Behind Bars: Victorian Mixed Drinks

“…I was standing at the Criterion Bar, when someone tapped me on the shoulder, and turning round I recognized young Stamford, who had been a dresser under me at Bart’s.” Dr. J. H. Watson, A Study in Scarlet

CANONICAL CONCOCTIONS

“There were several bartenders in their shirt sleeves, hard at work mixing drinks for the loungers who fringed the broad, brass-trimmed counter.”

The Valley of Fear

Cocktails, in the modern sense, first appeared in the 1800’s. Recent versions are usually sweet, fairly high in alcohol, and served chilled. Early examples of mixed drinks were often drunk hot and were meant to be sipped during friendly chats or when one was in a reflective mood. What follows are some of the potions that were available to Mr. Holmes and his faithful companion.

Note: The jigger measure in the days these recipes were developed was 2 ounces. It has shrunk to 1½ ounce in modern times. A pony is 1 fluid ounce. A wineglass is a shade more than 2 fluid ounces. A dash is 1/3 teaspoon.

Half and Half

“I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but whose biographies I was compelled to listen to.” Sherlock Holmes, A Scandal in Bohemia

Lovers of malt liquors in London had their choice of ale, beer and twopenny. Connoisseurs seeking a more subtle flavour than these could offer on their own called for “half and half”: half of ale and half of beer or half of ale and half of twopenny, or half of beer and… well, you get the point.

A Four of Gin Hot

“I was a-strollin’ down thinkin’ between ourselves how uncommon handy a four of gin hot would be…” Officer Rance, A Study in Scarlet

From about 1820 to the turn of the century one of the main ways of drinking gin was with hot water. “A four” is possibly an abbreviation of the colourful bar-measure “four fingers” or it may be a reference to the measure, “four penn’orth”.

Whiskey Peg

“There he sat on his veranda, drinking whiskey-pegs and smoking cheroots, while the country was in blaze about him.” Jonathan Small, The Sign of Four

To keep late Anglo-Saxon citizenry on the straight and narrow, King Edgar ordered that pegs be fastened in drinking vessels at given intervals; anyone who drank beyond these marks at one draught was liable to punishment. Meant as a deterrent, they became a provocation. Peg-tankards contained two quarts, and were divided into eight draughts. They inspired such expressions as “to take him down a peg” and “to put a peg (nail) in one’s coffin”. In popular parlance any drink of spirits became known as a peg.

Anglo-Indian in origin, a chota peg is a slang term for a drink of a spirits (usually brandy or whisky) and soda water, which one drinks in the early evening on the veranda while wearing one’s solar topi (pith helmet).

Punches and Cups

Brandy Punch

BRANDY PUNCH

Ingredients:

½ wineglass brandy
1 wineglass water
1 tablespoon raspberry syrup
2 tablespoon white sugar
2 slices of lemon
2 slices of orange

Instructions:

Serve in a tumbler filled with shaved ice.

The General

Hungerford Park

HUNGERFORD PARK

“Hungerford Park is an excellent beverage, and is especially suitable for shooting parties in hot weather,” according to John Bickerdyke, writing in 1889.

Ingredients:

3 good-flavoured apples
1 lemon
3 bottles of ginger-beer
½ pint of sherry
2 1/4 pints of draught ale
loaf sugar
grated nutmeg

Instructions:

Cut the apples into slices. Put them into a jug; add the peel and juice of one lemon, a very little grated nutmeg, the ginger-beer, sherry and ale. Sweeten to taste, stir a little to melt the sugar. Serve well chilled.

Peabody Punch

PEABODY PUNCH

Made with limes, guava jelly, rum, cognac, Madeira and more. The recipe suggests any left-over punch be bottled for future occasion as “its pleasantness improves with age.”

Ingredients:

1 bottle best Jamaica rum
6 wineglasses cognac
3 wineglasses Madeira
1 dozen large limes (or 2 dozen small ones)
1 jar guava jelly
1 pint green tea
sugar to taste

Instructions:

Rub sugar on limes until essential oil is diffused into the sugar. Dissolve the sugar in the tea. Then cut the limes, squeeze, and add their juice to the tea. Dissolve the guava jelly in a pint of boiling water. Mix all these until you get the right sweetness; then add the rum, cognac, and Madeira. The punch should stand for at least 12 hours or more. Float a large lump of ice in the punch for an hour before serving, to chill and dilute. The recipe suggests any left-over punch be bottled for future occasion as “its pleasantness improves with age.”

Pimm’s Cup

Port Cup

Cockle Warmers

Port Wine Negus

PORT WINE NEGUS

(Professor George Saintsbury, a wine fancier of great experience and firm opinions, lamented in 1920 that “modern sherries of the drier and less full-bodied kind make negus impossible; with a full golden or brown you may make a fair alternative to the port mixture.)

Ingredients:

1 bottle ale
1 bottle porter
1 glass brandy
1 tablespoon ginger syrup
2 tablespoons sugar

Instructions:

Mix all the ingredients together then grate half a nutmeg into it. Put the concoction into the refrigerator for at least half an hour before serving. Just before serving stir a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda into it.

Bishop

BISHOP

“I made it myself in my own rooms [at Oxford], for joint consumption with a friend, who, as a matter of fact, actually did become a bishop later,” confides Professor Saintsbury. “The flames will be of an imposingly infernal colour, quite different from the light blue flicker of spirits or of claret mulled. Before it has burned too long pour it into a bowl, and drink it as hot as you like. It is an excellent liquor, and I have found it quite popular with the ladies.”

Ingredients:

1 bottle of port
½ orange
Cloves (to taste)
Sugar (to taste)

Instructions:

Pour the port into a saucepan, add as much water as you think fit. Then add half an orange, plenty of cloves, and sugar to taste. Heat until it begins to steam, then light it, pour into a bowl and drink as hot as you like.

Caudle

CAUDLE

A warm drink based on gruel mixed with ale or wine to which spices, sugar or honey were added, caudles were commonly given to sick people and especially to women in childbed.

Ingredients:

4 ounces prepared groats or oatmeal
½ pint cold ale
1 quart ale or beer
allspice
cinnamon
1 wineglass any spirit
sugar to taste

Instructions:

Mix the groats or oatmeal with the half pint of cold ale. Pour this into a saucepan containing a quart of boiling ale, or beer. Add a few whole allspice, and a little cinnamon. Stir the caudle over a low heat for about half an hour, and then strain it into a basin or jug. Add a glass of any kind of spirits and sugar.

Dog’s Nose

Flip

FLIP

Sugar, lemon, ale and eggs…

Ingredients:

1 quart strong ale
2 lumps of sugar
lemon rind
Cinnamon
1 glass cold ale
6-8 eggs
Powdered sugar
Grated nutmeg

Instructions:

Place the strong ale in a saucepan with the lumps of sugar which have been rubbed with lemon rind and cinnamon. Take the mixture off the fire when boiling and add one glass of cold ale. In a jug, beat the yolks of six or eight eggs with powdered sugar and grated nutmeg. Pour the hot ale from the saucepan on to the eggs, stirring them whilst so doing. Have another jug at hand and pour the mixture as swiftly as possible from one vessel to the other until a white froth appears. One or two wine glasses of gin or rum are often added.

Cockle Coolers

Sherry Cobbler

SHERRY COBBLER

“Sherry cobbler is indeed a most excellent drink,’ writes Professor Saintsbury, “I was taught to make it as an undergraduate.” Cedric Dickens suggests that a tablespoon of port be added. It “gives the whole a thrilling and inviting appearance,” says he.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of sugar
2 or 3 slices of orange
2 wineglasses of sherry

Instructions:

Put all ingredients into a large tumbler. Fill the glass with shaved ice and serve with a straw. As an extra ornament add a few berries in season.

Shandy Gaff

Tewahdiddle

Fancy Bar-room Drinks

Burnt Brandy and Peach

BURNT BRANDY AND PEACH

Ingredients:

1 wineglass of brandy
½ tablespoon of sugar
Several slices of dried peach

Instructions:

Pour the brandy and the sugar into a saucer and set fire to them. When the flame has extinguished pour the liquid into a small bar glass containing the dried peach slices.

Fancy Brandy

Brandy, Whisky, or Gin Smash

French Pousse Cafe

Dunhill

Rob Roy

Jersey Cocktail

Black Velvet

Champagne Cocktail

CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL

Ingredients:

1 lump of sugar
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 part Brandy
1 part Curacao
1 part Maraschino
1 part Grand Marnier
Champagne (for topping)

Instructions:

Place a sugar lump in the bottom of a champagne coupe and shake on 2 dashes of Angostura bitters. Add equal (small) parts of Brandy, Curacao, Maraschino, and Grand Marnier. Fill the remainder of the glass with champagne and enjoy!

Classic Champagne Cocktail

Collins

COLLINS

The JOHN COLLINS, named for a 19th century London barman, was made with “Holland Gin”. The TOM COLLINS was made with “Old Tom”, a sweet London gin.

Ingredients:

1 measure of gin
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon sugar
1 dash Angostura bitters
Soda (for topping)
Lemon slice (for garnish)

Instructions:

Place all the ingredients except the soda into a highball glass and mix. Add two or three ice cubes and then top up with soda. Garnish with a lemon slice.

Old Tom Cocktails

Martinez Cocktail

MARTINEZ COCKTAIL

This is the precursor of the Martini. Some say is was invented in San Franciso by the famous barman, Dr. Jerry Thomas at around the time Mr. Francis Hay Moulton and his lovely fiancée, Miss Hattie Doran, were in town. Others say it is an English invention, named for the Martini rifle used in India.

Ingredients:

1 dash of bitters
2 dashes of maraschino
1 wineglass of sweet Italian vermouth
2 small lumps of ice
1 ounce of Old Tom gin (a sweet gin)
2 dashes gum syrup (optional)
Lemon slice (for garnish)

Instructions:

Add bitters, maraschino, sweet vermouth, gin, and ice to a small bar glass. Shake thoroughly and strain into a large cocktail glass. Put a quarter of a slice of lemon in the glass, and serve. If the guest prefers it very sweet, add two dashes of gum syrup.

Hair of the Dog