Virgin Cocktail — The Cocktail Ontologist

Family

Aromatic Cocktail Family — descendant

Variants (8)

The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them by Hon. Wm Boothby (1908, p.32) — Boothby 1908 (Ver-Gin spelling)

1 twist	lemon peel — lemon peel	acid
0.5 jigger	London dry gin — White Cross gin	base
1 dash	orange bitters — One or two dashes.	bitter
0.5 jigger	sweet vermouth — Italian vermouth	modifier

Stir the Italian vermouth, gin, and orange bitters until very cold.
Serve in a cocktail glass.
Add a squeeze of lemon peel.

Garnish: Twist of lemon peel

Ice: Very cold

Nose: Sweet vermouth herbs and lemon lead the aroma.
Palate: The equal-parts split gives the drink more wine weight than a dry Martini, but it still behaves as a compact aperitif rather than a lengthened vermouth service.
Finish: The finish is herbal, sweet-dry, and citric.
Summary: A gin-and-Italian-vermouth aperitif preserved under Boothby's explanatory Ver-Gin spelling.

Boothby's note is the important part here. He explains the name as Ver-Gin, a contraction of vermouth and gin, which is useful evidence for how the drink's title was understood before later readers regularised it differently.

Jack's Manual by J. A. Grohusko (1908, p.64) — Grohusko 1908

2 dash	Angostura bitters	base
0.5 jigger	Plymouth gin	base
0.5 jigger	sweet vermouth — vermouth	modifier
0.5 glass	ice — ice	other
2 dash	Raspberry syrup — raspberry syrup	sweetener

Stir the Angostura bitters, raspberry syrup, vermouth, and Plymouth gin with ice.
Strain into a cocktail glass and serve.

Ice: Ice

Nose: Raspberry and bitters lift over the gin and vermouth.
Palate: This is a useful pre-war branch because it shows light berry sweetness crossing into the serious aperitif field without becoming a purely fruity drink.
Finish: The finish is cool, spiced, and faintly red-fruited.
Summary: A lightly berry-tinted Plymouth-gin aperitif from the named fringe.

Jack's Manual by J. A. Grohusko (1910, p.88)

3 dashes	Angostura bitters	base
0.5 portion	Plymouth gin	base
0.5 portion	French vermouth — vermouth	modifier
	ice — Use a mixing glass half full of ice.	other
2 dashes	Raspberry syrup	sweetener

Stir the Angostura bitters, raspberry syrup, vermouth, and Plymouth gin well with ice.
Strain into a cocktail glass and serve.

Ice: Ice

The Buffet Blue Book by John H. Considine (1912, p.57)

0.5 mixing glass	ice	base
0.5 jigger	Plymouth gin	base
2 dashes	Abbott's Bitters	bitter
0.5 jigger	vermouth	modifier
2 dashes	Raspberry syrup	sweetener

Stir the ice, Abbott's Bitters, raspberry syrup, vermouth, and Plymouth gin in a mixing glass.
Strain into a cocktail glass and serve.

Ice: Ice

Cocktails (Metropolitan Club Washington DC) by Metropolitan Club, Washington, D.C. (1920) — Metropolitan Club standard cocktail

0.33 part	dry vermouth — French Vermouth	base
0.67 part	London dry gin — Plymouth Gin	base

Frappe.

Ice: Ice

Harry of Ciro's ABC of Mixing Cocktails by Harry of Ciro's (1923, p.85) — Harry of Ciro's 1923

0.5 glass	Forbidden Fruit — Forbidden Fruit Liqueur	base
0.5 glass	gin	base
1 portion	white creme de menthe — White Creme de Menthe	modifier

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

This matters because it preserves another forbidden-fruit side branch in a simple post-war cocktail form.

L'Art du Shaker by Dominique Migliorero (1925, p.71)

0.33 part	French vermouth	base
0.67 part	Plymouth gin	base
1 zest	lemon zest — Lemon zest	other

Shake cold, strain into a cocktail glass, express lemon zest, and serve.

Garnish: Lemon zest

Barflies and Cocktails by Harry McElhone and Wynn (1927, p.83) — Pete Ormatt recipe

0.33 part	Forbidden Fruit — Forbidden Fruit Liqueur	base
0.33 part	gin	base
0.33 part	white creme de menthe — White Creme de Menthe	modifier

Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.

This matters because it preserves a compact late McElhone liqueur-and-gin side branch under an otherwise slippery name.

See also: White Lady Cocktail, Tantalus Cocktail

Use a mixing glass half full of ice.