A 90 Year-Old Cocktail Mystery.. And Top Christmas Tipples

Buried deep inside the walls of The Savoy Hotel's American Bar lies a 90 year-old cocktail shaker filled with Plymouth Gin, Cointreau and lemon juice:cocktail. It was lovingly laid down in 1927 by Harry Craddock - then head bartender - during an Art Deco refurb at the height of the Jazz Age. But despite many attempts to locate the ancient silver vessel, it has never been found.
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Buried deep inside the walls of The Savoy Hotel's American Bar lies a 90 year-old cocktail shaker filled with Plymouth Gin, Cointreau and lemon juice: The White Lady cocktail. It was lovingly laid down in 1927 by Harry Craddock - then head bartender - during an Art Deco refurb at the height of the Jazz Age. But despite many attempts to locate the ancient silver vessel, it has never been found.

And why the curious time-capsule? To honour Harry Craddock, the pioneering mixologist who revolutionised the London bar scene by reintroducing the once humble cocktail as a sophisticated and decadent drink. Frustrated by Prohibition laws, in 1920 the New York-based bartender returned to his native London armed with a box of killer cocktail recipes and was quickly snapped up by a succession of London's top hotels.

But if you want to appreciate the work of the original maestro of mixology, there's no need to chisel your way through the American Bar in search of this elusive shaker. In 1930, Harry authored The Savoy Cocktail Book which contains over 700 of his favourite recipes. Thanks to a resurgence in classic cocktails, this gem of a book has become the ultimate reference guide for today's mixologists and its influence can be seen everywhere: from secret speakeasies to elegant hotel bars. Below you'll find the recipe for Harry's White Lady, an ideal Christmas drink, and a selection of festive cocktail recipes from across the capital.

Harry Craddock's White Lady

Supposedly named after Zelda Fitzgerald, the platinum blonde queen of the Jazz Age

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Ingredients:

¼ Lemon Juice

¼ Cointreau

½ Gin

And a dash of egg white

Method:

Fill a cocktail shaker half full with ice.

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

Clementine Gin Mimosa

By Portobello Road Gin's Master Blender Jake Burger

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Ingredients:

10ml Portobello Road Gin

5ml Sugar Syrup

Christmas clementines

Top with a sparkling wine like Cava or Prosecco

Method:

Run a good few clementines through a juicer and strain out the bits. Make a speedy sugar syrup by dissolving two parts sugar into one part boiling water. Pour the gin into a Champagne flute. Then fill the glass two parts chilled sparkling wine to one part chilled and strained clementine juice. Stir gently immediately before serving.

Queen of Charn

By Jamie Stephenson, founder of The Bar Academy. The base of this drink is inspired by Harry Craddock's classic White Lady cocktail. (The Queen of Charn is another name for the White Witch of Narnia)

Ingredients:

20ml King of Soho Gin

5ml Cointreau

10ml Lemon Juice

Dash Absinthe

Top with Prosecco

Method:

Shake the first five ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled flute. Top with chilled sparkling wine and stir gently. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.

Star of Bombay

By Dry Martini's Javier de las Muelas, at the Meliá White House

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Ingredients:

35 ml Bombay Star

8 drops of Myrrh tincture

15 ml Pedro Ximenez 30 yo

15 ml Akvavit

10 ml lemon juice

5 ml sugar

1 mint leaf

Hot Jamaican Rum Punch

By Russel Burgess at Loves Company

Ingredients:

240ml Appleton Estate Signature Blend

1 pot Strong black tea

1 tbsp Allspice

1 Banana, sliced

5 sprigs Mint

1 Orange

1 Lemon

10 Raspberries

Grenadine syrup

Method:

In a large teapot, brew the tea with All Spice and sweeten with Grenadine or strawberry. Add to the teapot the rum and 3⁄4 the fruit. Let steep for 2 minutes. Serve from the teapot or a punch bowl + garnish cups with the remaining fruit.

North Pole Flip

By Stephen Jupp, Bartender at Home House

Ingredients:

20ml egg yolk

50ml Sailor Jerry Rum

50ml caramel syrup

15ml double cream

Dash of cinnamon bitters

30ml egg white

15ml vanilla sugar

Method:

Shake and double strain the rum, egg yolk, caramel syrup into a Port glass. Shake separately the egg white and vanilla sugar, until of a thick consistency, and then layer on top.

Christmas Pudding Hard Shake

By George Simmons, Bar Manager at Heddon Street Kitchen

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Ingredients:

25ml Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum

25ml Pedro Ximenez Sherry

10ml Gingerbread Syrup

1/4 Orange, zest only

1-2 scoops of vanilla Ice Cream

A few pomegranate seeds to serve

Method:

Blend all ingredients together and combine well.Pour mixture into a tall glass and garnish with pomegranate seeds and a sprinkling of extra orange zest.

Bailey's Flat White Martini

By Luis Silva, Head Barman at Selfridges

Ingredients:

50ml Baileys Original Irish Cream

25ml espresso

25ml vodka

Ice cubes

Method:

Pop some ice cubes into a cocktail shaker and pour in the Baileys. Add the espresso and vodka. Shake it up until everything is perfectly blended and the liquid is silky smooth. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with three coffee beans.

Microclimate

By Adam Nordone. I was served this deliciously potent brew at the recent Jura Dining Club.

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Ingredients:

Serves 6!

350ml Jura Diurachs Own

120ml Pimento Dram

50ml orange blossom

100ml Agave water (Agave water is one part agave syrup to five parts water)

Broken grey tea

Method:

Mix all ingredients together and heat. During the heating process add broken grey tea mix (if you do not have broken greys, you can use shop bought earl grey and lady grey tea bags, 2 of each).

The Christmas Sidecar

By Toby Vacher of Taste Cocktails. Inspired by Simon Difford's Biblical Sidecar

Ingredients:

40ml Armagnac

15ml Fresh orange juice

10ml Grand Marnier

5ml Ginger liqueur

1-2 Cloves

Method:

Muddle the cloves in the base of your shaker, then add all the ingredients and shake with plenty of ice. Fine-strain into a chilled glass.

The Polar Express-o Martini

By The Rivington Grill

Ingredients:

35ml Absolut Vanilia

15ml Stones ginger wine

5ml Frangelico

5ml Cinnamon syrup

1x Single espresso

Method:

Cold: shake and double strain into the tea cup

Hot: Heat up all the ingredients with the coffee machine steamer, serve in the tea cup.

Milky Bar Snowball

By Duck & Waffle

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Ingredients:

65ml "Milky Bar Advocaat" (see below)

15ml vodka

15ml Sugar syrup (1:1 Water and caster sugar)

1 egg

30ml prosecco

Method:

Shake the Milky Bar Advocaat, vodka and sugar syrup ingredients with the egg, then re-shake with ice. Strain into a highball containing the prosecco. Garnish with a little fresh grated nutmeg.

For the "Milky Bar Advocaat"

200g Milky Bar buttons

50ml Advocaat

250ml Vodka

250ml water

45g milk powder

Method:

Sit a Pyrex or other heatproof bowl on top of a saucepan, about a third full of water. Once condensation starts to appear, reduce the heat and add the buttons, and begin to fold the mix into itself. Once the buttons have completely melted, add the Advocaat. Fold until it is well mixed. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Then add the vodka, still mixing, then stir in the milk powder. Place in the container in the fridge for a minimum of an hour to allow the fat from the chocolate to separate. Remove from the fridge and pass the liquid through a fine strainer to collect the solids. Discard these (or eat them).

'Bric-a-Brac'

By the team at Caravan, Exmouth Market

Ingredients:

20ml yellow chartreuse

15ml elderflower cordial

15ml lillet Blanc

20ml lemon

2 x sage leaves bruised

A twist of black pepper

40ml Champagne

Method:

Add all ingredients to a shaker, except the champagne. Add ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled flute. Then add 40ml of champagne. Garnish by pressing the oils of a lemon peel over the rim and stem of the glass. Discard the zest and enjoy!

Bowmore 15 Year old Darkest Hot Chocolate

By Bowmore

Ingredients:

50ml Bowmore 15 Year Old Darkest Islay Single Malt Whisky

15ml cherry liqueur

10ml cinnamon syrup

250ml whole milk

11 grams hot chocolate

1 cinnamon stick

Method:

Warm milk in a pan and mix with hot chocolate straight in a mug. Add the whisky and the rest of the ingredients; stir together. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and a dusting of cocoa powder.