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Cognac, stirred

Palace Hotel

Barline 1h,1h,1b,cl

The code is the shorthand off my printed menu; the Key tab decodes every letter.

Stir with ice until cold, then strain.

Coupe, lemon twist.

Open in the menu

Taste

Equal ounces and a half of cognac and sweet vermouth, grape on grape, a Manhattan ratio. One barspoon of orange liqueur is peel. No bitters. Stirred, coupe, lemon twist. A brandy Manhattan with a thin orange film.

History

No manual before 1970 prints a Palace Hotel, and Difford's, Punch, and Imbibe do not list one. The nearest parent is the Harvard, which George J. Kappeler prints in 1895 Modern American Drinks: equal brandy and Italian vermouth, gum, Angostura, and a seltzer top. Albert Stevens Crockett, in Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931), ties the name to the college on the Charles. Here the cognac and sweet vermouth stay equal and the lemon twist stays; the bitters and soda go, and a barspoon of orange liqueur takes their place.

Same shape, other bottles

The Martini family, with the bottle that changed.

This is one drink on my home bar's menu. Tick the bottles you own and the menu lists which of all 185 drinks they pour.