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All cocktails Turf Club (1900, Harry Johnson)

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Turf Club (1900, Harry Johnson)

Aperitivo/aperitif · Classic/vintage · Cocktails Made Easy

4.2 127 ratings

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz Gin
1 1/2 oz Dry vermouth
1/4 oz Maraschino liqueur
1 dash Orange bitters
1 dash Absinthe

How to make

Serve in a coupe glass

Prepare

  1. 1 Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
  2. 2 Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist and skewered Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.

Method

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

Garnish

  1. 5 EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and discard.
  2. 6 Garnish with maraschino cherry.

Flavour profile

23.5% alc./vol. · 1.7 standard drinks · 171 calories

History

This Martini-style cocktail is dry and punchy, despite the maraschino.

Harry Johnson’s 1900 Bartenders’ Manual, New and Improved edition, includes the Turf cocktail as its final drink, a departure from the first (1882) and second (1888) editions which omit it entirely. Johnson’s recipe reflects a shift in preference, calling for Plymouth gin instead of old tom gin. The recipe calls for a large bar glass filled with shaved ice, 2 or 3 dashes of orange bitters, 2 or 3 dashes of maraschino, 2 dashes of absinthe, ½ wine glass of French vermouth, and ½ wine glass of Plymouth gin. It is to be stirred well with a spoon, strained into a cocktail glass, garnished with a medium-sized olive, and served. Robert Vermeire’s 1922 Cocktails: How to Mix Them, published 22 years later, repeats Johnson’s formula verbatim, also crediting Johnson as the creator. Vermeire’s recipe calls for a bar glass filled half full of broken ice, to which are added 2 dashes of Orange Bitters, 2 dashes of Maraschino, 2 dashes of Absinthe, ¼ gill of Plymouth Gin, and ¼ gill of French Vermouth. It is to be stirred well, strained into a cocktail-glass, and garnished with an olive. While no earlier reference has been found for Harry McElhone's 1922 ABC of Mixing Cocktails, Dave Wondrich of esquire.com notes that it contains a version of the Turf Club cocktail strikingly similar to Johnson’s recipe. McElhone’s Turf Club Cocktail lists 1½ oz Plymouth gin, 1½ oz Dry vermouth, 2 dashes Maraschino liqueur, 2 dashes Orange bitters, and 2 dashes Absinthe, garnished with an olive. Harry Craddock’s 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book also presents Harry Johnson's 1900 recipe.

Created by Harry Johnson