Properly Sauced: Auditorium Cocktail

By Rob Christopher in Food on Nov 23, 2009 6:20PM

Via Art of Drink we discovered Beverages De Luxe, a wonderful bar book dating from 1914. Digitized from a copy in the collection of the Library of Congress, it's an utterly fascinating glimpse into the world of alcohol just before Prohibition. It features a number of pieces written by various distillers and brewers, including chapters entitled "New England Rum" and "Making 'Hand-made' Sour Mash." The entire second half of the book is made up of cocktail recipes from clubs and hotels across the country, and that's where we found the Auditorium Cocktail.

According to The Encyclopedia of Chicago, The Auditorium Building included a world-class hotel from 1890 until about 1946, when Roosevelt University took over the space. Beverages de Luxe includes seven recipes from a Samuel Foote, who at the time was the manager of the liquor department at the hotel apparently. There's a concoction called a Brain Duster; and summery sounding drinks such as Foote's Summer Sour and the Auditorium Gin Fizz make us wish it was July again. Alas, it's November; but the Auditorium Cocktail is right in season.

Auditorium Cocktail (for two)

3 oz. gin
2 oz. French (dry) vermouth
1 egg white

Combine ingredients in a well-iced cocktail shaker and shake like the dickens. No, really: shake continuously for a good two minutes, until it feels like your arm is going to fall off. Strain into two chilled cocktail glasses and serve immediately.

At first glance it just looks like a martini variation. But it tastes completely other. Whereas a martini is an ideal before-dinner drink, the Auditorium Cocktail is much better after dinner. Or even as a nightcap. Pair with some ginger snaps or a warmed slice of pumpkin pie and you're in business.

Don't let the egg white component freak you out. Just use a fresh egg (i.e. one that's less than a week old) and you've nothing to fear. It gives the drink a frothy, silky mouthfeel, completely disguising the cocktail's potency. And it's not overpoweringly sweet like so many vintage cocktails. There's a true elegance to its simplicity. We made this cocktail using Gordon's gin (and Noilly Prat, of course). But if you've got a bottle of an old style gin like Ransom, go for it. Then you'll know what it must have tasted like in 1914, when Jelly Roll Morton was still in vaudeville and the Auditorium Hotel was served by the Congress el station.