Clipper Cocktails

CXLVIII

Pan American Airways’ hotel bartenders were noted for their inventiveness.  They created at least three famous cocktails, the recipes for which are given below. 

The Clipper Cocktail (invented 1936) was served on the mid-Pacific run through Midway, Wake and Guam. It consists of: 

One pony white Puerto Rican rum

One pony dry vermouth

One half-teaspoon grenadine

Instructions:      Pour over ice in mixing glass and stir. Garnish with a cherry in a Clipper Cocktail glass, rim well moistened with lemon rind.

The South Seas Cocktail (invented 1938) was a preprandial drink on the route from Treasure Island (San Francisco) to New Zealand. It consists of:

Two-fifths gin

Two-fifths orange juice

One-fifth Curacao

Cracked ice

Instructions:      Shake vigorously and strain into cocktail glass       

Irish Coffee (invented 1939) was an innovation of the Pan Am bartender at Foynes on the Atlantic route, in an attempt to sidle around Ireland’s Sunday Blue Laws. It consists of:

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 jigger Irish whiskey (1 1/2 ounces or 3 tablespoons)

Heavy cream, slightly whipped

Instructions:          Fill footed mug or a mug with hot water to preheat it, then empty. Pour piping hot coffee into warmed glass until it is about 3/4 full. Add the brown sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Blend in Irish whiskey. Top with a collar of the whipped heavy cream by pouring gently over back of spoon. Serve hot.