The Little Devil Cocktail may give you a jab!

When Utah mixologists write their wish-lists, interesting cocktail books usually find their way into the mix.  This was the case for the Utah Mixologist when he added “Barflies and Cocktails by Harry and Wynn” to his list.  This pocket-sized, but pricey, book, first published in 1927, was written by Harry McElhone, founder of both Harry’s New York Bar (in Paris) and the International Bar Flies association (Wynn did the illustrations).  The book is brimming over with 1920’s humor (like the IBF… is that a plus?) and (more importantly) cocktail recipes.  Thumbing through turned up an interesting cocktail recipe named the Little Devil Cocktail. 

Harry acknowledges that the recipe was donated by Fritz from Ciro’s Bar in London, so this Little Devil has traveled from London to Paris to Utah.  The stated proportions for this cocktail are “1/6 Lemon Juice, 1/6 Cointreau, 1/3 Bacardi Rum, 1/3 Gin.”  This can be a little confusing (I’ll cover measures in a future post), so quantities have been adjusted in the recipe below.  It is important to note that yesterday’s Bacardi Rum is not the same as the Bacardi® Rum you can buy today, so the mixologist substituted a nice Gold Rum.  Use your favorite.  As written, this cocktail is a little tart!  The only sweet in this cocktail is the Cointreau®, perhaps a little from the Rum, and maybe some from a sweeter gin (if you have it).  If you don’t like your cocktails this tart, experiment with adding a little simple syrup.

Little Devil Cocktail

½ oz Freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ oz Cointreau Liqueur

1 oz Gold Rum

1 oz Gin (try a sweeter Gin ?)

Combine ingredients in a shaker 2/3 full of ice.  Shake briskly until the shaker frosts up a bit.  Strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a twist of lemon peel, and be prepared for a tart treat.