Cocktails
Post-Prohibition Ye Olde Fashioned
Sweetened with a cherry and orange slice. Fruit and cherries were added during prohibition to distract from crude spirits that were available at the time. This is the recipe that stuck after prohibition
THE WEST SIDE
A refreshing Gin cocktail with lime & mint. Traditionally named “the southside” after being the preferred drink of Al Capone and his gang on the South side of Chicago. However, we re-named this cocktail the West Side after the West side of McHenry where WE prefer to drink this.
The 18th Amendment
A sweet & fruity cocktail to mask the Vodka...SHHHH. The 18th Amendment prohibited the manufacturing, sales, and consumption of alcohol from January 16, 1919 until the 21st amendment repealed it on December 5th 1933. During this time alcohol was still illegally manufactured and consumed but the taste was horrendous. They used a lot of different fruits, sugars & syrups to mask the taste of the horrible spirits.
Gimlet
Traditional Gin cocktail served with lime, Invented 1867 as a way for Royal Navy sailors to combat scurvy. It is unknown if the name came from the tool they used for boring holes, or the navy surgeon Sir Thomas Gimlette who came up with the drink.
YOCT Martini
Your choice of a traditional Gin martini or sweetened Vodka martini. Traditionally made with Gin, this cocktail was first published in 1880. One story says that a gentleman struck it rich from the gold rush and ended up at a bar in Martinez, California looking to celebrate with a drink. They did not have champagne, so the bartender made up a gin, vermouth, and cherry liqueur concoction named the “Martinez special”
YOCT MARGARITA
Our signature recipe. We do not like many margaritas due to pre-mixes or other odd versions. This one has been tweaked over our 10 years of bartending to the exact way that we enjoy drinking them.
Giggle Juice
A Rye Bourbon & Absinthe cocktail. The term “Giggle Juice” was used in the 1920’s to describe alcohol.
White Girl Whiskey
Shaken Bourbon & Lemonade, sweetened with a cherry, Just a fun name for a girly version of a whiskey drink.
SideCar
Your choice of Bourbon or Brandy, served with a lemon. Invented in Paris after World War 1, with the inspiration coming from a traditional old fashioned recipe. The sugar rim did not start until the 1930’s, likely due to prohibition and the horrible tasting liquor available.
Tequila SMASH
Smashed fresh berries and mint to reveal a slightly tart yet sweet cocktail.
Mary Pickford
A 1920’s Rum & pineapple cocktail. Mary Pickford was a Canadian-Amercan actress in the 1920’s. She starred in 194 films and was the highest paid woman in the film industry at the time. This cocktail was created for Mary by a bartender in Havana, Cuba when she was there filming one of her movies.
Traditional Ye Olde Fashioned
Pre-Prohibition style with a sugar cube to slightly sweeten, First appeared in February 1800 being the very first printed cocktail recipe. Published in the Chicago Daily Tribune. The word “cocktail” was first defined as “a potent mixture of spirits, bitters, sugar & water”-unknown which is the recipe for a traditional old fashioned.
Vodka Collins
Twist on the classic with vodka, soda & lemon. The American story says that the drink evolved from “The Great Tom Collins Hoax of 1874”. Pranksters would tell a person that “Tom Collins” had slanderous things to say about them and was waiting out in the alley. That person would find themselves on a wild goose chase. The British story is that a London bartender came up with the recipe originally using Old Tom gin and served as the original hard lemonade of the late 19th century.