Apple Brandy, stirred
So So Cocktail
Barline 1,1,h,h,cc
The code is the shorthand off my printed menu; the Key tab decodes every letter.
- 1 oz Gin
- 1 oz Dry vermouth
- 1/2 oz Apple brandy
- 1/2 oz Grenadine
Stir with ice until cold, then strain.
Coupe, cherry.
Taste
Equal gin and dry vermouth, a half ounce of apple brandy riding underneath, and a half ounce of grenadine that tastes of pomegranate. The gin is the drink; the apple is a peel of orchard. Dry vermouth keeps it lean, so the grenadine is the only roundness. Coupe, cherry.
History
The So So Cocktail appears in Harry MacElhone's 1923 Harry of Ciro's ABC of Mixing Cocktails, credited to Mr. P. Soso, manager of Ciro's Club in London (MacElhone also names the Kit-Kat Club). The printed formula is one-sixth grenadine, one-sixth Calvados, one-third Cinzano vermouth, one-third gin. Harry Craddock repeats it in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book with Italian vermouth in place of the brand. This menu files under apple brandy and is mostly gin. It also swaps the Italian vermouth for dry, and it pours a half ounce of grenadine rather than a sixth.
Same shape, other bottles
The Martini family, with the bottle that changed.
- Bobby Burnsscotch and sweet vermouth for gin, apple brandy, and dry vermouth
- Hanky Pankysweet vermouth for dry vermouth
- Palace Hotelcognac and sweet vermouth for gin, apple brandy, and dry vermouth
- El Presidentelight rum for gin and apple brandy
- Yacht Clublight rum and sweet vermouth for gin, apple brandy, and dry vermouth
- Fanciullibourbon and sweet vermouth for gin, apple brandy, and dry vermouth
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.