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Saratoga Cocktail
Put into a large tumbler twenty drops of pineapple syrup, twelve of Angostura bitters, twenty of maraschino, and a wine-glass of old brandy; nearly fill the glass with fine crushed ice, and mix well. Then place two or three strawberries in a small tumbler, strain the mixture on them, twist a piece of lemon-peel over it, pour a little champagne on top, and serve.
A brandy-and-champagne mixed drink of the fancy Victorian type, built by drops rather than dashes. The only technical demand is temperature: it wants to be very cold and only lightly diluted.
- A wine-glassIn Victorian bar measure a wine-glass is 2 fl oz, so this is a double measure of brandy. That is the whole drink; everything else is flavouring.
- Drops versus dashesTwenty drops is roughly a quarter teaspoon, twelve drops perhaps a scant eighth. If you work in dashes, read the bitters as a dash or two.
- MaraschinoThis means the clear Dalmatian cherry-stone liqueur (Luxardo and similar), not the syrup from a jar of dyed cocktail cherries. The two are unrelated in flavour and the substitution ruins the drink.
- Old brandyA decent aged cognac or armagnac, VSOP or better. The recipe carries almost nothing else, so bottom-shelf grape spirit shows immediately.
- Pineapple syrupA period bar staple, easily made by simmering equal weights sugar and water with fresh pineapple trimmings and straining.
- Crushed ice, then strained offThe ice is a chilling and mixing tool, not part of the finished drink. Stir until the outside of the tumbler frosts, then strain onto the strawberries so the drink does not go on watering down in the glass.
- The champagne floatAdd it last and gently, off a spoon if necessary, so it sits on top rather than foaming through. A dry brut is right; a sweet sparkling wine tips the whole thing over.
- Lemon peelTwist a wide swathe of peel skin-down over the surface to break the oil onto it, then drop it in or discard as you prefer.
- YieldOne drink, and a strong one. The recipe does not give a size for the 'small tumbler'; a serving glass of around 5 to 6 oz will do.
Saratoga Springs in upstate New York was one of the great American resort towns of the nineteenth century, known for its mineral waters, its racecourse and its hotel bars, and a cluster of dishes and drinks took its name from the place — Saratoga chips (potato crisps) being the most famous. A Saratoga Cocktail appears in the late-Victorian bartending literature, though the name was attached to more than one formula: the version usually cited from Jerry Thomas's guide is a mixture of brandy, whisky and vermouth, quite unlike this one. What Cassell's gives is a drink in the older "fancy" style, closer to a brandy crusta or a champagne cocktail, with syrup, maraschino, bitters and fruit built around an aged spirit and topped with wine.