up in mabel's room

1 1/2 oz Old Overholt Rye
3/4 oz Pink Grapefruit Juice
3/4 oz Honey Syrup (3:1)

Shake with ice and double strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.

For my second drink at Stoddard's last week, I asked bar manager Jamie Walsh for the Up in Mabel's Room. When I inquired how he came across the recipe, Jamie stated that he found it on a post about Hollywood-inspired drinks, and I figured he meant this one from the Intoxicologist blog. I was curious for the only place I had seen this recipe was in Crosby Gaige's Cocktail Guide and Ladies' Companion and wanted to know if there was an earlier or other source for this recipe. The Intoxicologist links the drink to Charlie Chaplins Mabel's Strange Predicament; however, there are two movies actually entitled Up in Mabel's Room -- a silent one from 1926 and a remake from 1944 that were both based on a play of the same name from 1919. Since Gaige's book was first published in 1941 before the 1944 remake, it was probably in reference to the original 1926 Up in Mable's Room movie (note: I have the 1945 3rd edition of Gaige's book, so perhaps the drink was added after the remake was made).
With a base of dark spirit modified by grapefruit and honey, the recipe reminded me of Jackson Cannon's Honey Fitz and a little too much like the classic De Rigueur Cocktail. From flipping through Crosby Gaige's book, he did have a habit of renaming recipes to fit his book's themes, and adding a "ladies' companion" sort of tone to the De Rigueur recipe has to be considered. Regardless of the drink's history and genealogy, the recipe is a solid one. The citrus twist provided a delightful grapefruit aroma that led into a soft honey and rye sip. The grapefruit, which I usually associate as a sip flavor, appeared on the swallow and perhaps pushed the rye forward into the sip. When I let Andrea have a taste, she immediately commented that the swallow reminds her of a honeydew melon. Indeed, the pink grapefruit and honey flavors integrated to make a rather smooth and delightful fruit flavor.