Valentine Cocktails

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Ted Haigh, also known as Dr. Cocktail, mixes up some sensual Valentine cocktails and talks about their connection to Valentine's Day. His Internet Cocktail Database offers a collection of mixed drinks from 1862 to the present. Haigh wrote Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails: From the Alamagoozlum Cocktail to the Zombie.

Doc’s Valentine’s Day Tipples

Parfait Amour (Perfect Love) Liqueur: Flavors of vanilla, cotton candy, grape jellybeans; generally consumed in dainty little cordial glasses by ladies in the 1890s. Marie Brizard still produces it.

Pousse L'Amour (Push the Love)
The Bon-Vivant's Companion; Jerry Thomas, 1862
Pour 1 oz maraschino liqueur into a sherry glass. Move 1 whole raw egg yolk in a spoon into the glass without disturbing the maraschino. Pour vanilla liqueur around the egg to cover it (Tuaca, vanilla vodka will do in a pinch). Top off with some good Cognac and drink it down.

Maiden's Prayer Cocktails by "Jimmy," Late of Ciro's (circa 1928)     
Shake in iced cocktail shaker & strain:

  • 1.5 oz gin
  • 1 oz Cointreau
  • 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
  • 3/4 oz orange juice
Serve in a cocktail glass


Maiden's Blush Cocktails by "Jimmy" Late of Ciro's (circa 1928)
Shake in iced cocktail shaker & strain:

  • 2 oz gin
  • 1 oz absinthe
  • 1/2 oz Grenadine (to taste)

Serve in a cocktail glass

Maiden's Wish (so-called by Trader Vic, 1947)
Stir in mixing glass with ice & strain

  • 3/4 oz gin (2 cl, 3/16 gills)
  • 3/4 oz Lillet Blanc (2 cl, 3/16 gills)
  • 1/2 oz Calvados (1.5 cl, 1/8 gills)
  • 1/2 oz apricot flavored brandy (1.5 cl, 1/8 gills)

Serve in a cocktail glass (4.5 oz)

Post Valentine Follow-up
Between the Sheets (The Savoy Cocktail Book; Harry Craddock, 1930)
Shake in iced cocktail shaker & strain

  • 3/4 oz brandy
  • 3/4 oz light rum
  • 3/4 oz Cointreau
  • 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice

Serve in a cocktail glass

Wedding Punch (Crosby Gaige's Cocktail Guide & Ladies' Companion, 1941)

  • 4 bottles Champagne
  • 1 bottle good Sauterne
  • 4 oz Kirsch
  • 4 oz Triple Sec
  • 1 quart of fresh Strawberries
  • Crushed ice

Mix together in bowl

Merry Widow (Bartender’s Guide by Trader Vic, 1947)
Stir in mixing glass with ice & strain equal parts gin and Byrrh (substitute Dubonnet Rouge). Serve in a cocktail glass

The Ghetto 74 by Leroy Hudson

Credits

Host:

Evan Kleiman

Producers:

Bob Carlson, Jennifer Ferro, Thea Chaloner, Candace Moyer, Connie Alvarez, Holly Tarson