Prohibition did anything but dampen creative cocktail mixing.
My grandfather reminisced about something called a Grapefruit Nesbit. No one really knows what it was. It was that “hush-hush.”
If everyone’s grandfathers have undocumented recipes, too, there could be millions of homegrown concoctions out there just waiting to be rediscovered.
Today, we invite you to leave a family prohibition drink recipe in the comments section below. Don’t know the ingredients? Just tell us the name. Don’t know the name? Share the ingredients.
Here are a few from prohibitionrepeal.com that someone was wise enough to scribble down. Maybe they’ll jog a memory.
Mary Pickford
Along with her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, the golden-haired Mary Pickford was at the pinnacle of the first generation of movie royalty. This 1920s Cuban concoction does her honor.
Stir well with cracked ice:
1 1/2 oz white rum
1 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon grenadine
Strain into chilled cocktail glass and drop in a maraschino cherry.
Barbary Coast
Only desperation would cause somebody to mix Scotch and gin, but Prohibition was a desperate time — and, surprisingly, the results aren’t half bad.
Shake well with cracked ice:
3/4 oz blended Scotch
3/4 oz gin
3/4 oz creme de cacao
3/4 oz heavy cream
Strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Colony Cocktail
New York’s Colony was no ordinary speakeasy. It was where Vanderbilts and Windsors went to dine in a civilized manner, and if that included a drink or two, then bartender Marco Hattem would provide one, no questions asked.
Shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/2 oz gin
3/4 oz grapefruit juice
2 tsp maraschino
Strain into chilled cocktail glass.