max baer

1/3 jigger Calvados (1 1/4 oz Boulard VSOP)
1/3 jigger Gin (1 1/4 oz Alchemy Dry Gin)
2 dash Grenadine (1/2 oz)
2 dash Absinthe (1/2 bsp Butterfly)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
I turned to Boothby's 1934 World Drinks and How to Mix Them book for a cocktail idea two Saturdays ago. There, I spied the Max Baer, an Old Fashioned of sorts named after an American boxer who became the world heavy weight champion in 1934 besides being in the popular 1933 movie The Prizefighter & the Lady. The gin, apple brandy, and grenadine reminded me of drinks like the Margaret Rose and Pink Lady, so I was intrigued. After making it, I realized that this recipe was renamed the Dempsey in W.C. Whitfield's 1939 Just Cocktails; at least it kept the boxing theme intact. Here, the Max Baer greeted the nose with an anise and apple-berry bouquet. Next, apple and pomegranate notes on the sip punched into apple, juniper, berry, and anise flavors on the swallow.