Turf Club (1895 recipe)
Stir ∙ 3 min ∙ 33.1% ABV ∙
The Turf Club is a stirred, spirit-forward cocktail of Old Tom gin, orange bitters, absinthe, and a touch of sugar syrup, finished with an orange twist. Juniper and orange peel oils lead, an anise whisper rising underneath, with a faint sweetness rounding out a dry, herbal finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Stir all ingredients with ice: Old Tom gin 60 mlOrange bitters 4 dashesAbsinthe 4 dashesSugar syrup 5 ml
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express an orange twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Measure the absinthe dashes carefully; a heavy hand overwhelms the Old Tom gin's mellow sweetness.
- Stir until the outside of the mixing glass frosts, then fine-strain to keep the drink clear and silky.
- Pre-chill the coupe so the drink doesn't lose its temperature edge on the way to the glass.
History
This version of the Turf Club is drawn from George J. Kappeler's 1895 book, Modern American Drinks, where it appears as the "Turf Cocktail": a spare build of Old Tom gin, orange and Angostura bitters, and a lemon-peel twist, notably without the vermouth found in other period recipes. It stands apart from other 19th-century tellings of the drink by dropping the sweet vermouth entirely and leaning on bitters (and, in modern reconstructions, a dash of absinthe) for its character, making it drier and more bitters-forward than its siblings.
The Turf Club itself first appears in print in George Winter's 1884 How to Mix Drinks-Bar-Keeper's Handbook, built simply from Old Tom gin, Italian vermouth, and bitters, and later authors from Harry Johnson to Charles H. Baker each published their own variant, some adding maraschino and absinthe. The name recalls the gentlemen's turf clubs of the era, gathering places for racing and betting, including one such club that stood at the corner of Madison Avenue and 26th Street in New York City.
