Tanqueray Gin Prohibition Era Cocktails

By Adam Rains

The Prohibition Era: Inspiring Fashion, Cocktails, and Entertainment

The Prohibition era seems to be making a comeback in modern-day culture as today’s fashion, cocktails, and hit TV shows and movies are inspired by a time of bootleggers, speakeasies, and gangsters.

From the wildly successful HBO drama Boardwalk Empire to the historically detailed Ken Burns documentary Prohibition, to celebrity-stacked movies such as Lawless and the anticipated release of The Great Gatsby, Hollywood is taking notice and capitalizing on this trend.

The newfound enthusiasm for Prohibition-era gin and whiskey cocktails has spread across the country as dedicated bartenders are bringing back once-forgotten cocktails from the pre-prohibition era. These drinks are being resurrected from historic cocktail books, and in some cases, using painstakingly recreated tinctures, liqueurs, and bitters.

Prohibition-Era Cocktail Recipes from Tanqueray

Here are some Prohibition-era cocktail recipes from one of the gins that was actually around in the 1920s – Tanqueray.

The Franklin

Ingredients

  • 1.5oz Tanqueray London Dry Gin
  • 1tbsp dry vermouth
  • 2tbsp olive juice
  • 2 olives

Preparation

  1. Fill a mixer with all ingredients including the olives.
  2. Cover and shake hard 3 – 4 times.
  3. Strain contents of the mixer into the cocktail glass.
  4. Garnish with an olive.

Description

The Franklin, a dirty martini, is the drink that brought it all back and the cocktail that FDR celebrated the repeal of Prohibition with.

White Lady

Ingredients

  • 1.5oz Tanqueray London Dry Gin
  • .75oz orange liqueur
  • .75oz lemon juice

Preparation

  1. Pour all of the ingredients into a shaker.
  2. Fill with ice and shake.
  3. Strain into a chilled coupe glass.

Description

Introduced in the late 20’s, The White Lady was born from a drink named “Delilah,” which included crème de menthe. The Savoy’s Harry Craddock replaced it with orange liqueur and it became an instant classic.

Gin

Gin Buck

Ingredients

  • 1.5oz Tanqueray London Dry Gin
  • 4oz ginger ale
  • .5 lemon juice
  • 1/2 of the shell of a lemon

Preparation

  1. Squeeze lemon or lime juice into a collins glass and add the juiced shell of the lemon.
  2. Add ice and the Tanqueray.
  3. Top with ginger ale.

Description

A relatively forgotten drink from the 20’s, this classic gin cocktail offers a taste that’s refreshing and light.

Gin

Southside Fizz

Ingredients

  • 1.5oz Tanqueray London Dry Gin
  • 3/4oz fresh lemon juice
  • 0.5oz simple syrup
  • 8–10 mint leaves
  • club soda

Preparation

  1. Place mint leaves in cocktail shaker and gently bruise with muddler.
  2. Add gin, lemon juice and sugar, and stir to dissolve.
  3. Fill shaker with large pieces of ice and shake gently for 10 seconds.
  4. Double-strain into a highball glass filled with ice.
  5. Top with chilled club soda.

Description

The Southside Fizz is the signature drink at the 21 Club, a historic and notorious speakeasy during Prohibition that still has the hidden secret passageway to the wine cellar under the adjoining building where all the illicit alcohol was hidden.

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