Sing Sing Nights

The Drink

We can almost see the warden, the captain of the guards, and a couple of gentlemen in striped coveralls singing “Sweet Adeline” and imbibing the Sing Sing Nights Cocktail devised by Harry Stephen Keeler.

1 PONY* OF PURE GRAIN ALCOHOL
1 1/2 TEASPOONS OF SUGAR SYRUP
1 1/2 TEASPOONS PURE ORANGE JUICE
Shake with 3 Ice Cubes till at least Half of the bulk of the Cubes has dissolved.

-From So Red the Nose

* =shot

For the grain alcohol I used Everclear because, well, you know. It’s what’s at the store, and I’m not quite to the point of raiding the medicine cabinet yet. Simple syrup can be made easily enough, and the juice was squeezed right from the fruit into my cocktail shaker, as per Keeler’s instructions. If you do make this drink, take that part about the ice cubes seriously; grain alcohol of any brand isn’t something to mess around with.

The Canary Murder Case

The Drink 

This cocktail was ‘Fiendishly plotted, with murder in mind’

1/2 JIGGER DRY GIN
1/2 JIGGER COGNAC
1/2 JIGGER YELLOW VERMOUTH
1 JIGGER ORANGE JUICE
1 DASH ORANGE BITTERS
Shake Well

-From So Red the Nose

So Red the Nose was published only two short years after Prohibition ended. So when you see the word “cocktail” in this blog, start getting used to thinking long-island ice tea over strawberry daiquiri. My first attempt at a 1930’s cocktail tastes more like a shot with a little orange flavoring, and you can see that the ingredients list tips more toward liquor than mixer. You will either need to nurse this drink over several chapters, or risk misreading “apathetically,” spending several minutes puzzling over how the main character could “admit” something “alphabetically.” Not that I would know anything about that.