Ultra Rare Byrrh Special Cocktail: A Forgotten Recipe from the 1930s!

1930 Byrrh Special Cocktail Recipe QuinQuina Cocktail - Cocktails After Dark
Welcome back to Cocktails After Dark! Today, we’re diving into the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book to explore the fascinating and rare BYRRH Special Cocktail. This recipe features Byrrh Quinquina, a bittersweet fortified wine that's challenging to find today, alongside Old Tom Gin, a classic style of gin with a hint of sweetness. We'll compare two versions of this cocktail, each made with a different Old Tom Gin, and explore how the choice of gin can transform the drink's flavour profile. Whether you're curious about vintage cocktail history or simply want to discover new flavours, this is a must-watch episode for cocktail enthusiasts!


Early historical Cocktail books are filled with cocktail recipes that use ingredients that are no longer made, or have fallen out of fashion and can be hard to find. Byrrh Grand Quinquina is one of those cocktail ingredients that can be hard to locate in 2024, but in the 1930s it was extremely popular and in high demand. This Byrhh Special Cocktail recipe is a cocktail made with Byrrh Grand Quinquina and old tom Gin. What is Byrrh Grand Quinquina? It is a bitter sweet aromatised wine made with chichona bark and other botanicals.
Harry Craddock was the superstar cocktail barmen of the 1920s and 1930s. He was the head bartender at the world famous Savoy Hotel in Strand, London where in 1930 he compiled The Savoy Cocktail Book from his extensive collection of cocktail recipes and almost encyclopaedic knowledge of cocktail ingredients. The Savoy Cocktail Book is an incredible collection of cocktail recipes that is known one of the most important cocktail books of the 20th century. Found within it's pages are a couple of early attempts at Vodka cocktails. So if you are just starting out on your road to being an educated barfly, getting behind the bar for the first time, and learning how to drink, follow along with cocktails after dark. Cocktails After Dark, where we look at historic old cocktail books every week.

Byrrh Special Cocktail:
½ Byrrh Wine
½ Tom Gin
Stir well and strain into cocktail glass.


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0:00 Welcome to Cocktails After Dark
0:05 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock
0:33 What is Byrrh Grand Quinquina
1:27 Old Tom Gin cocktail recipe
2:25 Tasting a Byrrh Special Old Tom Gin Cocktail Recipe
4:05 What does Byrrh Grand Quiquina taste like


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