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Horse's Neck
Peel a lemon in one long strip and put it in a glass so that one end hangs over. Pour the juice of the lemon into a shaker with cracked ice, a tablespoonful of sugar, and the juice of half a grapefruit. Shake well, and when cold, turn into the glass with the peel, and fill up with ginger ale.
A single-serving fruit punch that depends almost entirely on the peel: cut it well and the drink looks like the collar it is named for.
- The peel is the pointUse a vegetable peeler or channel knife to take one continuous spiral from the whole lemon, avoiding the white pith, which turns bitter in a sweet drink. Hook one end over the rim before you add ice or liquid so it stays anchored against the glass.
- Cracked ice, not cubesCracked ice chills faster and dilutes a little as you shake, which this drink needs to soften the grapefruit. Wrap cubes in a towel and hit them with a rolling pin, or pulse briefly in a blender.
- Strain itThe original says "turn into the glass," which most likely meant pouring off the liquid and leaving the spent ice behind. Strain into the prepared glass, then add fresh ice if you want it, or the ginger ale will go flat against a slush.
- SugarA tablespoon dissolves poorly in cold citrus. Either shake it hard and long, or substitute an equal volume of simple syrup, which is how many bars would do it now.
- Grapefruit has changedHalf a grapefruit of the period was likely a seedier, more sharply acidic fruit; modern varieties such as Ruby Red are generally sweeter. Use about 2 oz of juice and taste before adding all the sugar.
- Ginger alePeriod ginger ale is often described as drier and more assertively gingery than most supermarket brands. A dry ginger ale, or ginger beer cut with soda water, gets closer to that bite.
- Yield and glassOne drink, in a tall glass of about 10 to 12 oz. The juice mixture comes to roughly 4 oz, so plan on 6 to 8 oz of ginger ale to fill.
The Horse's Neck began as a temperance drink and only later acquired a shot of whiskey or brandy, which is how most bartenders know it today. The name comes from the long unbroken lemon spiral draped over the rim, which is said to resemble a horse's neck and mane; it was a barroom flourish popular in American hotels from the 1890s onward. Its appearance here, in a book of alcohol-free drinks, is a reminder that the drink's original form needed no defending. The addition of grapefruit juice is a period touch.