Episode 67: Southside

  • 2 oz gin

  • 1 oz lime juice (or lemon if you prefer)

  • 1/2 oz simple syrup

  • 5 or 6 fresh mint leaves (plus one more for garnish)

Combine everything with ice and shake. Strain* into a coupe glass and garnish with a whole fresh mint leaf.

*Note: I recommend double straining (straining the drink through a fine-mesh sieve) to catch any shredded mint

There are three very different and yet very common origin stories for this prohibition era classic.

One story claims that it was invented in Chicago and named for the South Side neighborhood. Supposedly it was invented specifically to mask the flavor of bad quality gin that was available at the time.

Another story claims that it was invented several years before Prohibition at the Southside Sportsmen’s Club in Long Island, a private club where upper crusty Manhattanites went to hunt, fish and drink Mint Juleps. Some people claim that this cocktail may have evolved out of the mint juleps they served, even though the only thing this has in common with a mint julep is the mint.

Yet another popular origin story says that the South Side was invented at the 21 Club in New York. While 21 definitely poured countless South Sides during prohibition, a recipe for a very similar cocktail called a South Side Fizz appeared in print in 1916 and the 21 club didn’t open until 1922. So, it’s more realistic to say that 21 popularized the South Side but didn’t actually invent it.

As for the South Side Fizz, that recipe is very similar to this one, but it actually calls for both lemon and lime juice, and adds soda water.  The use of both lemon and lime in the Fizz recipe is probably why both citrus juices are used interchangeably today.

Episode 36: The Last Word

  • 2oz London dry gin

  • 1oz green chartreuse

  • 1oz luxardo maraschino liqueur

  • 1 oz fresh squeezed lime juice

Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Shake until frosty, strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with a luxardo cherry or brandied cherry.

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The Last Word was first served at the Detroit Athletic Club, circa 1915. Initially you would have had to be a club member to taste it, but it does appear to have spread and had some popularity during prohibition. It faded in popularity over the years but appeared in print in Ted Saucier’s 1951 book, “Bottoms Up.” Unfortunately that didn’t really make much difference and the Last Word basically faded from memory completely until the early 2000s when a bartender at Seattle’s Zig Zag Café found Saucier’s book and put it on the menu. From there it blew up thanks to the prohibition era cocktail revival of the early 2000s, and it quickly became a staple in high end cocktail lounges across the country.

The Last Word is made with London Dry Gin, Maraschino Liqueur, fresh lime juice, and green chartreuse – a bright green, sweet, spicy, herbal, minty liqueur from France. The bright green color is 100% natural and comes from the blend of 130 herbs and botanicals that are used to make it. It’s made by monks in small batches so it’s a little pricey, but a little goes a long way so if you want to make a Last Word I suggest looking for a small bottle.  These are all very strong flavors that seem like they wouldn’t go together, but it all somehow works really well.  

Most Last Word recipes you’ll find online call for all the ingredients to be mixed in equal parts, but that’s an unusual ratio for most cocktails and seemed odd to us. One post we found said that the writer’s grandfather used to work at the Detroit Athletic Club and the original recipe they would server there had 2 parts gin to 1 part everything else. We tried both versions and preferred the one with more gin, but if you like a sweeter cocktail, feel free to scale the gin back to 1 oz.

Episode 24: Monkey Gland

  • 2 oz London dry gin

  • 1 oz fresh orange juice

  • .5 oz real grenadine

  • Dash of Absinthe

  • Orange twist

Add the gin, orange juice, & grenadine to a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Shake until frosty. Add a dash of Absinthe to a chilled coupe or martini glass, and swirl around the glass to “rinse” the glass with the absinthe. Strain the cocktail into the absinthe rinsed glass and garnish with an orange twist.

*notes: The original recipe for the Monkey Gland called for equal parts (1.5 oz each) gin and orange juice, but most modern bartenders prefer this updated version.

The quality of the grenadine you use makes a difference. Real grenadine should have pomegranate juice in the ingredients. If not, don’t use it. You can find it online easily or make your own.

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The Monkey gland was invented sometime at the end of the 1910s and became popular during the Prohibition era.

The name of the drink references a Russian-born French surgeon named Dr. Sergei Voronoff who thought that the sex glands of living organisms held the key to health, vigor, and longevity. During the 1910s and 20s, he performed expensive surgeries to graft the testicles of monkeys onto his patients, promising “a life span of 125 years and an old age of a few months.” His work became world famous, and by 1927 Voronoff had done more than 1,000 procedures on his wealthy patients. In reality, his work did absolutely nothing, and he was finally discredited by the 1940s.

Nevertheless, at the end of the 1910s he and his work were a pop culture phenomenon and the Monkey Gland was invented in either Paris or London in tribute. In 1919, a New York Times story carried the headline, “MONKEY GLAND’ LATEST COCKTAIL”, and it wasn’t long before it became a hit in the United States as well. Beyond Voronoff’s mad scientist reputation, the cocktail may have also become such a hit because it contained a small dash of absinthe, which was banned in much of Europe as well as the U.S. because of it’s supposed (but now debunked) hallucinogenic properties. Many bars still had a few bottles of absinthe left after the ban, and the Monkey Gland used so little that they could make it stretch while still giving the cocktail a forbidden and exciting feeling.

No matter the reason, this gussied up gin and juice is surprisingly delicious!

Episode 9 - The Bee's Knees

  • 2 oz Gin

  • 3⁄4 oz Fresh lemon juice

  • 3⁄4 oz Honey syrup*

  • Lemon twist for garnish (optional)

Combine gin, lemon juice, and honey syrup together in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Shake until frosty and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist if desired.

*To make honey syrup, combine 2 parts honey and 1 part hot water and stir or shake to combine.

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Interesting fact: The bee’s knees was likely invented during prohibition, with the strong flavors of honey and lemon juice meant to mask the flavor of poor quality bathtub gin.
At the time of the cocktail’s creation, the term “Bee’s Knees” meant something was great, or the best. Oddly enough, long before the phrase took on that meaning, it once meant something very very small, as in the size of a bee’s knee.