The Diplomat cocktail from 1934 is something of a rarity: it puts cherries prominently in the foreground. When reading the recipe, it’s hard to imagine that the combination of ingredients would work. But it works perfectly!
10 ml cherry liqueur maison * 30 ml Humbel Baseler Langstiel cherry eau-de-vie 20 ml Antica Torino vermouth di Torino rosso 20 ml Freimeister Straight Rye Whiskey 2,5 ml water *
Preparation: 3 ice cubes, put for 2 minutes (do not stir). * Note: The water is necessary to open up the flavours. * Cherry liqueur maison: For the cherry juice: heat frozen pitted sour cherries in a pot until the first bubbles appear, mashing them with a potato masher. Pass the juice through a sieve. Then squeeze the juice first, followed by the pomace, through a straining cloth. Mix 100 ml (108 g) of sour cherry juice with 100 ml (90 g) of Humbel No. 4 morello cherry eau-de-vie and dissolve 48 g of sugar in it.
There are numerous recipes for a Diplomat cocktail, all of which differ from one another. For example, Victor Hugo Himmelreich published one in 1921. [1-40] Robert Vermeire published another version in 1922; it is a kind of “Perfect Vermouth Cocktail” with a dash of maraschino. [2-28] This mixture in particular was repeated almost exclusively in the following years.
A.T.Neirath: Rund um die Bar. 1934, page 171.[3-171]
Our preferred Diplomat cocktail recipe, on the other hand, comes from Albert Tom Neirath’s 1934 book Rund um die Bar (Around the Bar): “Original recipe by Fred Wood-Bilton. 1/8 cherry brandy, 3/8 Seldeneck cherry liqueur, 1/4 Italian vermouth, 1/4 Canadian club whisky. Mixing glass, cherry, lemon zest.”
– »Originalrezept von Fred Wood-Bilton. 1/8 Cherry-Brandy, 3/8 Seldeneck-Kirsch, 1/4 Ital. Verniouth, 1/4 Canad. Club-Whisky. Mischglas, Kirsche, Zitronenspirale.« [3-171]
The author also informs us: “The recipes included in the textbook ‘Rund um die Bar’ are the result of careful, professional review. The author is particularly grateful to his colleague Mr. Fred Wood-Bilion of Leipzig for his valuable support in this work.”
– »Die im Lehrbuch ›Rund um die Bar‹ aufgenommenen Rezepte stellen das Ergebnis einer gewissenhaften, fachlichen Prüfung dar. Der Verfasser fühlt sich besonders dem Fachkollegen Herrn Fred Wood-Bilion – Leipzig zu Dank verpflichtet für die ihm bei dieser Arbeit geleistete wertvolle Unterstützung.« [3-144]
The two had known each other for quite some time. Fred Wood-Bilton was one of the founding members of the International Bartenders Union, established in Cologne in 1909, and Albert Tom Neirath states: “With the collaboration of several members of the IBU, including the author of this textbook, Rund um die Bar (All About the Bar), the Lexikon der Getränke (Encyclopedia of Beverages) was published in 1913. Now completely out of print, it became the only recognized and authoritative recipe book for bartenders in Germany from the day it was published.”
– »Unter Mitarbeit einiger Mitglieder der IBU., zu denen auch der Verfasser des vorliegenden Lehrbuches ›Rund um die Bar‹ zählte, erschien im Jahre 1913 das heute vollständig vergriffene ›Lexikon der Getränke‹, das seit dem Tage der Herausgabe das fachlich allein anerkannte und maßgebende Rezeptbuch für Bartender in Deutschland wurde.« [3-9]
Albert Tom Neirath, former vice secretary of the association, reactivated the IBU in 1918 after a war-related hiatus and became its chairman in 1919. [4] Unfortunately, I was unable to find any further information on the biography of Fred Wood-Bolton.
Sources
Victor Hugo Himmelreich: American Drinks. Selbstverlag, Prag, 1921.
Robert Vermeire: Cocktails. How to Mix Them. 1922.
A. T. Neirath: Rund um die Bar. Ein Lehrbuch für Bartender und Mixer, mit einem Anhang einer Sammlung erprobter und international bekannter Rezepte, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Standard-Rezepte. Dresden, (1934).
1921 Victor Hugo Himmelreich: American Drinks. Seite 40. Diplomat.
Original by A. T. Neirath, 1910.
In a fine wine glass filied 3/4 with shaved ice add
2 d liquid Sugar, Juice of 1/2 a lemon, 4 d Straw-
berry Syrup, 1 Lg. orange curacao, 1/2 Lg. Jamaica
Rum, stirr and dress with fruits in season.
1922 Robert Vermeire: Cocktails. Seite 28. Diplomate Cocktail.
Fill a bar glass half full of broken ice and
add:
2 dashes of Maraschino.
2/6 gill of French Vermouth.
1/6 gill of Italian Vermouth.
Stir up well, strain into a cocktail-glass,
add a cherry and squeeze lemon-peel on top.
This drink is very well known in the French
Diplomatic Service.
1934 A. T. Neirath: Rund um die Bar. Seite 171. Diplomat-Cocktail.
Originalrezept von
Fred Wood-Bilton
1/8 Cherry-Brandy
3/8 Seldeneck-Kirsch
1/4 Ital. Verniouth
1/4 Canad. Club-Whisky
M-Gl.. K. Z. [Mischglas, Kirsche, Zitronenspirale]
10 ml cherry liqueur maison *
30 ml Humbel Baseler Langstiel cherry eau-de-vie
20 ml Antica Torino vermouth di Torino rosso
20 ml Freimeister Straight Rye Whiskey
2,5 ml water *
Preparation: 3 ice cubes, put for 2 minutes (do not stir).
* Note: The water is necessary to open up the flavours.
* Cherry liqueur maison: For the cherry juice: heat frozen pitted sour cherries in a pot until the first bubbles appear, mashing them with a potato masher. Pass the juice through a sieve. Then squeeze the juice first, followed by the pomace, through a straining cloth. Mix 100 ml (108 g) of sour cherry juice with 100 ml (90 g) of Humbel No. 4 morello cherry eau-de-vie and dissolve 48 g of sugar in it.
There are numerous recipes for a Diplomat cocktail, all of which differ from one another. For example, Victor Hugo Himmelreich published one in 1921. [1-40] Robert Vermeire published another version in 1922; it is a kind of “Perfect Vermouth Cocktail” with a dash of maraschino. [2-28] This mixture in particular was repeated almost exclusively in the following years.
Our preferred Diplomat cocktail recipe, on the other hand, comes from Albert Tom Neirath’s 1934 book Rund um die Bar (Around the Bar): “Original recipe by Fred Wood-Bilton. 1/8 cherry brandy, 3/8 Seldeneck cherry liqueur, 1/4 Italian vermouth, 1/4 Canadian club whisky. Mixing glass, cherry, lemon zest.”
– »Originalrezept von Fred Wood-Bilton. 1/8 Cherry-Brandy, 3/8 Seldeneck-Kirsch, 1/4 Ital. Verniouth, 1/4 Canad. Club-Whisky. Mischglas, Kirsche, Zitronenspirale.« [3-171]
The author also informs us: “The recipes included in the textbook ‘Rund um die Bar’ are the result of careful, professional review. The author is particularly grateful to his colleague Mr. Fred Wood-Bilion of Leipzig for his valuable support in this work.”
– »Die im Lehrbuch ›Rund um die Bar‹ aufgenommenen Rezepte stellen das Ergebnis einer gewissenhaften, fachlichen Prüfung dar. Der Verfasser fühlt sich besonders dem Fachkollegen Herrn Fred Wood-Bilion – Leipzig zu Dank verpflichtet für die ihm bei dieser Arbeit geleistete wertvolle Unterstützung.« [3-144]
The two had known each other for quite some time. Fred Wood-Bilton was one of the founding members of the International Bartenders Union, established in Cologne in 1909, and Albert Tom Neirath states: “With the collaboration of several members of the IBU, including the author of this textbook, Rund um die Bar (All About the Bar), the Lexikon der Getränke (Encyclopedia of Beverages) was published in 1913. Now completely out of print, it became the only recognized and authoritative recipe book for bartenders in Germany from the day it was published.”
– »Unter Mitarbeit einiger Mitglieder der IBU., zu denen auch der Verfasser des vorliegenden Lehrbuches ›Rund um die Bar‹ zählte, erschien im Jahre 1913 das heute vollständig vergriffene ›Lexikon der Getränke‹, das seit dem Tage der Herausgabe das fachlich allein anerkannte und maßgebende Rezeptbuch für Bartender in Deutschland wurde.« [3-9]
Albert Tom Neirath, former vice secretary of the association, reactivated the IBU in 1918 after a war-related hiatus and became its chairman in 1919. [4] Unfortunately, I was unable to find any further information on the biography of Fred Wood-Bolton.
Sources
Historische Rezepte
1921 Victor Hugo Himmelreich: American Drinks. Seite 40. Diplomat.
Original by A. T. Neirath, 1910.
In a fine wine glass filied 3/4 with shaved ice add
2 d liquid Sugar, Juice of 1/2 a lemon, 4 d Straw-
berry Syrup, 1 Lg. orange curacao, 1/2 Lg. Jamaica
Rum, stirr and dress with fruits in season.
1922 Robert Vermeire: Cocktails. Seite 28. Diplomate Cocktail.
Fill a bar glass half full of broken ice and
add:
2 dashes of Maraschino.
2/6 gill of French Vermouth.
1/6 gill of Italian Vermouth.
Stir up well, strain into a cocktail-glass,
add a cherry and squeeze lemon-peel on top.
This drink is very well known in the French
Diplomatic Service.
1934 A. T. Neirath: Rund um die Bar. Seite 171. Diplomat-Cocktail.
Originalrezept von
Fred Wood-Bilton
1/8 Cherry-Brandy
3/8 Seldeneck-Kirsch
1/4 Ital. Verniouth
1/4 Canad. Club-Whisky
M-Gl.. K. Z. [Mischglas, Kirsche, Zitronenspirale]
1935 Adrian – Cocktail fashions of 1936.
1/2 shot Italian vermouth.
1/2 shot Scotch whiskey.
1 dash Angostura bitters.
explicit capitulum
*