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Rye, stirred

Waldorf

Barline 2,Q,q,2,cc

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

Stir with ice until cold, then strain.

Coupe, cherry.

Open in the menu

Taste

Two ounces of rye, three-quarters sweet vermouth, a quarter ounce of absinthe. The absinthe is in the drink, anise over grape, and two dashes of Angostura sit under both. Stirred, coupe, cherry. A Manhattan with wormwood in it.

History

Jacques Straub prints the Waldorf in 1913 Manual of Mixed Drinks as equal rye, Italian vermouth, and absinthe, with two dashes of orange bitters, shaken. Albert Stevens Crockett repeats it in Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931) as a third each of whiskey, absinthe, and Italian vermouth, a dash of Manhattan bitters, frappe, from the old Waldorf Hotel on Fifth Avenue, demolished in 1929 for the Empire State Building. Dale DeGroff later cut the absinthe to a rinse. This menu pours two ounces of rye, three-quarters sweet vermouth, a quarter ounce of absinthe, and two dashes of Angostura, coupe, cherry.

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.