Swank Cocktail Guide
Nearly every Wednesday and Sunday morning throughout the summer, we stroll the Sandwich Bazaar Flea Market in search of amazing finds. On the last Wednesday of July 2022, we happened upon the ultimate vintage bar accessory – The Swank Cocktail Guide.
This clever little device looks to be from the 1950s. Eighty cocktails are displayed on the front of the gadget in alphabetical order. The red wheel is used to scroll through the paper roll to find the desired cocktail’s recipe.
A few days after the Swank Cocktail Guide purchase, I found a collection of unopened vintage airline bottles of liquor at an estate sale. The highlight of the group is the Crown Royal bottle, dated 1956 and with the United Airlines tag still around the neck.
Two cocktail finds from the 1950s in one week. Hmmm.
A family of cocktail enthusiasts
Gathering for cocktails was always a part of my family’s life. In the photo above (which occurred prior to my arrival in the next decade), my smartly dressed parents chat over cocktails with the man on the left in 1954, and below, my beloved Uncle Phil and Aunt Hazel celebrate the beginning of 1956 in Chicago, Illinois.
We held our first cocktail party in December 1980 just after our first anniversary. The dress for the party was very casual and our featured cocktail was the Harvey Wallbanger, which was quite popular in the 1970s and early 1980s.
So, what happens when two cocktail enthusiasts find a Swank Cocktail Guide listing 80 cocktails?
80 cocktails in 80 days
The Swank Cocktail Guide’s 80 cocktails are listed below. Each day, we’ll try one of the cocktails beginning with the Adonis, which has an interesting history. While some of the recipes have changed over time, we will stick to the Swank version of the recipe in most instances.
Below the list of cocktails is a shopping list for the required ingredients in case you want to follow along and try some or all. Below that, our rating scale definition. Cheers!
1. Adonis
2. Affinity
3. Alexander No. 1
4. Alexander No. 2
5. Alexander’s Sister
6. Alfonso Cocktail
7. American Beauty
8. Applejack Sour
9. B & B
10. Bacardi Cocktail
11. Bamboo Cocktail
12. Basic Eggnog
13. Bee’s Knees
14. Benedictine Cocktail
15. Betsy Ross
16. Between the Sheets
17. Blood and Sand
18. Bloody Mary
19. Blue Devil
20. Blue Moon
21. Bronx
22. Champagne Cocktail
23. Claret Cobbler
24. Clover Club
25. Coffee Cocktail
26. Collins
27. Creole
28. Cuba Libre
29. Daiquiri (Plain)
30. Daiquiri (Frozen)
31. Diablo
32. Dixie
33. Dubonnet Fizz
34. Earthquake
35. French “75”
36. Gertie’s Garter
37. Gibson
38. Gimlet
39. Gin and Tonic
40. Gin Fizz
41. Golden Fizz
42. Grasshopper
43. Gunga Din
44. Hurricane
45. Jack Rose
46. Jamaica Ginger
47. King Alphonse
48. Mamie Taylor
49. Manhattan (Dry)
50. Manhattan (Sweet)
51. Margarita
52. Martini (Dry)
53. Martini on the Rocks
54. Milk Punch
55. Millionaire No. 1
56. Millionaire No. 2
57. New Orleans Fizz
58. Old Fashioned
59. Orange Blossom
60. Perfect
61. Pink Lady No. 2
62. Pisco Punch
63. Planter’s Punch
64. Rob Roy
65. Salome
66. Screwdriver
67. Shamrock
68. Sidecar
69. Silver Fizz
70. Silver Stallion
71. Singapore Sling
72. Sloe Gin Fizz
73. Stinger
74. Toddy (Hot)
75. Ward 8
76. Whiskey Sour
77. White Lion
78. Widow’s Dream
79. XYZ
80. Zazarac
Cocktail Shopping List
The ingredients needed for the cocktails are listed below. The number(s) in the brackets relate to the Swank Cocktail Guide cocktail where the ingredient is used. For example, Cocktail #1, the Adonis, requires Dry Sherry, Sweet Vermouth, and Orange Bitters.
Amer Picon (27)
Anisette (55, 80)
Applejack (8, 45)
Benedictine (9, 14, 27, 78)
Brandy (3, 7, 9, 12, 15, 16, 25, 31, 68, 73, 74)
Brandy, Apricot (56)
Brandy, Cherry (17, 33, 71)
Champagne (6, 22, 35)
Chartreuse, Green (67)
Cointreau (16, 25, 51, 68, 79)
Creme de Cacao (3, 4, 42, 47)
Creme de Menthe, White (5, 7, 44, 73)
Creme de Menthe, Green (42, 67)
Curaçao (15, 46)
Dubonnet (6, 33, 65)
Gin (4, 5, 13, 19, 20, 21, 24, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 48, 52, 53, 55, 57, 59, 60, 61, 65, 69, 70, 71)
Maraschino (19, 20, 23, 46)
Pernod (32, 34, 55, 80)
Pisco (62)
Port (7, 15)
Rum: Barcardi, Light, Jamaican, Dark (10, 16, 28, 29, 30, 46, 56, 63, 77, 79, 80)
Sherry, Dry (1, 11)
Sloe gin (56, 72)
Tequila (51)
Vermouth, Dry (2, 7, 21, 31, 32, 37, 43, 49, 50, 52, 53, 60, 65, 67)
Vermouth, Sweet (1, 2, 11, 17, 21, 27, 50, 60, 64)
Vodka (18, 26, 52, 66)
Whisky/Whiskey: Scotch, Irish, Rye, Any (2, 17, 27, 34, 44, 49, 50, 58, 64, 67, 75, 76, 80)
Wine, Claret (23)
Bitters, Angostura (2, 6, 11, 14, 15, 22, 31, 46, 49, 50, 58, 64, 71, 77, 80)
Bitters, Orange (1, 31, 80)
Cherry (2, 14, 49, 50, 66, 71, 76)
Cinnamon stick (74)
Cloves (74)
Club soda, carbonated water (26, 33, 40, 41, 57, 58, 69, 70, 72, 75)
Cocktail onions (37, 52)
Coffee (25)
Coke (28)
Cream (3, 4, 5, 42, 47, 57, 78)
Egg, whole or whites (12, 20, 24, 41, 55, 57, 61, 69, 78)
Food coloring, blue (19)
Fruit garnish (23, 58, 63, 66, 75)
Ginger ale (48)
Grapefruit juice (36)
Grenadine (7, 8, 24, 32, 36, 45, 46, 56, 61, 71, 75)
Honey (13)
Ice Cream, Vanilla (70)
Lemon/lemon juice (2, 6, 8, 13, 14, 18, 19, 22, 23, 26, 27, 31, 33, 35, 39, 40, 41, 44, 48, 49, 51, 53, 57, 58, 61, 62, 64, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79)
Lime/lime juice (8, 10, 24, 28, 29, 30, 40, 41, 45, 56, 63, 69, 70)
Milk (12, 54)
Mint (71)
Nutmeg (12, 54)
Olives (52, 67)
Orange/Orange juice (7, 17, 21, 22, 32, 33, 43, 59, 66, 71, 76)
Orange flower water (57)
Pineapple/pineapple juice (43, 62)
Powdered sugar (14, 26, 29, 30, 35, 40, 41, 59, 69, 77)
Raspberry syrup (77)
Rose’s Lime Juice (38)
Simple Syrup (10, 63, 80)
Sugar/sugar cubes (6, 8, 12, 22, 23, 57, 58, 74, 76)
Tomato juice (18)
Tonic water (39)
Worcestershire sauce (18)
Cocktail Reviews
We each rate the cocktail based on our personal preference from 1 to 5 🍸. Unlike most online cocktail reviews, we don’t love every cocktail. Again, it’s our preferences and yours may vary. Our scale can be interpreted as:
🍸 One sip. Ugh. Pour it out.
🍸🍸 If handed this cocktail at a party, it would casually disappear after a few sips. Check behind the plant.
🍸🍸🍸 If handed this cocktail at a party, it would be consumed, but never ordered in a bar.
🍸🍸🍸🍸 Yes, please.
🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸Can I have another?
