Boothby Cocktail

Review:

"A delectable Manhattan, with a sparkling wine 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. Boothby is believed to have created his namesake cocktail around the turn of the 20th century while bar manager of the Pied Piper Bar in the Palace Hotel, San Fransico, as corroborated in the Santa Cruz Evening News on the 8th August 1930 [see below].

Surprisingly, the Boothby Cocktail doesn't appear in any of the numerous books he penned that were published 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."

Collins' refers to Boothby's Cocktail as a "delectable Manhattan," and it is as the "Manhattan, Boothby," one of eight versions of the Manhattan, that Boothby's signature cocktail appears in the posthumously published 1934 book Cocktail Bill Boothby's World Drinks and how to mix them.

MANHATTAN, BOOTHBY
Whiskey ............. 2/3 jigger
It. Vermouth ...... 1/3 jigger
Orange Bitters ... 2 dashes
Bitters ................ 2 drops
Stir with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass, add Maraschino cherry, float on 1 spoon of champagne and serve.

Someone, Somewhere, 19??

Nutrition:

One serving of Boothby Cocktail contains 165 calories