This cocktail is a variation of the Zaza cocktail. A successful two-component drink.
45 ml Hayman‘s Old Tom Gin 45 ml Dubonnet
Preparation: Stirred.
The Jack Zeller is a variation of the Zaza Cocktails. A Jack Zeller Cocktail comes in two varieties. The oldest is made with orange gin and Dubonnet and was first published in 1908 by Jacob Abraham Grohusko. The second variant uses Old Tom Gin instead of Orange Gin and was published by Jacques Straub in 1913.
Both variants are not published very often. We could find the Orange-Gin variant four times, the one with Old Tom Gin nine times. In addition, the Old Tom variant is also very rarely called Dubonnet Cocktail or Zaza Cocktail in 1933, whereby additional bitters or garnishes can also be used. But these are exceptions, and only show the confusion that exists regarding naming. We went into this in more detail in our article on the Zaza Cocktail.
Who gave this cocktail its name can only be guessed at. If you search the newspapers around 1910 for the name Jack Zeller, you will find many articles that all refer to the same person, namely the manager of the baseball club in Springfield, Connecticut. [1] This Jack Zeller was not only manager but also co-owner of the Springfield Ponies and lived from 1883 to 1969. [2][3]
1908 Jacob Abraham Grohusko: Jack’s Manual. Seite 37. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
50% Booth’s orange gin 50% Doubonnet. Fill glass with ice, stir, strain and serve.
1910 Jacob Abraham Grohusco: Jack’s Manual. Seite 51. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
50% orange gin 50% Doubonnet. Fill glass with ice, stir, strain and serve.
1913 Jacques Straub: A Complete Manual of Mixed Drinks. Seite 28. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
1/2 Jigger Booth’s Old Tom Gin. 1/2 Jigger Dubonnet. Stir.
1914 Jacques Straub: Drinks. Seite 29. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
1/2 jigger Old Tom gin. 1/2 jigger Dubonnet. Stir.
1915 John B. Escalante: Manual del cantinero. Seite 16. Dubonet Cocktail.
(Dubonet cockteil) USE UN VASO DE LOS DE REFRESCO Echese la necesaria cantidad de hielo para mediar el vaso, y agréguese: Ginebra (Old Tom) . . . . . . . . 1 cucharada Dubonet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 copita Mézclese bien con una cuchara, cuélese en una copa de las de cocktail, y sírvase con una guinda.
1916 Jacob Abraham Grohusko: Jack’s Manual. Seite 54. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
50% Orange Gin 50% Dubonnet. Fill glass with ice, stir, strain and serve.
1927 Anonymus: El arte de hacer un cocktail y algo mas. Seite 38. Jack Zeller.
1/2 Old Tom Gin. 1/2 Dubonnet y bátase.
1930 Gerardo Corrales: Club de cantineros de la Republica de Cuba. Seite 45. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
1/2 ginebra Old Tom. 1 /2 Dubonnet. Revuélvase.
1930 Gerardo Corrales: Club de cantineros de la Republica de Cuba. Seite 45. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
1/2 ginebra Old Tom. 1/2 Dubonnet. Revuélvase.
1931 Albert Stevens Crockett: Old Waldorf Bar Days. Seite 173. Zaza.
Two dashes Orange Bitters One-third Tom Gin Two-thirds Dubonnet Stir; strain
Seite 105-106:
The stage, whether or not it drove men to drink in those days, certainly inspired much drinking, and suc- cessful plays often stood godfather for bartenders‘ con- ceptions. …
Mrs. Leslie Carter must have heard, when she helped put Mr. Belasco large on the theatrical map, that „Zaza“ made one of its biggest hits in the form of an invention of a Waldorf barman. The Zaza cocktail was somewhat milder than the Salome, for only one- third of its content was Old Tom Gin, that being allied with two-thirds Dubonnet and two dashes of Orange Bitters.
1931 John: „Happy Days!“. Seite 50. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
50 per cent Orange Gin 50 per cent Dubonnet. Fill glass with ice; stir, strain and serve.
1933 Anonymus: O’Dell’s Book of Cocktails and Fancy Drinks. Seite 62. Dubonnet Cocktail.
2/3 Dubonnet, 1/3 Old Tom Gin.
1933 Jacob Abraham Grohusko: Jack’s Manual. Seite 74. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
50% orange gin 50% Dubonnet Fill glass with ice, stir, strain, and serve.
1934 Anonymus: A Life-Time Collection of 688 Decipes for Drinks. Seite 31. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
1/2 jigger Old Tom Gin 1/2 jigger Dubonnet. Stir
1935 Albert Stevens Crockett: The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book. Seite 78. Zaza No. 2.
Two dashes Orange Bitters One-third Tom Gin Two-thirds Dubonnet (Stir)
Seite 22-23:
The stage, whether or not it drove men to drink in those days, certainly inspired much drinking, and success- ful plays often stood godfather for bartenders‘ concep- tions. …
Mrs. Leslie Carter must have heard, when she helped make David Belasco loom larger on the theatrical map, that „Zaza“ made one of its biggest hits in the form of an invention of a Waldorf barman. The Zaza cocktail was somewhat milder than the Salome, for only one-third of its content was Old Tom Gin, that being allied with two- thirds Dubonnet and tw’o dashes of Orange Bitters.
1937 Anonymus: Hotel „Lincoln“ Cock-tail Book. Seite 41. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
1/2 Tom gin. 1/2 Dubonnet. Stir well and serve.
1937 Salvador Trullos Mateu: Recetario internacional de cock-tails. Seite 104. Jack Zeller Cock-Tail.
Media parte ginebra Old Tom. Media parte Dubonnet. Revuélvase.
1948 Hilario Alonso Sanchez: El Arte del Cantinero. Seite 387. Jack Zeller.
1/2 ginebra Old Tom. 1/2 Dubonnet. Hielo. Revuélvase, cuéle- se y sírvase.
1953 Anonymus: Esquire’s Handbook for Hosts. Seite 125. Zaza.
2 dashes orange bitters 1/3 Tom gin 2/3 Dubonnet (stir)
1977 Stan Jones: Jones‘ Complete Barguide. Seite 441. Zaza.
Cocktail Glass Stir 1-3/4 oz gin 3/4 oz Dubonnet
Variation 1-1/4 oz sherry 1-1/4 oz Dubonnet
Variation 1-3/4 oz Old Tom gin 3/4 oz Dubonnet 1 dash orange bitters
45 ml Hayman‘s Old Tom Gin
45 ml Dubonnet
Preparation: Stirred.
The Jack Zeller is a variation of the Zaza Cocktails. A Jack Zeller Cocktail comes in two varieties. The oldest is made with orange gin and Dubonnet and was first published in 1908 by Jacob Abraham Grohusko. The second variant uses Old Tom Gin instead of Orange Gin and was published by Jacques Straub in 1913.
Both variants are not published very often. We could find the Orange-Gin variant four times, the one with Old Tom Gin nine times. In addition, the Old Tom variant is also very rarely called Dubonnet Cocktail or Zaza Cocktail in 1933, whereby additional bitters or garnishes can also be used. But these are exceptions, and only show the confusion that exists regarding naming. We went into this in more detail in our article on the Zaza Cocktail.
Who gave this cocktail its name can only be guessed at. If you search the newspapers around 1910 for the name Jack Zeller, you will find many articles that all refer to the same person, namely the manager of the baseball club in Springfield, Connecticut. [1] This Jack Zeller was not only manager but also co-owner of the Springfield Ponies and lived from 1883 to 1969. [2] [3]
Sources
Historische Rezepte
1908 Jacob Abraham Grohusko: Jack’s Manual. Seite 37. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
50% Booth’s orange gin
50% Doubonnet.
Fill glass with ice, stir,
strain and serve.
1910 Jacob Abraham Grohusco: Jack’s Manual. Seite 51. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
50% orange gin
50% Doubonnet.
Fill glass with ice, stir, strain and serve.
1913 Jacques Straub: A Complete Manual of Mixed Drinks. Seite 28. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
1/2 Jigger Booth’s Old Tom Gin.
1/2 Jigger Dubonnet.
Stir.
1914 Jacques Straub: Drinks. Seite 29. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
1/2 jigger Old Tom gin.
1/2 jigger Dubonnet. Stir.
1915 John B. Escalante: Manual del cantinero. Seite 16. Dubonet Cocktail.
(Dubonet cockteil)
USE UN VASO DE LOS DE REFRESCO
Echese la necesaria cantidad de hielo para mediar el
vaso, y agréguese:
Ginebra (Old Tom) . . . . . . . . 1 cucharada
Dubonet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 copita
Mézclese bien con una cuchara, cuélese en una copa de
las de cocktail, y sírvase con una guinda.
1916 Jacob Abraham Grohusko: Jack’s Manual. Seite 54. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
50% Orange Gin
50% Dubonnet.
Fill glass with ice, stir, strain and serve.
1927 Anonymus: El arte de hacer un cocktail y algo mas. Seite 38. Jack Zeller.
1/2 Old Tom Gin.
1/2 Dubonnet y bátase.
1930 Gerardo Corrales: Club de cantineros de la Republica de Cuba. Seite 45. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
1/2 ginebra Old Tom.
1 /2 Dubonnet. Revuélvase.
1930 Gerardo Corrales: Club de cantineros de la Republica de Cuba. Seite 45. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
1/2 ginebra Old Tom.
1/2 Dubonnet. Revuélvase.
1931 Albert Stevens Crockett: Old Waldorf Bar Days. Seite 173. Zaza.
Two dashes Orange Bitters
One-third Tom Gin
Two-thirds Dubonnet
Stir; strain
Seite 105-106:
The stage, whether or not it drove men to drink in
those days, certainly inspired much drinking, and suc-
cessful plays often stood godfather for bartenders‘ con-
ceptions. …
Mrs. Leslie Carter must have heard, when
she helped put Mr. Belasco large on the theatrical map,
that „Zaza“ made one of its biggest hits in the form of
an invention of a Waldorf barman. The Zaza cocktail
was somewhat milder than the Salome, for only one-
third of its content was Old Tom Gin, that being allied
with two-thirds Dubonnet and two dashes of Orange
Bitters.
1931 John: „Happy Days!“. Seite 50. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
50 per cent Orange Gin
50 per cent Dubonnet.
Fill glass with ice; stir, strain and serve.
1933 Anonymus: O’Dell’s Book of Cocktails and Fancy Drinks. Seite 62. Dubonnet Cocktail.
2/3 Dubonnet, 1/3 Old Tom Gin.
1933 Jacob Abraham Grohusko: Jack’s Manual. Seite 74. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
50% orange gin
50% Dubonnet
Fill glass with ice, stir, strain, and serve.
1934 Anonymus: A Life-Time Collection of 688 Decipes for Drinks. Seite 31. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
1/2 jigger Old Tom Gin 1/2 jigger Dubonnet. Stir
1935 Albert Stevens Crockett: The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book. Seite 78. Zaza No. 2.
Two dashes Orange Bitters
One-third Tom Gin
Two-thirds Dubonnet (Stir)
Seite 22-23:
The stage, whether or not it drove men to drink in
those days, certainly inspired much drinking, and success-
ful plays often stood godfather for bartenders‘ concep-
tions. …
Mrs.
Leslie Carter must have heard, when she helped make
David Belasco loom larger on the theatrical map, that
„Zaza“ made one of its biggest hits in the form of an
invention of a Waldorf barman. The Zaza cocktail was
somewhat milder than the Salome, for only one-third of
its content was Old Tom Gin, that being allied with two-
thirds Dubonnet and tw’o dashes of Orange Bitters.
1937 Anonymus: Hotel „Lincoln“ Cock-tail Book. Seite 41. Jack Zeller Cocktail.
1/2 Tom gin.
1/2 Dubonnet.
Stir well and serve.
1937 Salvador Trullos Mateu: Recetario internacional de cock-tails. Seite 104. Jack Zeller Cock-Tail.
Media parte ginebra Old Tom.
Media parte Dubonnet. Revuélvase.
1948 Hilario Alonso Sanchez: El Arte del Cantinero. Seite 387. Jack Zeller.
1/2 ginebra Old Tom.
1/2 Dubonnet.
Hielo. Revuélvase, cuéle-
se y sírvase.
1953 Anonymus: Esquire’s Handbook for Hosts. Seite 125. Zaza.
2 dashes orange bitters
1/3 Tom gin
2/3 Dubonnet (stir)
1977 Stan Jones: Jones‘ Complete Barguide. Seite 441. Zaza.
Cocktail Glass Stir
1-3/4 oz gin
3/4 oz Dubonnet
Variation
1-1/4 oz sherry
1-1/4 oz Dubonnet
Variation
1-3/4 oz Old Tom gin
3/4 oz Dubonnet
1 dash orange bitters
explicit capitulum
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