marblehead

2/3 Dry Gin (1 oz Beefeater Summer)
2 dash Sweet Vermouth (1 oz Cocchi)
2 dash Creme de Cassis (1 bsp G.E. Massenez)
1 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I added an orange twist.

After the Tequila Zoom, I stuck with the cocktail time era and reached for Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 to find another quirky original. There, I spotted the Marblehead which I envisioned as a Martinez with cassis instead of Maraschino as the liqueur. Thus, I opted for a Martinez-like structure and made it more sweet vermouth forward. In picking a gin, I wanted to focus on the black currant notes and selected Beefeater Summer since the fruit is in the botanical mix (despite it being anything close to summer here).
The Marblehead offered a grape aroma lightened by the orange oil. The grape flowed on into the sip where it was complemented by a bright berry note from the cassis. Next, the cassis continued on into the swallow along with the gin, but the cassis here was a darker currant flavor that added a tart and bitter component to the finish.