20 Once-Popular Cocktails That No One Drinks Anymore

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Just as with fashion, cocktail fads come and go. Whether certain ingredients have improved or disappeared altogether, there are plenty of reasons we see cocktails lose their luster. Dozens of classic cocktail recipes have practically vanished from the modern bar, but not from history.

During Prohibition, folks would risk it all to catch a buzz. Mixologists were just as clever back then, but they lacked certain techniques and advances we have today. Even with the limited tools bartenders were utilizing centuries ago, they created some of the most dazzling cocktails that deserve a resurgence. Sometimes all it takes is an iconic star to be seen sipping a drink before it’s plastered on every bar menu in sight, so these 20 cocktails could surely see their spotlight again.

Read more: We Asked A Mixologist: Here’s Exactly How To Make A Perfect Old Fashioned Every Time

The Grasshopper

If there’s one thing about cocktails of the 1950s and ’60s, it’s that they weren’t shy of cream. Dozens of cocktails featured not just dairy, but some sort of creamy liqueur to top it off. The Grasshopper, named after its vibrant green hue, is the crème de la crème of rich, sweet cocktails. It’s like the Thin Mints of cocktails, made with crème de menthe, crème de cacao, and of course, cream. The minty chocolate taste brings it closer to dessert, with the texture of a milkshake.

The cocktail dates back to 1918, allegedly created by Philibert Guichet for a cocktail competition in NYC. While the Grasshopper came in second, Guichet brought his prized cocktail back to his home of New Orleans and it caught on quickly. While delicious, it’s shockingly sweet and creamy enough to only warrant one or so per evening, unless the goal is a stomachache.

The Harvey Wallbanger

During the disco days, practically everyone fueled up on Harvey Wallbangers. A flashy drink paired perfectly with the charisma of the 1970s and this bright orange cherry adorned cocktail couldn’t be more fitting. While the cocktail made headway in the ’70s, it’s said to have been invented about 20 years prior by award winning bartender Donato “Duke” Antone.

The name’s origin story is a simple one. The booze heavy drink has a tendency to cause consumers to “bang” into walls left and right, especially a bloke named Harvey. The cocktail is a step up from the classic screwdriver, courtesy of Galliano. That bitter addition cuts the acidity and adds a faint herbal undertone.

Pink Squirrel

Here we have another cream-based number that is just as famed for its bold pink color as it is for its taste. The Pink Squirrel only requires 3 ingredients — crème de noyaux, white crème de cacao liqueur, and heavy cream. Despite the short list of components the cocktail manages to squeeze in notes of vanilla, chocolate, almond, and cherry, with the latter influencing the notable hue.

These types of sweet, creamy cocktails were all the rage in the ’50s and ’60s, but the Pink Squirrel has been around since the early ’40s, thanks to Milwaukee native Bryant Sharp. It’s hard to imagine the cocktail could align any closer with dessert, but apparently Sharp originally shook it up with ice cream to create an iconic boozy milkshake.

The Singapore Sling

This classic cocktail is over a century old, placing its popularity at a time with radically different social norms. The fruit punch appearing cocktail, complete with cherry brandy, Benedictine, gin, grenadine, lime juice, and soda water, was originally created with that intention — to pass as juice. It was frowned upon for women to socially drink in the early 1900s of Singapore, so the Singapore Sling was a sly way to join in on the party.

Created by Ngiam Tong Boon of Singapore’s Raffles Hotel, the cocktail went on to become the country’s signature drink, forever associated with warm, carefree tropical vacations. The Singapore Sling was typically garnished with a cherry and slice of pineapple, making it even more enticing to travelers. The cocktail is a fun indulgence now and again, but cloyingly sweet.

The Ward Eight

This vintage cocktail is steeped in political legacy. As the story goes, The Ward Eight was created in the midst of a victory at Boston’s Locke-Ober, a well-known “boys club” type of establishment in the 1890s that regularly hosted prominent city figures. In honor of Martin Lomasney’s winning election, the bartender shook up the cocktail and folks clinked their coupes in celebration.

The Ward Eight’s reputation spread across Boston and quickly became the city’s signature cocktail. The whiskey-based libation still hears its praise in New England, but it’s tough to find listed on a bar menu. Whiskey already has a caramel sweetness to it, so when adding the natural sugars of orange juice and the syrupy-sweet cherry grenadine, this cocktail is almost guaranteed to give you a headache the following morning. Served up with a few cherries, it comes off as a very sophisticated cocktail, but the fruity layers make it a juicier one that may be more fitting over ice or even frozen enjoyed nestled on a sandy beach somewhere.

The Stinger

The Grasshopper is known as the quintessential minty cocktail of the ’50s, given its alarmingly green color and sweet menthol flavor, but the Stinger actually started it all back in the 1890s. Much more simple, only calling for brandy and crème de menthe, the Stinger takes on the brandy’s color but delivers that intense, refreshing taste.

It wasn’t a particularly prevalent cocktail in the early days, but when the ’30s rolled around the Stinger became a popular bar order for city slickers. New York City has many cocktails that are practically a love letter to the city, especially classics like, ahem, the Manhattan, but the Stinger was one of its first. Given the price of suits strutting back and forth on Wall Street, it’s safe to say the cocktail became associated with a certain clientele. It became a favorite of Reginald Vanderbilt who was sure to serve it to all his fellow high society guests.

The Bronx

As one would guess, the Bronx is a New York creation. It takes the classic gin martini to another world, adding in both dry and sweet vermouth, along with a splash of orange juice. Before Prohibition, this cocktail was as popular as the Manhattan is today, and it has the label to prove it. In 1934, Harman Burke placed it third among the world’s most famous cocktails in his book, “Burke’s Complete Cocktail & Drinking Recipes.”

It’s said to have been named after the somewhat newly opened Bronx Zoo in the early 1900s, often credited to Johnny Solon of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. The reasoning behind its fallout is likely as simple as its splash of orange juice. Once bitter, sophisticated martini adjacent cocktails began filling up bar menus, the fruity ones seemed to fade into the background.

The 12 Mile Limit

The 12 Mile Limit was a shining cocktail during Prohibition, especially for those out to sea. A loophole maritime law stated that alcohol consumption was permitted beyond 12 miles from the shoreline. Featuring a mix of white rum, rye whiskey, and brandy, this drink is stiff enough to keep a buzz going until you get back to shore.

ABV level was a higher priority than quality at the time, and the 12 Mile Limit did an excellent job of masking the sub-par alcohol. Even with its heavy alcohol content, this cocktail is incredibly smooth. The complex flavors are softened with the fruity addition of grenadine and tart lemon juice.

The Scofflaw

The Scofflaw was France’s dig at the American Prohibition, supposedly concocted at Harry’s New York Bar back in 1924. The cocktail was named after the rebellious drinking crowd during Prohibition, with the Dictionary.com defining a scofflaw as “a lawless drinker of illegally made or illegally obtained liquor.” The Parisian bartender emphasized American ingredients by showcasing rye whiskey or bourbon, but added their touch with French vermouth and grenadine. The cocktail caught everyone’s attention, but especially American expats who almost saw it as a form of social protest.

The witty name certainly influenced the drink’s popularity, but the flavor measured up to the novelty. It’s surprisingly refreshing for being whiskey-based, thanks to dry vermouth and lemon juice. It’s sweetened with grenadine like so many other cocktails of this era, but it’s tart enough to find balance without the bourbon getting lost.

Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford was the queen of the silent film era, being the second woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress in 1929. She was one of the world’s very first movie stars, so famous that she even had a cocktail named after her. Rumor has it the actress caught the eye of Hotel Nacional de Cuba’s bartender, Fred Kaufman, who shook up a custom drink inspired by her sparkling stardom.

It’s a timeless Cuban cocktail, layered with rum, pineapple juice, and any forgotten cocktail’s favorite ingredient — grenadine. It’s to be shaken with everything you’ve got, and ideally, the pineapple juice is freshly squeezed. The recipe seems to have evolved over time, sneaking Luxardo Maraschino in there at some point. Despite the slight adjustments, its sweetness remained an identifying factor, which may be why it didn’t stay in the spotlight long.

Martinez

Some say the Martinez was the forerunner to the Martini, making it a pivotal drink in cocktail history. It’s said to have been circulating ballrooms as early as 1860, but O.H. Byron was seemingly the first to commemorate it in 1884, featured in “The Modern Bartender’s Guide.” The cocktail book has some dated measurements but covers all the classics. At Byron’s bar, the Martinez cocktail calls for equal parts gin and vermouth (1 pony of each), a few dashes of bitters, and a splash of gum syrup, which gave way to maraschino in a matter of years.

While not specified in Byron’s recipe, the Martinez famously calls for sweet vermouth and modern recipes sub orange bitters. We’re lucky to have the Martinez preserved in print, as the cocktail has evolved a handful of times over the last 100 years. The end result is a deep cherry-colored cocktail, typically garnished with a twist of orange.

Chrysanthemum

A chrysanthemum is a vibrant bouquet basic, but it’s also a unique pre-Prohibition cocktail. It goes against everything we’ve come to learn about cocktails by leaving hard alcohol off the recipe. Vermouth is often a subtle whisper in cocktails, but in a Chrysanthemum it’s the foundation. It’s stirred with Benedictine and absinthe to create a warm, light sip that has an unexpected fruitiness. Absinthe, or wormwood liquor, has a powerful taste, with notes of licorice and anise, so the few drops are just the right amount.

The original recipe first appeared in 1917, at least on paper, in Hugo R. Ensslin’s “Recipes for Mixed Drinks.” The cocktail came to fame at the Savoy Hotel, and was later published in Harry Craddock’s legendary “The Savoy Cocktail Book” in 1930. The Savoy’s recipe doesn’t differ from the 1917 version much, aside from cutting the Benedictine back to ⅓ ounce from Ensslin’s ½ pour, which is the recipe that stuck around.

The Clover Club

The Clover Club is shockingly the first egg-white creation on this list of retro cocktails, but it is one of the original trendsetters. The gin-based cocktail is brightened with lemon juice and fresh raspberry syrup, finished with ruby red raspberries to match. The result is a deliciously frothy libation that’s found the happy medium between tart and sweet.

This cocktail was a pre-prohibition favorite and the emblem drink of Philadelphia’s Clover Club, a men’s-only society where wealthy businessmen gathered monthly at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in the late 1800s. The OG Clover Club has been resurrected in the form of a Brooklyn bar with the same name and same old school intentions. Given its famous namesake, the Clover Club became more of a social statement than simply a cocktail. It may have started with the insiders, but it reached well outside of Philly.

Fish House Punch

Fish House Punch is one of the oldest drink orders on this list, dating back to the days of George Washington, who happened to be a huge fan of the fruity cocktail. It was 1732 when the tasty cocktail was supposedly first stirred together for Philly’s angling club, The Schuylkill Fishing Company. Given its ancient roots, the recipe has shifted over the years, but the punch is typically a mix of rum, cognac, and peach brandy, finished with a bit of lemon juice.

Considering its sophisticated presentation, it was a popular soirée drink where guests could ladle a cupful at their leisure — a notion that’s rarely celebrated today. When it comes to bars of this decade, there are too many health concerns to be dunking dozens of cups into the same trough of boozy punch.

White Lady

The White Lady is a delicate gin cocktail with a handful of variations, all with a similar sleek presentation. The first version was created in 1919 by legendary bartender Harry MacElhone — yes, the same Harry of Paris’ Harry’s New York Bar — but had a different taste to it. MacElhone’s first White Lady featured crème de menthe alongside the orange liqueur and lemon, which supposedly was good enough to circulate for a decade or so, but in 1929 he dropped the crème de menthe and added egg white for a smoother sip.

This recipe is like gin’s take on a whiskey sour and stuck around throughout the ’30s. The White Lady became a hallmark of its time, made evident by the many pieces of literature referencing the high-class cocktail. Some recipes do without the egg white, making it less frothy but still just as refreshing.

The Golden Cadillac

We’re jumping forward a few decades with the Golden Cadillac — another 1950s post-dinner cocktail featuring white crème de cacao and heavy cream, but this time with Galliano. I can’t help but compare it to a soft-serve twist, with the chocolate liquor swirling into Galliano’s deeper vanilla flavor. It’s dessert in a coupe.

This creamy cocktail has California roots, reportedly first served at Poor Red’s in El Dorado. Allegedly a couple of lovebirds strolled in requesting a drink to match their gold Cadillac, and the bartender delivered. The cocktail has a hypnotizing luster to it, complete with shaved chocolate, and tastes equally as enchanting. Folks at the roadside BBQ joint kept the cocktail alive, but it hit the peak of its popularity after Galliano ran a campaign for the Golden Cadillac cocktail from the mid to late ’60s.

Orange Blossom

Orange juice was the saving grace for bootleg liquor during Prohibition, making the Orange Blossom a big hit during the ’20s and early ’30s. It’s very close to the Bronx cocktail — gin, orange juice, and Sweet Italian vermouth, just no dry vermouth. Some early accounts of the cocktail include orange bitters, and some without vermouth as featured in 1932 “Cocktails: How to Mix Them” by Robert Vermeire.

The story of its conception changes depending on who you ask, but many point to the Waldorf Astoria hotel. The NYC hotel was lavish enough to have its very own signature flower — the orange blossom — which inspired bartender Frank Meier to create the cocktail.

20th Century Cocktail

The 20th century saw some big changes — one being a luxury train between Chicago and New York. The on-site bartender believed a journey by train wasn’t complete without a coupe in hand, and allegedly that’s how the 20th Century Cocktail was conceived. Given the train’s matching name (Twentieth Century Limited), this story has stuck, but the original drink can actually be linked back to London’s Café Royal, created by lead bartender C.A. Tuck, before being published in 1937.

With the train’s motion and random jolts, especially in the early 1900s, serving cocktails to the brim of stemware seems like a dangerous game, but this decadent drink was worth the potential mess. Made with gin, Lillet Blanc, crème de cacao, and lemon juice, the 20th century cocktail set a good pace for the new era of drinking.

The Brandy Alexander

While it’s rarely seen on menus today, the Brandy Alexander was one of the most iconic cocktails of its time. With the exception of some celebratory favorites, it’s pretty clear that dairy-forward cocktails have fallen out of fashion, and this creamy cognac cocktail is sadly one that didn’t make the cut into the 21st century. Smooth cognac, crème de cacao, and cream are blended to create what some would call a fancy spiked milkshake.

This is another cocktail with some train connections, allegedly tied to an early 1900s advertising campaign, although it was just “The Alexander” at the time and featured gin. Come 1937, an updated recipe was printed in William J. Tarling’s “Café Royal Cocktail Book” with a much better approach, swapping gin for brandy. The cocktail kept its reputation well, right up until the ’60s counterculture movement which took folks out of dimly lit cocktail lounges and ushered in fruitier, brighter drinks.

The Pousse-Café

While the Pousse-Café is more of a drink concept, as it chooses looks over taste, it’s a special concoction that gives the term mixology some real validity. Served in a small glass, the French cocktail layers liqueurs of various colors and densities to create an impressive striped pattern. Today we’ve seen it all, from flavored smoke bubbles to flaming shots, but the Pousse-Café seemed like a magic trick when first revealed in the late 1800s.

The layers of liqueur and whatnot would vary by bartender, but they commonly reached for brandy, Chartreuse, maraschino, or sometimes a cream liqueur. Pousse café, French for “coffee pusher,” relates to the drink’s initial intent as a digestif. Before the discovery of layering, the small cocktail was served mixed as usual — how boring. As fun as the cocktail is, it’s time consuming and tough to keep consistent, so it’s yet another once popular cocktail that’s mostly faded into oblivion.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.