Tract · Cocktails

Spirit-forward · Stirred · Historical · complexity 2/5

Millionaire Cocktail

Straub's Millionaire Cocktail is a rich rye drink with curacao, grenadine, orange bitters, and egg white.

sweet · red_fruit · spice · digestif · formal

Served in Claret glass.

Family

Variants (6)

Straub's Manual of Mixed Drinks by Jacques Straub (1913, p.37) — Straub 1913

1 dashorange bitters — Orange Bittersbase
0.5 jiggerrye whiskey — Rye Whiskeybase
6 dashescuracao modifier
1 wholeegg white — White of Eggother
2 dashesGrenadine syrup — Grenadine Syrupsweetener
  1. Stir well.
  2. Serve in a claret glass.

This is useful because it shows the pre-war whiskey field opening into richer egg-white and syrup-dressed forms without leaving the cocktail chapter.

Recipes for Mixed Drinks by Hugo R. Ensslin (1917, p.24) — I

1 juiceLime juice (fresh) — Juice of 1 Limeacid
0.5 drinkJamaica rum — Jamaica Rumbase
0.25 drinksloe gin — Sloe Ginbase
0.25 drinkapricot brandy — Apricot Brandymodifier
1 dashGrenadine syrup — Grenadinesweetener
  1. Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice.
  2. Strain and serve.

Ice: Cracked ice

This matters because it preserves one of the richer pre-war fruit-and-rum sour branches under the Millionaire name.

The drink uses layered fruit modifiers but keeps compact cocktail dilution rather than turning into a long punch style.

Recipes for Mixed Drinks by Hugo R. Ensslin (1917, p.24) — II

0.5 drinkAbsinthe — White Absinthebase
0.5 drinkdry gin — Dry Ginbase
1 dashanisette modifier
1 whiteegg white — White of 1 Eggother
  1. Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice.
  2. Strain and serve.

Ice: Cracked ice

This matters because it shows that the Millionaire name already covered structurally distinct drinks rather than one fixed recipe lineage.

Egg-white texture and anise modifiers make this a very different branch from the first Millionaire despite the shared name.

Julian's Recipes by Julian Anderson (1919, p.10)

1 partlemon juice acid
0.5 glassice — shaved icebase
2 partsWhiskey base
1 dashAngostura bitters bitter
1 partBenedictine modifier
1 partGrenadine sweetener
  1. Shake the shaved ice, whiskey, Benedictine, grenadine, lemon juice, and Angostura bitters.
  2. Strain and serve.

Ice: Shaved ice

Harry of Ciro's ABC of Mixing Cocktails by Harry of Ciro's (1923, p.60) — Ritz Hotel, London

1 whiteegg white — Fresh Egg Whitebase
3 partsrye whiskey — Rye Whiskybase
2 dashesOrange curacao — Curacao (Orange)modifier
1 teaspoonfulGrenadine sweetener
  1. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

This matters because it gives us a 1923 London hotel Millionaire branch that differs from the richer American pre-war splits already in the ontology.

The egg-white texture is central here.

About Town Cocktail Book by Joe Fitchett (1925, p.19) — About Town 1925

1 whiteegg white base
0.33 gillrye whiskey — Rye Whiskybase
1 dashAniset — May be added if required.modifier
2 dashescuracao modifier
0.17 gillGrenadine — Source prints 1/6 gill.sweetener
  1. Fill the shaker half full of broken ice and add the ingredients.
  2. Shake well and strain into a small wine glass.

Ice: Broken ice

This matters because it preserves another Millionaire branch distinct from the rye-and-egg forms already seen in hotel books.

Related recipes

See also: Royal Smile, Coffee Cocktail