Unlike its reptile namesake, the Rattlesnake cocktail gives you very little warning.
Bartender Henry Craddock fully knew the kind of trouble he was stirring up when he invented the Rattlesnake cocktail. As he so delicately put it, “It will either cure rattlesnake bite, kill rattlesnakes, or make you see them.” A famous bartender throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Harry Craddock has been credited with the invention of classics like the Blood and Sand, White Lady, and Corpse Reviver #2. The English bartender spent a great deal of time in the United States, but fled home once Prohibition set in (smart man). Lucky for all of us, it was his stint at the Savoy Hotel in London that inspired most of his recipes and became the impetus for his legendary, “The Savoy Cocktail Book.” It’s in this collection of over 750 recipes that you’ll find one for the Rattlesnake.
If there’s one thing that sticks out from, “The Savoy Cocktail Book,” it’s that Craddock really had a thing for absinthe. Despite its reputation at the time, this man had no qualms with adding a dash or two of absinthe to just about anything. Around 100 of the book’s recipes call for absinthe and the Rattlesnake is no exception. Where most cocktails like the Sazerac call for an absinthe rinsed glass, Craddock goes all in with absinthe directly into the drink. And so, essentially the Rattlesnake is an absinthe-laced twist on the Whiskey Sour: Bourbon, simple syrup, lemon juice, a frothy egg white, and oh yeah – a dollop of absinthe. Honestly, what’s not to like? Henry Craddock’s quote shows just how much he believed in his boozy creation. And even though we can’t legally recommend this as a cure for rattlesnake bites, or as an effective method for killing rattlesnakes, or give you any chance of hallucinating with modern day absinthe…the sentiment still holds up. This is one cocktail that’s always worth trying.
Rattlesnake
Equipment
- 1 Cocktail Glass
- 1 Cocktail Shaker
- 1 Bar Spoon
Ingredients
- 1½ ounces Bourbon
- ½ ounce Simple Syrup
- ½ ounce Lemon Juice
- 1 bar spoon Absinthe
- 1 Egg White
Instructions
- Place a Cocktail glass into the freezer to chill.
- Meanwhile in a cocktail shaker, add 1½ ounces of Bourbon, ½ ounce of simple syrup, ½ ounce of Lemon juice, 1 bar spoon of Absinthe, and an egg white.
- Dry shake until the mixture starts to get frothy.
- Add ice to the shaker and shake again until well chilled.
- Take the Cocktail glass out of the freezer and rinse with a bit of absinthe and then discard.
- Strain the mixture into the rinsed Cocktail glass.
Notes
- Not feeling raw eggs? If whole eggs aren’t your thing, but you’re still dying for that frothy texture, try using aquafaba instead. Aquafaba is the juice from cooked chickpeas or the liquid gold found inside a can of chickpeas. Simply dry shake the aquafaba until it’s whipped up and resembles frothed egg whites.
