Reform Cocktail

New and Improved Bartenders' Manual by Harry Johnson (1900, p.266) — Harry Johnson 1900

1. Add the fine-shaved ice, bitters, French vermouth, and sherry to a large bar glass.
2. Stir up well with a spoon.
3. Strain into a cocktail glass.
4. Add a cherry, squeeze lemon peel on top, and serve.

Garnish: Cherry, with lemon peel expressed on top

Ice: Fine-shaved ice

Nose

Wine and citrus dominate the aroma, with bitters adding tension rather than obvious spice.

Palate

This is a dry fortified-wine cocktail, less spirit-forward than many others but still structurally part of the late aromatic tradition.

Finish

The finish is vinous, dry, and lightly bitter.

Summary

A dry wine-based cocktail showing how far the category could move from obvious base spirit.

Reform is historically useful because it demonstrates that the cocktail family could become overwhelmingly modifier-driven without losing its identity.

Because the base is so delicate, the bitters must stay in proportion. This is a precision drink.

Harry of Ciro's ABC of Mixing Cocktails by Harry of Ciro's (1923, p.73) — Harry of Ciro's 1923

1. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass with a cherry.

Garnish: Cherry

This matters because it preserves a lean fortified-wine aperitif branch in the London 1923 field.

The drink's identity comes from treating sherry and French vermouth as the whole base rather than modifiers.

Barflies and Cocktails by Harry McElhone and Wynn (1927, p.67) — Barflies 1927

1. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass with a cherry.

Garnish: Cherry

This matters because it keeps another fortified-wine aperitif branch explicit in the late McElhone canon.