The Monkey Gland is a cocktail of gin, orange juice, grenadine and absinthe. TheMonkey Gland is named after the pseudo-scientific idea that grafting monkey testicle tissue into humans would increase longevity, the idea developed by the French doctor Serge Voronoff. He first performed testicular transplants on animals, taking the testicles from young animals and implanting these older animals. Voronoff allegedly observed increases in vitality that encouraged him to apply this method to humans. Since the 1920s, and thus at the time when the Monkey Gland was born, he had transplanted monkey testicles into the scrotum of people who believed that the method would rejuvenate them.
INGREDIENTS
50 ml/ 1 ½ oz. Gin
30 ml/ 1 oz. orange juice
1 teaspoon Absinthe
2 teaspoons Grenadine
METHOD
Swirl a dash of absinthe in a chilled cocktail glass to coat it, then dump out any excess liqueur.
Add all other ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.
Garnish with an orange slice or a burnt orange peel.
NOTES
At a time when Absinthe was not available in the USA, it was replaced by other aniseed drinks such as Pernod or Ricard.
The Vieux Carré (French for “old square”) cocktail is an alcoholic cocktail of cognac, rye whiskey, vermouth, Bénédictine and bitters. The Vieux Carré was first stirred to life at New Orleans’ legendary Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone in the 1930s. The Vieux Carré cocktail is at once sweet, boozy, bitter and smooth—in other words, New Orleans.
The Mary Pickford cocktail is a Prohibition Era cocktail made with white rum, fresh pineapple juice, Grenadine syrup and maraschino liqueur. It is served shaken and chilled, often with a maraschino cherry. The cocktail is named for Canadian-American film actress Mary Pickford (1892–1979), it is said to have been created for her in the 1920s by either Eddie Woelke or Fred Kaufmann at the hotel Nacional de Cuba on a trip she took to Havana with Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks.
INGREDIENTS
60 ml / 2 oz. Bacardi Superior rum
45 ml / 1 ½ oz. fresh pressed pineapple juice
10 ml / ¼ oz maraschino liqueur
10 ml / ¼ oz. Grenadine syrup
METHOD
Add all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Shake well and strain into chilled cocktail glass.
The Americano cocktail is a classic aperitif cocktail made from Campari and Vermouth Rosso. Orange and lemon are used as garnish. The Americano was allegedly served for the first time in the bar of the Gaspare Campari, the Café Campari, in the 1860s. Originally the cocktail was not called Americano, but Milano-Torino, which refers to the cities of production of the two spirit ingredients.
INGREDIENTS
30 ml/ 1 oz. Campari
30 ml/ 1 oz. Vermouth Rosso
A splash of soda water
METHOD
Mix the ingredients directly in an old fashioned glass filled with ice cubes.
Add a splash of soda water.
Stir gently.
Garnish with half orange slice and a lemon zest.
NOTES
A relative is the Negroni cocktail. It differs from the Americano cocktail only in another ingredient, gin.
The Champs Élysées cocktail was invented by Harry Craddock, one of the trendiest bartenders in the 20s and 30s. Harry Craddock is also the author of the famous cocktail book “The Savoy Cocktail Book”. Many classic and good cocktails are included in the book, which Harry served in the famous Savoy Hotel in London.
INGREDIENTS
45 ml/ 1 ½ oz. Cognac
15 ml/ ½ oz . Chartreuse Yellow
7,5 ml/ ¼ oz. sugar cane syrup
7,5 ml/ ¼ oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
METHOD
Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Shake well and strain into chilled glass.
Garnish with a lemon twist.
NOTES
The original recipe does not state whether yellow or green Chartreuse is used.
The Monte Carlo cocktail is similar to a Manhattan cocktail, only with Benedictine replacing the sweet vermouth. And you can garnish with a twist of lemon if you prefer.
Between the Sheets is an alcoholic cocktail made from cognac, white rum, triple sec (Cointreau orange liqueur) and lemon juice. The drink is managed by the International Bartenders Association together with other well-known cocktails in the category “The Unforgettables”.
INGREDIENTS
30 ml/ 1 oz. Cognac
30 ml/ 1 oz. Cointreau orange liqueur
30 ml/ 1 oz. Bacardi Superior rum
7,5 ml/ ¼ oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
METHOD
Add all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.
Flame on orange peel over the glass and discard before serving.
NOTES
The drink is similar to the Sidecar cocktail, differing only by using less cognac and adding rum. The Maiden’s Prayer is variously known as an alternate name for the Between the Sheets, and as a different drink using gin instead of rum and cognac, and adding orange juice to the lemon juice.
The Dirty Banana cocktail is popular on many Caribbean islands, in which the classic Dirty Banana cocktail combines rum, Kahlua, or another coffee-flavored liqueur, and banana-flavored liqueur in an icy, creamy shake.
INGREDIENTS
45 ml/ 1 ½ oz. gold Rum
30 ml/ 1 oz. Kahlùa coffee liqueur
30 ml/ 1 oz. banana liqueur
30 ml/ ¾ oz. milk
30 ml/ ¾ oz. cream
1 fresh Banana (peeled)
METHOD
Blend all ingredients with 180 ml/ 6 oz. scoop crushed ice.
