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Kleginite

Aperitivo/aperitif · Classic/vintage · Herbal

4.1 13 ratings

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Ingredients

2 oz Sake
1 oz Rosso/sweet vermouth
2 drop Saline solution 4:1

How to make

Serve in a coupe glass

Prepare

  1. 1 Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
  2. 2 Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.

Method

  1. 3 STIR ingredients with ice.
  2. 4 STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

  1. 5 EXPRESS orange zest twist over cocktail and float as garnish.

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Flavour profile

13.1% alc./vol. · 0.8 standard drinks · 111 calories

History

Fans of the Bamboo will likely appreciate this aperitivo, which is made with sake and rosso vermouth.

This is the earliest known recipe to feature sake in a cocktail book, appearing in Harry MacElhone's 1927 publication, Barflies and Cocktails. It is not in the book's A-Z recipe list but is found in a chapter titled "Cocktails Round Town." This chapter was written by Arthur Moss, the "Around the Town" columnist for the New York Herald, Paris. The cocktail is named and modeled after his newspaper column, with Moss recounting drinks created by or for other patrons at Harry's Bar. (For more on Moss and his contributions, see the Boulevardier cocktail.) Arthur Moss's explanation for the "Kleginite" is unclear, and the origin of its unusual name is revealed in an earlier article dated 24th September 1913 in the Chicago-based Radio Digest. The article states that "one Richard Clegin" "announced to Paris journalists the discovery of a new ray, hitherto quite unknown, which he has named 'Kleginite.'" The piece relays imaginative claims that " With this marvellous invention Mr. Clegin announces that he can take photographs at a distance of 30 miles, with nothing but an ordinary camera - and one-tenth of one per cent of Kleginite - being necessary." That distinguished scientist, Richard Klegin, has evolved from his giant brain a real killer. "Kleginite," this kamerafiend kalls it, and it's potent enough to korrect even a Kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan. Simple, too: 1/2 Italian vermouth and 1/2 Japanese sake. Ain't science wonderful?