Valentine Cocktails

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