The Most Popular Drinks In America in 1951

[jazzyjeff]

Found this piece in "The Bartender's Book" by Jack Townsend & Tom Moore McBride and thought it makes interesting reading. It was a survey conducted by the New York Bartenders' Union, Local 15 and was completed by bartenders in cities and towns in the United States and Canada.

1 - Manhattan

2 - Martini

3 - Daiquiri

4 - Whisky Sour

5 - Old Fashioned

6 - Tom Collins

7 - Bacardi

8 - Cuba Libre

9 - Alexander

10 - Stinger

11 - B & B

12 - Sidecar

13 - Rob Roy

14 - Gin Rickey

15 - Creme de Menthe Frappe

16 - Gin Fizz

17 - Dubonnet

18 - Gibson

19 - Planter's Punch

20 - Scotch Mist & Gin Buck

21 - Orange Blossom

22 - John Collins

23 - Singapore Sling

24 - Champagne Cocktail

25 - Jack Rose

26 - Rock & Rye

27 - Bronx

28 - Milk Punch

29 - Sherry Flip

30 - Frozen Daiquiri

31 - Sloe Gin Fizz

32 - Zombie

33 - Silver Fizz

34 - Tom and Jerry & Clover Club

35 - Ward Eight

36 - Paradise & Mint Julep

37 - Applejack Cocktail

38 - Horse's Neck

39 - Gin Daisy

40 - Zazerac

Cheers

Jeff

[Rob Simmon]

Found this piece in "The Bartender's Book" by Jack Townsend & Tom Moore McBride and thought it makes interesting reading. It was a survey conducted by the New York Bartenders' Union, Local 15 and was completed by bartenders in cities and towns in the United States and Canada.

1 - Manhattan

...

40 - Zazerac

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Fascinating. Time to start working my way through.

[Chris Amirault]

"Zazerac"? Is that a typo? Or a variant of Sazerac?

[eje]

"Zazerac"? Is that a typo? Or a variant of Sazerac?

←

Well, there's a Zazarac and a Sazerac.

My to do list:

10 - Stinger

15 - Creme de Menthe Frappe

20 - Scotch Mist & Gin Buck

21 - Orange Blossom

23 - Singapore Sling

26 - Rock & Rye

28 - Milk Punch

29 - Sherry Flip

31 - Sloe Gin Fizz

32 - Zombie

34 - Tom and Jerry

35 - Ward Eight

36 - Paradise

38 - Horse's Neck

39 - Gin Daisy

40 - Zazerac (if it's the Zazarac, if it's the Sazerac, that's well taken care of)

[jazzyjeff]

Sorry, should have clarified this in my post. The Zazarac drink in the list is just a Sazerac.

The author writes "The original name "Sazerac" has been copywrited by the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans; consequently, any reference to a similar cocktail, living or dead, must be called Zazerac."

Cheers

Jeff

[The Hersch]

The author writes "The original name "Sazerac" has been copywrited by the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans; consequently, any reference to a similar cocktail, living or dead, must be called Zazerac."

Well, you can't copyright a name or title. The Roosevelt Hotel may have asserted a trademark, but I really doubt they could make such a claim hold up. Maybe in 1951 they could have, but I doubt it. Not that I'm an expert on trademark law.

[eje]

I've been forgetting to post this...

I found it interesting that the Margarita had not yet made it into the public (or bartender) consciousness in 1951.

The ones that I was most surprised to see make the list were were the Sherry Flip and Milk Punch.

[slkinsey]

I think of the Margarita as a drink that exploded in popularity (largely in its crappy over-sweetened frozen version) sometime in the late 70s/early 80s.

[ThinkingBartender]

I think of the Margarita as a drink that exploded in popularity (largely in its crappy over-sweetened frozen version) sometime in the late 70s/early 80s.

←

The earliest citation that I have found for the Margarita is from 1953, and that was a article in Esquire.

[kvltrede]

Sorry, should have clarified this in my post. The Zazarac drink in the list is just a Sazerac.

The author writes "The original name "Sazerac" has been copywrited by the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans; consequently, any reference to a similar cocktail, living or dead, must be called Zazerac."....

Dunno where Doctor Cocktail found his Zazerac recipe for CocktailDB but it's a very close match to this recipe from the 1955 edition of The Standard Bartender's Guide by Patrick Gavin Duffy (Revised and enlarged by James A. Beard):

Zazerac

1/3 Rye Whiskey

1/6 Sugar Syrup

1/6 Anisette

1/6 Light Rum

1/6 Pernod

1 Dash Orange Bitters

1 Dash Angostura Bitters

Shake well with ice and strain into glass. Squeeze Lemon Peel on top.

The Duffy/Beard book lists the Sazerac too. The instructions don't include the coating of the drinking glass with absinthe or an absinthe sub. (Pernod in this case) but it's otherwise a standard recipe.

Kurt

[slkinsey]

I think of the Margarita as a drink that exploded in popularity (largely in its crappy over-sweetened frozen version) sometime in the late 70s/early 80s.

The earliest citation that I have found for the Margarita is from 1953, and that was a article in Esquire.

Right. But "invented in" and "became 'top 50 popular' in" aren't the same thing.

[ThinkingBartender]

I think of the Margarita as a drink that exploded in popularity (largely in its crappy over-sweetened frozen version) sometime in the late 70s/early 80s.

The earliest citation that I have found for the Margarita is from 1953, and that was a article in Esquire.

Right. But "invented in" and "became 'top 50 popular' in" aren't the same thing.

←

Indeed. But the Margarita was invented in the 1930s, by someone, and it was only until the 1950s that it garnered its first, known, citation. So for it to only become truly famous in the 1960s is not that strange. It doesn't look like things work in a sequential order at all.

The Margarita might not have been as popular due to most people not having some Tequila at their disposal.

Cheers!

George

[David Santucci]

Dunno where Doctor Cocktail found his Zazerac recipe for CocktailDB but it's a very close match to this recipe from the 1955 edition of The Standard Bartender's Guide by Patrick Gavin Duffy (Revised and enlarged by James A. Beard):

←

The recipe looks quite similar to the one in the Savoy Cocktail Book, which I tried the other night (pretty good, if you like anise; one of the few rye cocktails I have had where the rye was completely subdued by the other ingredients). Another curiosity: Dr. Cocktail's "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails: From the Alamagoozlum Cocktail to the Zombie" is called "Vintage Cocktails and Spirits: From the Algonquin to the Zazerac" in the UK. Now I've never tried an Alamagoozlum OR a Zombie, but the Algonquin and Zazerac sound a lot more appealing to me.