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A pair of Turf Club cocktails in Martini glasses.

Turf Club Cocktail

Print Recipe
The Turf Club, like the original Gin Martini, has a bit of a mysterious past. No one is quite sure who invented it or how it came to be. If you've enjoyed a Martinez, you'll also see similarities between that and the Turf Club as well. While we've seen different stories around the Martini, the Turf Club, and the Martinez, it seems that the Turf Club and the Martinez came first. Perhaps it's the Turf Club Cocktail that's the missing link between the Martinez and the Martini?
Since we're talking about cocktails, we're talking about things that were invented in bars while drinking. Stories can get blurry. However, we do know that the recipe for the Turf Club did appear in How to Mix Drinks by George Winter in 1884. So, what we do know, is this is an old cocktail recipe!
Any way you look at it though, if you're looking to up your Martini game, the Turf Club is a fun cocktail to put on the menu.
Total Time 3 minutes
Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

  • 60 mL Gin Try a London Dry or Plymouth Gin, but also have fun.
  • 20 mL Dry Vermouth
  • 10 mL Maraschino Liqueur
  • 2 dashes Absinthe
  • 2 dashes Orange Bitters

Instructions

  • Add all ingredients to a mixing glass filled with ice.
  • Stir everything until it's cold and well mixed.
  • Strain into a Coupe or Martini glass.
  • Optionally garnish with a twist of Lemon and serve.

Notes

While the Turf Club moves away for the simplicity of the Martini, it goes to show that some of the classic bartenders really knew what they were doing when it came to mixing different spirits. The Turf Club Cocktail has all the hallmarks of a pre-prohibition classic cocktail! We haven't done the research as to why, but these types of recipes just love to use Absinthe and Maraschino Liqueur. And why not? They taste great!
As mentioned in the recipe, we recommend using either a London Dry or a Plymouth Gin for the Turf Club Cocktail, but feel free to have fun. Using a different style of Gin, especially one with less history than the London Dry or Plymouth, will really change this cocktail quite a bit. Will it change it for the better? There's only one way to find out!