Recipe: The Monkey Gland Cocktail

The Monkey Gland

Despite its curious name, this cocktail has impeccable bloodlines, having been created at Harry's Bar in Paris. Who came up with the moniker remains a mystery. All we can say is, that's what happens when you let the customers name the cocktails—especially if they've already had a few of them.

Our studies reveal that classic European recipes call for Pernod, while American recipes of classic vintage tend to favor Benedictine.

2 oz. gin
1 oz. orange juice
3 dashes grenadine
3 dashes Pernod or Benedictine

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker over cracked ice. Shake and strain into a chilled glass.

FOR YOUR FURTHER DRINKING PLEASURE: The Monkey Gland is a racier version of an earlier staple of the Prohibition era, the Orange Blossom, which was straight-forward gin and orange juice without the fillip of either grenadine or Pernod. If good gin was available, the cocktail was mixed in a ratio of two parts gin to 1 part orange juice. If the gin was terrible, a half-and-half mix was employed. Then there is the Colonial cocktail, which is an Orange Blossom made with grapefruit juice rather than orange, then enhanced with 1/2 ounce of maraschino liqueur and garnished with a cherry.

Buy the Book!

from:
Cocktail Hour
Authentic Recipes and Illustrations from 1920 to 1960
by Susan Waggoner and Robert Markel
Stewart, Tabori & Chang
Hardcover, $15.95
ISBN: 1584794909
Recipe reprinted by permission.