Fannie Ward Cocktail

Here's a third drink from "The Ideal Bartender" (1917) written by Thomas Bullock. Before I get into the drink though, a bit about it's author.

The Ideal Bartender is the first cocktail book to be written by an African-American. (An original copy recently sold on ebay for more than $2500, but you can find it on Google books for free).

Thomas Bullock (1873-1964) author of "The Ideal Bartender"

He worked for over 25 years at the very exclusive "St. Louis Country Club", and made drinks for the social elite and their visiting guests.

By way of introduction to the man and his book, the following appears on page 3:

 "A testimonial from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch which appeared in the form of an editorial, Wednesday evening, May 28, 1913, at a time when Col. Roosevelt was vindicating, by a libel suit, his reputation for sobriety and temperance.

Colonel Roosevelt's fatal admission that he drank just a part of one julep at the St. Louis Country Club will come vегу near losing his case.

Who was ever known to drink just a part of one of Tom's? Tom, than whom there is no greater mixologist of any race, color or condition of servitude, was taught the art of the julep by no less than Marse Lilburn G. McNair, the father of the julep. In fact, the very cup that Col. Roosevelt drank it from belonged to Governor McNair, the first Governor of Missouri, the great-grandfather of Marse Lilburn and the greatgreat-grandfather of the julep.

As is well known, the Country Club mint originally sprang on the slopes of Parnassus and was transplanted thence to the bosky banks of Culpeper Creek, Gaines County, Ky., and thence to our own environs; while the classic distillation with which Tom mingles it to produce his chief d'oeuvre is the oft-quoted liquefied soul of a Southern moonbeam falling aslant the dewy elopes of the Cumberland Mountains.

To believe that a red-blooded man, and a true Colonel at that, ever stopped with just a part of one of those refreshments which have made St. Louis hospitality proverbial and become one of our most distinctive genre institutions, is to strain credulity too far. Are the Colonel's powers of self restraint altogether transcendent? Have we found the living superman at last?

When the Colonel says that he consumed just a part of one he doubtless meant that he did not swallow the mint itself, munch the ice and devour the very cup."

By the way, the "Colonel" was Theodore Roosevelt, who was more commonly addressed as "Colonel Roosevelt" in the years after he left the White House in 1909 until his death in 1919.

Fannie Ward, for whom the drink in this post was named, was an early star of the stage and silver screen. She was known for her comedic roles and in 1915 appeared in Cecil B. Demille's sex-charged film, The Cheat.

The drink named in her honor appears in Tom's book as follows:

FANNIE WARD 

Use a large Mixing glass with Lump Ice.
White of an Egg.
Juice 1/2 Lime.
2 dashes imported Grenadine.
1 jigger Bacardi Rum.

Shake and strain into Cocktail glass.

My adaptation...

FANNIE WARD 

2 ounces (60 ml) white rum.

3/4 ounce (22 ml) lime juice.
1/4 ounce (7.5 ml) Grenadine. 
White of an Egg.


Shake ingredients once with ice, once without, and strain into Cocktail glass.

This is indeed a very tasty beverage. As you'd expect from the ingredients, this is light, sweet, tart and airy. Not unlike descriptions of Fannie herself.