There are two very similar crème de noyaux-laced recipes for Martini-like drinks that emerged in London and Paris during the 1920s: the Old Etonian and the Fairbank Cocktail. The former features a 1:1 ratio of dry gin to blanc quinquina, while the latter tips the scale in the gin direction and calls for dry vermouth instead of quinquina. Both have a slight almondy flavor and reflect the “wetter” Martini style of the period.

Dating to 1922 and Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails, the original recipe for the Jockey Club is basically like a Brandy Crusta with London dry gin in place of the brandy and crème de noyaux in place of maraschino. I decided to take these ingredients and structure it more like a Sidecar, upping the liqueur and citrus components while still retaining the bitters, which I quite like.

Given how intertwined the histories of cocktails and musical theater have been, it’s no surprise that Gilbert & Sullivan’s most problematic operetta has a cocktail named after it. The Mikado–originally an Improved Brandy Cocktail with crème de noyaux, Curaçao, orgeat, and Angostura bitters–has an ancestor in the Japanese Cocktail (brandy, orgeat, bitters) from 1862. Our version ditches the Curaçao and orgeat in favor of crème de cacao and blanc quinquina; a grapefruit twist bolsters the bitterness.

This Alexander cousin is, by all accounts, original to Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge in Milwaukie, circa the early 1940s. Like the Grasshopper, the Pink Squirrel is traditionally made with two flavorful liqueurs and either cream or ice cream, but our version dries things out and adds a touch of bitterness with brandy, blanc quinquina, and a barspoon of Peychaud’s. I like the dusting of cocoa powder, both aesthetically and for the way it bolsters the crème de cacao.