Gin and Molasses

The Police Gazette Bartenders Guide by Richard K. Fox (1888, p.28) — 1888

1. Cover the bottom of a whiskey glass with a little gin and drop in one tablespoon of New Orleans molasses.
2. Place the bottle of gin before the customer, allowing him to help himself, with a small bar spoon left in the glass.

Summary

A sticky customer-finished gin service preserving a very old-fashioned sweetened plain-drink logic.

This matters because it preserves a customer-choice service form that later mixed-drink histories usually flatten away.

The bottle-left-before-the-customer detail is part of the drink's service identity.

Compared with Gin and Tansy, this is sweeter and less infusion-led.

The Complete Buffet Manual or How to Mix Fancy Drinks by J. E. Sheridan (1901, p.44)

1. Cover the bottom of the glass with a little gin and drop in the molasses.
2. Set the bottle of gin and a small barspoon before the customer, allowing self-service.

This is a useful checkpoint for the plain-service field where the customer finishes the drink at the bar rather than receiving a fully mixed standard.

The service depends on staged self-mixing, not bartender-complete assembly.

The Complete Buffet Guide by V. B. Lewis (1903, p.46) — V. B. Lewis 1903

1. Cover the bottom of the glass with a little gin.
2. Drop in the molasses and place the bottle of gin to the customer, allowing him to help himself.
3. Put a small barspoon in the glass.

Nose

Gin herbs sit against a dark molasses sweetness.

Palate

This is another good piece of plain-service evidence, showing how even odd sweetened spirit drinks could remain partly customer-assembled.

Finish

The finish is sweet, herbal, and rustic.

Summary

A rustic customer-finished gin service from the molasses branch of plain bar practice.

Jack's Manual by J. A. Grohusko (1910, p.52)

1. Put enough gin in a whiskey glass to cover the bottom and add one tablespoon of New Orleans molasses.
2. Place a spoon in the glass and allow the customer to help himself from the gin bottle.

The Buffet Blue Book by John H. Considine (1912, p.32)

1. Put enough gin in a whiskey glass to cover the bottom and drop in one tablespoonful of New Orleans molasses.
2. Place a spoon in the glass and allow the customer to help himself.

Customer-finished plain service is part of the identity.

Bartenders' Guide: How to Mix Drinks by Wehman Bros. (1912, p.35)

1. Cover the bottom of the glass with a little gin, drop in the molasses, set a spoon in the glass, present the bottle so the customer may add more gin, and serve.

The source's note about cleaning the glass with hot water underscores how sticky and old-fashioned this service was.