Drowsy Drinks: The Dish on 1920’s Style Cocktails
The Drowsy Chaperone - Always with a cocktail in hand! (Played by Meredith McCall in ZACH's production of THE DROWSY CHAPERONE)
In THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, Janet Van De Graaff (played by Jill Blackwood) is a 1920’s showgirl who is about to give up the stage for love. But a lot of money is riding on her to bring in crowds as star of the upcoming production of “Feldzieg’s Follies.”
Feldzieg (played by Scotty Roberts), the show’s producer, has a lot riding on him too — chiefly two gangster investors threatening bodily harm if Janet doesn’t perform. Good thing Janet has a chaperone, “The Drowsy Chaperone” to be exact, who’s just tipsy enough to stay weary of the world and practically everything except her next drink!
Actress Meredith McCall stumbles on stage to play the Drowsy, specializing in rousing anthems, but there’s nothing more rousing to her than a good ol’ fashioned cocktail, which brings us to our first Drowsy Drink:
The Old Fashioned
THE OLD FASHIONED
Speculated to be the very first drink called a cocktail, when prohibition hit this drink stayed in style. To mix one up, make sure to use an old-fashioned cocktail glass and add:
- Sugar, 1 lump
- Seltzer, 1 dash
- Ice, one square piece
- Orange bitters, 1 dash
- Angostura bitters, 1 dash
- Lemon peel, 1 piece
- Whiskey, 1 jigger
There’s some muddling and mixing involved too, but the Drowsy swears if you just throw it all in a glass the formalities of the drink won’t matter by the time you get to drink number two. Moving on … The Drowsy Chaperone never minds going:
A "Between the Sheets" Cocktail
BETWEEN THE SHEETS
Heck, when booze was outlawed, the more risque the drink name the better! Mix one of these up using:
- Lemon juice, 2 dashes
- Triple sec, 1 shot
- Rum, 1 shot
- Brandy, 1 shot
If that doesn’t make you drowsy, try moving on to the drink that’s the namesake for our favorite cocktail accoutrement, the swizzle stick, known in the 1920’s as:
The Gin Swizzle
THE GIN SWIZZLE
- Gin, 3 shots
- Simple syrup, just a dash
- Juice of 1 fresh lime
- Bitters, 2 dashes
Our Drowsy is definitely 3 sheets to the wind right now: Attagirl! Help a dame out by logging on to ZACH’s Facebook page and posting your favorite prohibition-era cocktail recipes!