Just wanted to point out some big developments from @armin …
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Indeed! The sort of proceedings I wish we could have in this country.
I’m now intrigued by the Adlon Spezial. I found this on Instagram.
Kind of like kludging a Presidente without any rum…
I’m delighted to be share with you the translation of the drinks menu from the ‘MIRABEAU bar’ in Freiburg im Breisgau. It’s a bar I can highly recommend, by the way. If you’re ever in the area, be sure to pop in.
Art Deco | Grand Hotel Signature Drink | Berlin | 1928 Adlon Special
3 cl Geranium Premium London Dry Gin
3 cl Delord Bas-Armagnac Hors d’Age
3 cl Antica Torino Vermouth di Torino Bianco
0.6–0.75 cl grenadine*
0.6 cl freshly squeezed lemon juice
Method: Place all the ingredients in a mixing glass, add 3 solid ice cubes and stir for 20 seconds. Strain into a pre-chilled, vintage crystal coupe glass with a gold rim.
* Grenadine: Press pomegranate seeds through a muslin cloth. Weigh the juice obtained and add 1.5 times the amount of sugar. Bring to the boil until the sugar has dissolved.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the bars of Berlin’s luxury hotels offered their guests ‘special cocktails’ bearing the names of their establishments. This is evidenced by the two-page, richly illustrated article ‘Everyone Their Own Mixologist’ in the November 1928 issue of Das Magazin. Here, six recipes each from the bars at the Eden, Adlon and Esplanade are presented. And each of these sets of recipes contains, as we would say today, a signature drink. Michael C. Bienert, who shared this discovery with us, assessed the significance of the publication in an email dated 3 January 2025 as follows: »To be featured in such a prominent magazine as Das Magazin, which was regarded as a pioneer of the modern press, was certainly something special – so the bartenders at the Adlon wouldn’t have just thrown together some random concoction out of embarrassment and then sent the recipe to the editorial team under the hotel’s name. They certainly had something to lose in the city’s internal competition.«
A staged competition, the first international ‘cocktail contest’, took place at the Adlon in April 1930. However, it was not professional bartenders who competed against one another, but celebrated actresses and actors. The ‘cocktail battle’, which attracted a great deal of press attention, was opened by the lady of the house, Hedda Adlon, ‘naturally’ with the house drink, the ‘Adlon Special’. »At that moment, it became clear that the other contestants would find it difficult to beat this cocktail,« noted the Hamburger Anzeiger. It was probably the same recipe that has been handed down to us from the Das Magazin: three equal parts gin (Gordon’s), cognac and French vermouth, balanced with one teaspoon each of grenadine and lemon juice. In the end, however, it was the UFA star of the moment who took the prize: Lilian Harvey with her creation ‘Hokuspokus’ (the title of her next film, which was due to premiere on 11 July 1930). Her prize: a home bar from the Rosenhain company.
The ‘Adlon-Spezial’ is a mixed double, comprising just under 60 per cent ‘Martini’ and a good 40 per cent ‘Brandy Fix’. Its creator, presumed to be Franz Sichel, then head barman at the Adlon, has pulled off a masterstroke here. The daring combination of these two classics creates something new in terms of flavour, whilst also conveying a familiar sense of sophistication and embodying pure understatement. This former house drink thrives on fruity freshness and citrusy juniper, as well as warm woody notes. The lemon is so subtle that it merely has an astringent effect, evoking associations with a ‘Grand Cru’. Clothed in a vibrant salmon-red hue, this offspring of ‘cocktail’ and ‘punch’ does its parents proud, not least visually. As modern cognac often carries a bitter note when combined with lemon, we’ve chosen a traditional, well-aged Bas-Armagnac from Delord for our interpretation. We particularly like the delicate Bianco from Antica Torino, which resembles the Chambéry style, as the vermouth in this drink. And with Geranium Gin, we’ve opted for a contemporary London Dry, which blends into the mix as a confident team player.
Sources: Max Schmidt: Die Bar im Haus, 2. Auflage, Köln 1928, S. 17; Jedermann sein eigener Mixer. In: Das Magazin, 5. Jg. (1928-29), H. 51, November 1928, S. 2892f.; Filmstars als Mixer. In: Berliner Börsenzeitung, 16.04.1930; Lilians Hokuspokus. In: Hamburger Anzeiger, 19.04.1930; Michael C. Bienert: Cocktails in Berlin, Berlin 2024, S. 208
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It took us a while to realise what is actually quite obvious from the recipe: the Adlon Spezial is a mix of around 60 per cent ‘Martini’ and 40 per cent Brandy Fix. Both work perfectly on their own, by the way, and it becomes particularly interesting when you drink all three drinks side by side and compare them. It’s marvellous what happens in the glass.
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