So the Savoy cocktail book gives the Mayfair Cocktail as:
Mayfair Cocktail
1 Dash Clove Syrup.
1/4 Apricot Brandy.
1/4 Orange Juice.
1/2 Dry Gin.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.
About the Mayfair, Robert Vermeire sez:
Mayfair Cocktail
¼ gill of Dry Gin;
¼ gill of Orange Juice;
3 or 4 dashes of Apricot Syrup flavored with a little Cloves Syrup.
This cocktail possesses a delicious flavor. I invented it at the Embassy Club in London, 1921. Mayfair is the aristocratic quarter of London, called so because under the reign of Charles II (seventeenth century) they used to hold a yearly fair there during the month of May.
Interesting evolution of the recipe between the source, Vermeire and the Savoy Cocktail Book.
To make both versions, being the incredibly lazy cuss that I am, I added a drop of clove oil to 2 oz of Aviation Gin (trying to finish a bottle) and proceeded as follows.
1 oz Clove infused Aviation Gin
1/2 oz Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot
1/2 oz fresh squeezed orange juice
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel over glass and drop in.
1 oz Clove infused Aviation Gin
1 oz fresh squeezed orange juice
1 tsp. apricot syrup*
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel over glass and drop in.
Huh, they both have their good points.
The first is a bit better balanced, while the pectin of the apricot syrup in the second makes it a bit more interestingly textured drink. Oddly, the second seems far sweeter than the first.
Kind of digging the apricot syrup, though. Seems like a really interesting sweetener with a texture similar to gomme.
*1/2 Cup water
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup sliced dried apricot
Dissolve Sugar and water and add apricot. Cool and strain out apricot pieces.
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.