The Glorious Fourth

Adapted from The Flowing Bowl by William Schmidt (1892)

Though it shares its name with a song written to commemorate the American Bicentennial in 1976, this cocktail is much older, appearing in The Flowing Bowl, an 1892 cocktail book written by the German-born, New York-based bartender William Schmidt. It doesn’t read particularly American ingredients-wise despite the patriotic moniker, either: the juice of one lime, brandy, a dash of Jamaican rum and a large tablespoon of ice cream, shaken “exceedingly well” and strained into “a fancy glass.”

Ingredients

Serving: 1

  • 1 ounce lime juice
  • 1 ounce lime juice
  • 4 dashes gum syrup
  • 4 dashes gum syrup
  • 2 ounces brandy
  • 2 ounces brandy
  • 1 dash Jamaica rum
  • 1 dash Jamaica rum
  • 1 scoop vanilla ice cream
  • 1 scoop vanilla ice cream

Directions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing tin and shake with ice.
  2. Strain into a glass of your choice.