SUMMER SPIRITS, PROHIBITION-STYLE

While there are endless classic cocktails to choose from, and many a mixologist has devised the most sumptuous modern interpretations, we only have room for three. So here goes, just to get us started:

Sidecar

Few cocktails can rival the iconic Sidecar: It’s one of the great sour drinks found in every bartending guide published around Prohibition. In true ’20s/’30s fashion, add a sugar rim for a sweet contrast:

• 2 ounces cognac or Armagnac

• 1 ounce Cointreau orange liqueur

• ¾ ounce lemon juice

• Garnish: lemon twist or orange twist

Mary Pickford

Summer ’23 is finally upon us! After a record warm winter where New York got perhaps two inches of snow — (Remember? Eve of February 27th ?) — we’re still more than eager for our East End balmy days and majestic sunsets by the sea.

Apropos of nothing and just because, I am declaring summer ’23 Prohibition-Era Cocktail Summer. We need something fitting to imbibe on our many veranda-styled homes and inns from that timeless era. Plus, they happen to be delicious.

It is a little-known fact that the way we currently drink in America stems from that time. The craft cocktail (mixed drink) rose to unprecedented popularity during Prohibition, born out of the need to mask the often rancid taste of bootleg alcohol — and many of our present day bar staples were either created or cemented into favorites then, such as the Old Fashioned and the Sidecar. Speakeasies — those ’20s hidden gems of dim lighting and creative libations — have similarly evolved into a beloved facet of chic modern nightlife.

Prior to Prohibition, distilled spirits accounted for less than 40 percent of the alcohol consumed in America. We were mainly drinking beer, wine, and champagne. By the end of the “noble experiment” (lol) distilled spirits made up more than 75 percent of alcohol sales, proving once again that the best way to popularize something is to tell people they can’t have it.

So there we have it: 103 years after Prohibition went into effect at midnight January 17, 1920, a country still obsessed with craft cocktails.

America’s sweetheart of the 1920s, Mary Pickford starred in silent movies alongside Charlie Chaplin, and rum was one of Prohibition’s hottest commodities. The story goes that she, her husband Douglas Fairbanks, and Chaplin were in Havana when a bartender whipped up this tropical concoction and named it in her honor:

• 2 ounces light rum

• 2 ounces pineapple juice

• 1 teaspoon grenadine

• Garnish: maraschino cherry

Corpse Reviver

This one looks like fun, and not just because of the name! Meant initially as a hangover cure, this classic ensured its popularity by its inclusion in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Handbook :

• 1 ounce gin

• ½ ounce Cointreau

• ½ ounce Lillet Blonde

• ¾ ounce fresh lemon juice

• Dash of Absinthe

We are all set for our Summer of Prohibition-Era cocktails! (Gracefully) grab your vintage glass from that era (called coupe glasses), fill it with your craft cocktail of choice, and head to your nearest ’20s-style veranda (if you don’t have one, The Pridwin in Shelter Island and Sag Harbor’s American Hotel both evoke that time beautifully, though only the Pridwin actually dates from the 1920s; the American Hotel is far older).

Let’s toast to a magical, unforgettable vintage-chic summer 2023!