September Morn Cocktail

[evo-lution]

I'm doing some research into the September Morn Cocktail printed on page 145 in the Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) and am trying to ascertain the origins of this drink.

SEPTEMBER MORN COCKTAIL

The Juice of 1/2 Lemon or 1 Lime.

1 Tablespoonful Grenadine.

The White of 1 Egg.

1 Glass Bacardi Rum

Shake well and strain into medium size glass.

I think that this drink was created for the painting of the same name and am looking for any possible references that could debunk this theory. They would have to have been printed before 1912 (when the painting was finished) if so.

September Morn by Paul Émile Chabas

Also, it also has close ties to the Clover Club (substitute gin for rum) which made me wonder if this drink was influenced by it? A quick search found references to the Clover Club from 1912 so I think it's safe to say that it was around first with the September Morn following (I haven't found a reference earlier than 1914 for the September Morn however I've only had a quick look thus far).

Your thoughts are appreciated...

[Wild Bill Turkey]

I would think that if a cocktail had been created to celebrate a painting, it would be created after the painting had been finished and displayed in a gallery, and I'd even say after it had been reviewed and had at least a little time to build up some celebrity.

Cocktails were named for popular plays and musicals once they'd been open long enough to become the toast of the town.

I'd never heard of the painting, but if it became a a big enough hit that it was famous at the time, then the cocktail might have been created anytime within a year or two after the painting was finished, so your 1914 date isn't inconsistent with your story.

[evo-lution]

I would think that if a cocktail had been created to celebrate a painting, it would be created after the painting had been finished and displayed in a gallery, and I'd even say after it had been reviewed and had at least a little time to build up some celebrity.

Cocktails were named for popular plays and musicals once they'd been open long enough to become the toast of the town.

I'd never heard of the painting, but if it became a a big enough hit that it was famous at the time, then the cocktail might have been created anytime within a year or two after the painting was finished, so your 1914 date isn't inconsistent with your story.

←

Dave Wondrich's been kind enough to basically confirm my suspicion regarding it being named after the painting;

"It was indeed christened after the painting, which was considered very hot stuff indeed at the time and was widely publicized--unless it was christened after the 1914 musical based on the painting (who said high concept is a modern invention?).

It could be related to the Clover Club, but it could also be seen as a Bacardi Cocktail with egg white. In either case, it uses the two trendiest ingredients of the 1910s, Bacardi rum and grenadine, so the precise paternity is as tough to figure out as a Rye Whiskey sour sweetened with St. Germain or Chartreuse would be today.

I don't have time to dig through the archives, but a quick look through what's handy confirms that it appears in Hugo Ensslin's 1916 book, one of Craddock's major sources. Albert Stevens Crockett claimed it was a Waldorf drink, but it's not in Jacques Straub's 1914 Drinks, which was based largely on the Waldorf's bar book, which means it was either invented there between 1914 and 1916, or that it might not be one of theirs.

What's your 1914 source? The earliest thing I think I've got is a joke from 1915, where somebody asks for a September Morn cocktail and the bartender hands him 'a peeled peach in a little water.' Rimshot."

And my reply...

Thanks for confirming this, it was an easy assumption to make based on the fact that so many shows, films, etc. had cocktails named after them in this era and the first thing that google threw up when I searched September Mornwas the painting.

I'm surprised that recent films, shows, etc. haven't picked up on the modern cocktail renaissance and done this in recent years, or maybe they have and I've just missed it...

It was in Albert Crockett's book that I read the connection between the Clover Club and September Morn, albeit I don't have a copy of the book and it was on Googlebooks.  Clicky this linky.  I didn't even consider the Bacardi Cocktail, good call...

The reference I have is from a book titled 'Salesmanship' by William Morey Maxwell printed in 1914.

The link to the page is here to read online, about halfway down page 199...

Edited September 1, 2009 by evo-lution (log)