Olivette Cocktail — The Cocktail Ontologist

Family

Aromatic Cocktail Family — descendant

Variants (11)

New and Improved Bartenders' Manual by Harry Johnson (1900, p.267) — Harry Johnson 1900

	lemon peel — lemon peel	acid
	Absinthe — absinthe	base
0.5 glass	ice — fine-shaved ice	base
1 wine-glass	Plymouth gin	base
	orange bitters — orange bitters	bitter
1 whole	Olive — olive	garnish
	gum syrup — gum syrup	sweetener

Add the fine-shaved ice, gum syrup, orange bitters, absinthe, and Plymouth gin to a large bar glass.
Stir up well with a spoon.
Strain into a cocktail glass.
Add an olive, squeeze lemon peel on top, and serve.

Garnish: Olive, with lemon peel expressed on top

Ice: Fine-shaved ice

Nose: The absinthe gives the nose a sharper and greener aromatic line than some of the neighboring gin cocktails.
Palate: Olivette is a drier and more spirit-direct late cocktail than many of Johnson's sweeter aromatic variants, showing how the gin aperitif line keeps tightening.
Finish: The finish is dry, herbal, and orange-bittered.
Summary: A sharply aromatic gin cocktail helping map the tightening dry line before the modern martini settles.

The late Johnson cocktails matter in part because they are not all the same. Olivette shows a distinct absinthe-marked branch within the broader gin-aperitif world.

The gum must be minimal. This drink wants structure and dryness, not overt sweetness.

The Hoffman House Bartender's Guide by Charles S. Mahoney (1905, p.154)

	lemon peel — Squeeze on top.	acid
3 dashes	Absinthe	base
0.5 glass	ice — shaved ice	base
1 wine-glass	Plymouth gin	base
3 dashes	orange bitters	bitter
1	Olive	garnish
2 dashes	gum syrup — gum	sweetener

Stir the shaved ice, gum, orange bitters, absinthe, and Plymouth gin with a spoon.
Strain into a cocktail glass, add an olive, squeeze lemon peel on top, and serve.

Garnish: Olive and expressed lemon peel

Ice: Shaved ice

How to Mix Drinks by George L. Spaulding and W. Rositer (1906, p.15) — Spaulding and Rositer 1906, cocktails section

1 twist	lemon peel	acid
3 dash	Absinthe	base
0.5 wineglass	gin — Gin	base
2 dash	simple syrup — syrup	base
3 dash	orange bitters	bitter
1 whole	Olive	garnish

Use large glass, stir ingredients with ice, strain into cocktail glass, add olive, and twist lemon peel on top.

Garnish: Olive and lemon peel

Ice: Ice

Jack's Manual by J. A. Grohusko (1908, p.49) — Grohusko 1908

1 twist	lemon peel — lemon peel	acid
3 dash	Absinthe — absinthe	base
1 jigger	Plymouth gin	base
2 dash	Simple syrup (1:1) — syrup	base
1 dash	Angostura bitters	bitter
3 dash	orange bitters — orange bitters	bitter
1 whole	Olive — olive	garnish
0.5 glass	ice — ice	other

Stir the syrup, orange bitters, absinthe, Angostura, and Plymouth gin with ice.
Strain into a cocktail glass, add an olive, twist lemon peel on top, and serve.

Garnish: Olive and twisted lemon peel

Ice: Ice

Nose: Lemon, absinthe, and olive rise over the gin.
Palate: This is a very useful pre-war aperitif variant because it shows how decorative garnish, absinthe shading, sweetness, and savory olive garnish could all coexist inside the same gin cocktail logic.
Finish: The finish is cool, savory, and lightly anisic.
Summary: A richly dressed Plymouth-gin aperitif from the stranger side of the Martini world.

Jack's Manual by J. A. Grohusko (1910, p.69)

1 twist	lemon peel	acid
3 dashes	Absinthe	base
1 portion	dry gin — Source gives 100% dry gin.	base
2 dashes	syrup	base
1 dash	bitters	bitter
3 dashes	orange bitters	bitter
1	Olive	garnish
	ice — Use large bar glass half full of ice.	other

Stir the syrup, orange bitters, absinthe, bitters, dry gin, and ice with a spoon.
Strain into a cocktail glass, add an olive, twist lemon peel on top, and serve.

Garnish: Olive and lemon peel

Ice: Half bar glass of ice

The Buffet Blue Book by John H. Considine (1912, p.43)

1 twist	lemon peel — Twist on top.	acid
3 dashes	Absinthe	base
0.5 large bar glass	ice	base
1 jigger	Plymouth gin	base
3 dashes	orange bitters	bitter
1 olive	Olive	garnish
2 dashes	syrup	sweetener

Stir the ice, syrup, orange bitters, absinthe, and Plymouth gin with a spoon in a large bar glass.
Strain into a cocktail glass, put in an olive, twist lemon peel on top, and serve.

Garnish: Olive and twist of lemon peel

Ice: Ice

Straub's Manual of Mixed Drinks by Jacques Straub (1913, p.39) — Straub 1913

1 piece	lemon peel — Lemon Peel	acid
0.5 jigger	dry gin — Dry Gin	base
3 dashes	Green absinthe — Absinthe	base
3 dashes	orange bitters — Orange Bitters	base
1 dash	Angostura bitters — Angostura Bitters	bitter
0.5 jigger	French vermouth — French Vermouth	modifier
1 dash	simple syrup — Syrup	sweetener

Stir well.
Twist lemon peel on top and serve.

Garnish: Lemon peel

This is a strong marker for how intensely seasoned the pre-war dry gin and vermouth field could still be.

Rawling's Book of Mixed Drinks by Ernest P. Rawling (1914) — Rawling 1914, cocktail section

1 piece	lemon peel	acid
2 dash	gum syrup	base
1 measure	London dry gin — Plymouth gin	base
3 dash	orange bitters	bitter
1 whole	Olive	garnish
2 dash	anisette	modifier

Stir with lump ice, strain, twist lemon peel on top, and serve with an olive.

Garnish: Lemon peel and olive

Ice: Lump ice

Harry of Ciro's ABC of Mixing Cocktails by Harry of Ciro's (1923, p.65) — Harry of Ciro's 1923

1 piece	lemon peel — Lemon Peel	acid
3 dashes	Absinthe	base
2 dashes	Gomme syrup — Gomme Syrup	base
0.5 glass	Plymouth gin — Plymouth Gin	base
3 dashes	orange bitters — Orange Bitters	bitter
1 olive	Olive	garnish

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass with an olive.
Squeeze lemon peel on top.

Garnish: Olive and lemon peel

This matters because it preserves another lean pre-Prohibition aperitif branch in the London 1923 field.

The olive service and heavy seasoning with absinthe and orange bitters define the drink here.

L'Art du Shaker by Dominique Migliorero (1925, p.47)

2 dash	Absinthe — Absinthe	base
2 dash	orange bitters — Orange bitters	base
1 liqueur glass	Plymouth gin	base
2 dash	Gomme syrup — Gomme syrup	sweetener

Stir very cold and serve.

Barflies and Cocktails by Harry McElhone and Wynn (1927, p.56) — Barflies 1927

3 dashes	Absinthe	base
2 dashes	Gomme syrup — Gomme Syrup	base
0.67 part	Plymouth gin — Plymouth Gin	base
3 dashes	orange bitters — Orange Bitters	bitter

Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass with an olive.
Squeeze lemon peel on top.

Garnish: Olive and lemon peel

This matters because it keeps the olive-and-absinthe aromatic branch distinct in the late McElhone field.

See also: Martini Cocktail, Tuxedo Cocktail