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1 1/2 oz Beefeater Gin
1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz grapefruit juice
1/4 oz simple syrup
1/4 oz lemon juice
A proper library of cocktail books is essential for exploring and finding inspiration. Many times gems are unearthed that can really get your wheels turning. Or, at the very least help bolster you cocktail menu. While visiting the Zig Zag Café, Robert and owner Ben Dougherty came upon the Cloister Cocktail in an obscure book neither of them had ever seen before.
Cloister Cocktail
Instructions
shake with ice
strain into a cocktail glass
garnish with a lemon twist
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Robert Hess
The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess is dedicated to the creation of quality classic cocktails. Watch as he mixes up cocktail recipes from the past using the best ingredients.
6 Comments
What was the name of the book?
Well, a quick Google Books search https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=1&tbs=bks:1&q=cloister+chartreuse+grapefruit&aq=f&aqi;=&aql=f&oq;= suggests it was probably Mario Thomas’ New Bar Guide from 1983 or is it Mario Thomas and the 1986 Playboy’s New Host & Bar Book?
As a librarian, I liked that search challenge. As a writer, I bristle at the skipped credit to the author.
Simply lovely choice of glass here, Robert. This kind of mood-matching is one of the big payoffs to an eclectic glassware collection. Most of ours have cost less than $2 each and have come from Goodwill and other thrift stores.
The book that I originally encountered this drink in was “The Bartender’s Guide to Cocktails & Mixed Drinks” by Stewart Walton. My edition is a 2005 printing but the first edition was 2003.
Dinah, thanks for the search results, it looks like it at least existed in 1993, I’d need to physically check the recipe in the earlier books, since they just list it by name, and there is a different cocktail that uses the same name which we found in “Bottoms Up” by Ted Saucier from 1951
-Robert
Google Books is such a boon for these kind of origin questions!
San Francisco Public Library appears to have the earliest one:
http://sflib1.sfpl.org/search~S1?/XNew+Bar+Guide&searchscope=1&SORT=D/XNew+Bar+Guide&searchscope=1&SORT=D&SUBKEY=New Bar Guide/1,19,19,B/frameset&FF=XNew+Bar+Guide&searchscope=1&SORT=D&1,1,
Cataloging there suggests a 1982 date and the correctness of the Thomas Mario name.
A search on Google Books for Playboy’s new host & bar book, referenced in the SFPL notes on the 1982 edition, shows only the 1986 edition has been indexed by them. Thus, it may be that first appearance of the Cloister is pre-1982.
DM me or email me @Bibulo.us if you aren’t able to confirm or push back pre-82 and I’ll pay that copy at SFPL a visit for you.
I had forgotten that I had a copy of the Thomas Bario Playboy “Host & Bar Book” at home. It is a 1976 edition, and it includes the Cloister cocktail as well. So we at least know it dates from around that time, now to see if we can find it any further back then that!
An outstanding cocktail; such a nice blend of flavors. It “tastes” so much better in an antique fancy glass.