10 Prohibition-Era Cocktails

You can't get anymore bad ass then Prohibition era based cocktails!!! Here are a few of the sources I used to scrounge these up: Prohibition-Repeal and Ask-Men.


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.



Gin and Sin

Recipe
1oz Rehorst Gin
1oz Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
1/4oz of Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
Dash of Grenadine
Ice to top the glass, shake, and double strain the cocktail into a piece of stemware





Bacardi Cocktail
The proximity of Cuba to Florida ensured that the wildly popular Bacardi Cocktail stood a pretty good chance of being made with real Bacardi.
Shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/2 oz light rum
1/2 oz lime or lemon juice
3 dashes grenadine
Strain into chilled cocktail glass



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 crème de cacao
3/4 oz heavy cream
Strain into chilled cocktail glass.



Whiskey Old-Fashioned
The Old-Fashioned was around before Prohibition and it was around after Prohibition, but never was it more needed than during Prohibition—there being no better way invented to improve the taste of indifferent liquor. And if you actually have good liquor...

Muddle 1 sugar cube with a teaspoon of water and 2 dashes of Angostura bitters in the bottom of an Old-Fashioned glass until the sugar dissolves. Add 1 1/2 oz whisk(e)y—in order of Prohibition-era popularity: straight rye (or “rye”), bourbon (or “bourbon”), Canadian or blended Scotch—and stir briefly. Then add 2-3 ice cubes, stir some more, squeeze a large swatch of thin-cut lemon peel over the top and drop it in. This drink is always best if you let it sit for a minute or two before sipping it.




Sidecar
This French creation became the defining cocktail of the era.
Shake well with cracked ice:
1 ¼ oz cognac
½ oz Cointreau
¾ oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
Strain into chilled, sugar-rimmed cocktail glass



French 75
Named after an hard-hitting World War I artillery piece, the French 75 is, as far as can be determined, the only cocktail invented in the United States during Prohibition to become a classic.

Shake well with cracked ice:
1 ½ oz London dry gin
½ oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
¾ oz simple syrup
Strain into highball glass full of cracked ice and top off with chilled champagne.





Bee's Knees
Since the bathtub gin that was being produced at the time tasted like a throat-full of gasoline struck by a bolt of lightning, it was important to mask the flavor with sweetening ingredients like honey and lemon in this classic. The exact origin is hard to pin down, but it's generally accepted as a Prohibition cocktail staple. Most people seem to think it takes its name from a popular saying at the time, in which calling something “the bee’s knees” was high praise.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz gin
3/4 oz honey syrup
1 tsp fresh lemon juice



Clover Thyme Club Cocktail

This is a cocktail for the pre-prohibition era.

Recipe
Few clovers of thyme
2 oz of Gin
3/4 oz of Lemon Juice
1/2 oz of Raspberry Syrup
Egg White



The Scofflaw

Recipe
1 oz whisky
1 oz dry vermouth
3/4 oz grenadine (the real pomegranate kind)
Dash of Angostura bitters