# What Were the Popular Cocktails in Mark Twain's Time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383 "2009-10-02T19:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/1 "2009-10-02T19:14:44Z")
I was in a bar a few nights ago, and was chatting with the (very attractive) female bartender. She told me that she knew “every” drink ever made. From somewhere in my memory, I recalled that Mark Twain (in the “Innocents Abroad”) once ordered a “brandy smash”-I asked for one, and she was puzzled-anybody know how it was made? Where could I find out about the kinds of mixed drinks people drank, in the 19th century? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/2 "2009-10-02T19:32:08Z")
If you google Brandy Smash you get a number of recipes. Here’s one: Take 1 tea-spoonful of white sugar 2 table-spoonfuls of water 3 or 4 sprigs of tender mint 1 wine-glass full of brandy 1.Press the mint in the sugar and water to extract the flavor, add the brandy, and fill the glass two-thirds full of shaved ice. 2.Stir thoroughly, and ornament with a half a slice of orange, and a few fresh sprigs of mint. Serve with a straw. > **[Brandy Smash](https://recipes.fandom.com/wiki/Brandy_Smash)** > > Brandy Smash from Jeremy Thomas' Bartending Guide or How to Mix Drinks, out of copyright Serves: 1 Take 1 teaspoonful of white sugar 2 tablespoonfuls of water 3 or 4 sprigs of tender mint 1 wineglass full of brandy Press the mint in the sugar and... ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/3 "2009-10-02T22:11:59Z")
Too lazy to look, but I bet a dollar if you look in Google Books they’ll have some bartender’s manual from 1860 or something. If that fails, look in manuals for pharmacists (“chemists” in England); they have information on _everything_… house paint, cough cures, sasparilla, dyes for hats, fireworks, **everything**. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/4 "2009-10-02T22:51:48Z")
Mint Juleps? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/5 "2009-10-03T00:05:31Z")
You want to pick up Jerry Thomas’s “The Bon Vivant’s Companion”. It was published in 1862, and has a fairly large collection of cocktail recipes. You can find it on Google Books. > **[How to Mix Drinks, Or The Bon-vivant's Companion](https://books.google.com/books?id=csMpAAAAYAAJ&dq=bon%2BVivant%E2%80%99s%2BCompanion&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=TSgO5OGdFL&sig=GX5eAROf9s-5yVWQ2H-Qygou5gw&hl=en&ei=GZXGSo7LEc-ZlAeGs5CSAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5#v=onepage&q=&f=false)** ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/6 "2009-10-03T02:38:51Z")
A friend of mine who is a bit of a cocktail historian says the Sazerac and the Old-Fashioned are the two “original” cocktails. I have no idea what exactly he means by that and I’m too lazy to google it, so take it for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/7 "2009-10-03T03:18:56Z")
Of course, the Old-Fashioned was called “The New-Fangled” at first. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/8 "2009-10-03T03:29:25Z")
**Captain Amazing** , I am deeply chagrinned that I didn’t see that coming. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/9 "2009-10-03T05:06:08Z")
Classics never die. Being in retail liquor sales has pretty much made me puke just thinking about the shit swill that the kids come up with. Can’t wait for bologna flavored vodka! ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/10 "2009-10-03T06:56:42Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > Can’t wait for bologna flavored vodka! Already got [bacon flavored vodka](http://www.bakonvodka.com/). Can bologna be far behind? (Gets out his _Everyday Life in the 1800s_ sourcebook and opens to the Food Drink and Tobacco chapter.) [ul] [li]Ale cocktail (1838 on)[/li][li]Apple jack (Throughout the century)[/li][li]Baldface (Slang for whiskey)[/li][li]Bimbo (Brandy, sugar, and lemon)[/li][li]Brandy sour (From at least the 1860s)[/li][li]Brandy toddy (No date)[/li][li]Champagne (Throughout)[/li][li]Cobbler (Mid-century)[/li][li]Corn juice (Slang for corn liquor)[/li][li]Flip (Throughout)[/li][li]Ginger beer (Throughout)[/li][li]Gin-sling (Throughout)[/li][li]Martini (1860)[/li][li]Syllabub (Early century – Christmas drink)[/li][/ul]Also listed is the drink menu from a “fashionable bar-room” in the 1840s. There are 45 drinks on it, including ten variations of julep. I’ll type those up on request, but who knows what Tip and Ty or Phlegm-cutter refer to. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/11 "2009-10-03T07:25:54Z")
Sylabub actually predates the 19th century. They drank it/ate it in the 16th. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/12 "2009-10-03T13:20:45Z")
The Cherry Bounce was possible; Martha Washington gave a recipe in her journal. [http://www.beekman1802.com/general/two-cherry-bounce-cocktails.html](http://www.beekman1802.com/general/two-cherry-bounce-cocktails.html) And of course, Sydney Carton made his own punch in _A Tale of Two Cities_: > [@](#): > > A kettle steamed upon the hob, and in the midst of the wreck of papers a table shone, with plenty of wine upon it, and brandy, and rum, and sugar, and lemons. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/13 "2009-10-03T16:41:36Z")
(Trying to post this again; it didn’t work earlier due to the recurring board problems.) Another good book for info on old-school drinks is _Imbibe_ by David Wondrich. **DesertDog** , I’d be curious about your book’s source of information on the martini; that date sounds pretty early. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/14 "2009-10-03T17:02:26Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > **DesertDog** , I’d be curious about your book’s source of information on the martini; that date sounds pretty early. Well, Martini and Rossi started making vermouth in 1863, so it would have been sometime after that. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-popular-cocktails-in-mark-twains-time/512383/15 "2009-10-04T05:10:37Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > **DesertDog** , I’d be curious about your book’s source of information on the martini; that date sounds pretty early. I simplified it a bit. The entire entry reads, **martini:** a drink comprised of gin and vermouth, invented between 1860-1862 and briefly known as a Martinez. and there is no citation there. The chapter is _Food, Drink, and Tobacco_ and there are six references for the chapter, most of them sounding like cookbooks. The two that don’t are: Bartlett, John, _Dictionary of Americanisms_, 1849, reprinted by Crown Publishers, 1989 Campbell, Hannah, _Why Did They Name it . . .?_, Fleet Publishing, 1964 I’d bet the latter is where they got martini/martinez. [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini_(cocktail)#Martini_origins_and_mixology) prefers the name from Martini & Rossi vermouth story rather than the Martinez (California) story. It also notes that the vermouth was introduced in 1863.