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All cocktails Turf Club (1939. Charles H. Baker)

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Turf Club (1939. Charles H. Baker)

Aperitivo/aperitif · Martini-style · Spirit-forward

3.8 10 ratings

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Ingredients

1 oz Old Tom gin
1 oz Gin
2/3 oz Dry vermouth
1/3 oz Bianco/blanco vermouth
1/6 oz Maraschino liqueur
1/6 oz Chilled water
1/24 oz Absinthe
4 drop Abbott's bitters
3 drop Saline solution 4:1

How to make

Serve in a nick & nora glass

Prepare

  1. 1 Select and pre-chill a NICK & NORA GLASS.
  2. 2 Prepare garnish of skewered Luxardo Maraschino Cherry..

Method

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

Garnish

  1. 5 Garnish with maraschino cherry.

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Flavour profile

25.2% alc./vol. · 1.8 standard drinks · 183 calories

History

Maraschino, absinthe and Abbott's modify an old tom and dry gin 2:1 Dry Martini. Balancing sweetness and dilution are needed where there's absinthe, hence the addition of a mere splash of wet stuff and bianco vermouth alongside the dry vermouth. (Sugar is present in many old tom gins and maraschino, but this cocktail required a touch more).

Charles H. Baker Jr.'s 1939 book, The Gentleman's Companion: An Exotic Drinking Book, contains three variations of the Turf Cocktail, along with Baker's extensive personal accounts of their origins. The book is more of a travelogue with recipes than a strict guide to bartending. The Improved Turf Cocktail, No. 1, Baker notes, was a modification of a drink he first encountered in 1937 at Dirty Dick's in Nassau, Bahamas. He first sampled this cocktail after arriving in Nassau via Pan-American Airways with his wife of 6 years and four friends. The group had finished their sailing, swimming, and beach excursions and were seeking refreshment. A local gentleman recommended the drink at Dirty Dick's, describing it as "a dry, appetizing taste-thrill." According to Baker, the original preparation at Dirty Dick's consisted solely of Holland gin and vermouth in a 2-to-1 ratio, with the addition of Angostura bitters. Through subsequent experimentation with friends, Baker discovered that adding the strained juice of half a green lime and half a teaspoon of grenadine or bar sugar significantly improved the drink. Turf Cocktail No. II was documented at the Taj Mahal Hotel on Apollo Bunder in Bombay on Saturday, February 14th, 1931. This particular version was served following the Running of the Maharajah of Rajpipla Gold Cup at the Western India Turf Club, Ltd. Baker recounts winning sixty-seven rupees on the race, which had a purse of 23,000 rupees. Feeling jubilant and weary of the simple "chotapegs" (Scotch and soda without ice) they had been drinking, they were receptive to suggestions. G.J. Mack, the local Manager for General Motors Export, proposed a "recognised mix" known as the Turf Cocktail. After a conversation in Hindustani, the following recipe was produced to the group's surprise: 1 jigger of dry gin, 1 pony of French vermouth, 1 teaspoon of absinthe or Pernod Veritas, 1 teaspoon of maraschino, and a dash of Angostura bitters. Baker instructs to stir this mixture in a bar glass as one would a Martini and serve it ungarnished in a Manhattan glass. Turf Cocktail No. III, encountered at the Havana Country Club during the Winter of 1930, is described as being nearly identical to No. II. The primary distinctions are the use of Old Tom gin as the base spirit and the inclusion of orange bitters, with all other ingredients remaining the same as in Turf Cocktail No. II.