converted to "Pernod" (the Brunelle, the Choker, the Duchesse, the Suisse, T.N.T.,....) Then again, the Bunny Hug is missing from the Martino copy (and from Difford's Guide, too), and probably deservedly so. The possibility that Martino, publishing in Connecticut, had reproduced the 1930 Richard R. Smith American edition was appealing since absinthe was banned in the US (though not in Britain) years earlier, but I found a vintage copy of the 1930 Smith edition listed for sale online (for US$1095.00) with a photo of p. 16 that clearly shows the three "Absinthe" cocktails (calling for absinthe, not Pernod). I give up on trying to figure out which edition Martino has used that removes all mention of absinthe from the recipes (and added the superfluous Scotch Mist and Scotch On-the-Rocks), but you might point this idiosyncrasy out to readers who might be considering the Martino reproduction. It is ubiquitous in the online book market despite being representative of neither Craddock's original edition nor of contemporary mixology, now that absinthe is legal once again. Cheers!