Many thanks, Noel. I have amended above accordingly.

Nicely put Simon.

Hey Simon, you’re right that the Old Pal first appears in Harry MacElhone (1927) but it was in a section called Cocktails Around Town written by Arthur Moss, a columnist for the New York Herald in Paris. In it, he credits his “Old Pal” William "Sparrow" Robinson, a sports editor for The New York Herald in Paris as the creator.

Not so much "adapted from" as "entirely unrelated to", surely?

I think that you may be looking at the wrong recipe. It is adapted from and shares ingredients with The Harry McElone version

The original has neither Triple Sec or Lemon. According to Michael and Ariane Batterberry (1973), this was a prohibition era cocktail at the “fancy” Speakeasy Aquarium bar in New York City. ““the bar itself was a mammoth tank of fish indirectly illuminated. There the specialty was a Goldfish Cocktail. compounded of equal parts of Goldwasser, gin, and French vermouth.” On the Town in New York, 1973

Many thanks for sharing, Noel. I've added above.

It is the least that I can do after the huge volume of historical background you have given me over the years. Keep up the great work.

Craddock lifted this recipe from Harry & Wynn Barflies 1927. The first recipe was in the 1903 Daly's bartenders guidel but quite different: 50/50 Jamaican Rum and Vermouth with dashes of Kummel and gum syrup. Another in the 1903 Flowing Bowl had 50/50 gin & Vermouth. Much earlier The Greenville Journal Fri, 01 Sep 1882 ·Page 1 says it is an alternative name for a Manhattan. Hope this is useful Simon

There is some sort of malfunction in that when I accept and save necessary cookies, the bottom cookie banner does not go away. It is all a bit recursive.

Using Tip Top's comment, we used 1 oz Cognac and 1/2 oz Bottled in Bond Apple Brandy. It was great. You do get a hint more of the apple.

This is more lie the Marigny variant of the Sidecar. See above.

Thanks for this Simon. But can I ask you to check you reference to the Toye & Adair 1925. It does not appear in my copy.

Poking my nose in again Simon: Lime juice was also in some of the 1930s White Lady recipes: Steele, 1934 My New Cocktail Book, Cocktail Memoirs 1935, 938 The Art of bartending, Bud Carroll.

This runs close to Craddock original White Lady although that is a 2:1;1 (no egg white). Some authors suggest it is an alternative name for the early White Lady.

Doh! I note that your White Lady has a reference link to the Chelsea Sidecar

Hi Simon - Just for your interest. The earliest 'egg white' version of the White Lady that I've found was in the 1938 Cocktails as served in the Cafe-Bar Martinique (NYC). I'm still looking for an older reference and if you know of one (or if anyone does) please let me know: 1 egg white, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 jigger Gin, 1 dash Cointreau

This runs close to Craddock original White Lady although that is a 2:1;1 (no egg white). Some authors suggest it is an alternative name for the early White Lady.

Hi Simon,
Just giving a shout out to Hugo Ensslin (1917) where Craddock got a lot of his recipes. Ensslin's is identical apart from the Angostura. He used Peychaud;s - suits it really well with spicy fruit.

Merry Widow Cocktail Hugo Ensslin 1917
1/2 Sry Gin
1/2 French Vermouth
2 dashes Benedictine
1 dash Peychaud Bitters
2 dashes Absinthe

Thanks for this great article on the wonderful Red Lion. It was a real treat to see and hear Tarling's daughter talk about Tarling and his background. I agree with Embury's dryness, but the original ingredients are better. He seems to have been using Grenadine to create the red in 'Red Lion' - that makes it a different brew. He probably didn't know that Booth's gin had the lion emblem.

May I the opportunity correct Harry Craddock historical inaccuracy. He says that the American engineer gave the recipe to Dr. B in 1924. However, the recipe appears in 1916 in Cocktail-ology by Count Benvinito Martini. The Craddock version is an exact copy.

Somehow I got a little confused when ordering and bought the spears instead of the cubes mould. Is there any way to buy just the cube mould without the box as I can share the box with both?

Thank you for the email and for sorting the issue out so quickly. You are a great company to deal with.
noel

Somehow I got a little confused when ordering and bought the spears instead of the cubes mould. Is there any way to buy just the cube mould without the box as I can share the box with both?

I agree about your frustration Simon. I have searched long and hard through archives of newspapers and magazines as well to no avail.

I do have the Vermeire 1922 though and check out how I calculated the teaspoon volume.
“There are between 16 and 18 teaspoonfuls in a cocktail glass (1/2 gill measure)”.
Calculation: ¼ gill = 1 ounce between 8 and 9 tsp and so tsp = 1/8 ounce (old spoon) - 1/9 doesn't make sense.

Thanks Simon - just wanted to point out that in Vermeire recipe, the teaspoon is a old one that is actually 3/4 of a modern teaspoon. Just in case someone wants to make it authentically.

Please also note that it is believed now that Hussion didn't start working at the Cafe until 1900. Hope these comments are taken as helpful rather than overly picky
best,
Noel

Hi Simon,

Thank you for all the information. Do you know what has happened to the Collectif 1806 site. The links to it no longer work. Just give "no found"

best,
noel