Sherry Sangaree

Recommended The Bar-Tender's Guide by Jerry Thomas (1862, p.59) — Jerry Thomas 1862

1. Add the sherry and sugar to a small bar glass.
2. Fill one-third full with ice.
3. Finish with grated nutmeg on top.

Garnish: Freshly grated nutmeg

Ice: Ice

Nose

Nutmeg sits above cool oxidative wine notes.

Palate

It drinks drier and more savoury than the port version, with the sugar only lightly rounding the sherry.

Finish

The finish is cool, faintly nutty, and gently spiced.

Summary

A restrained sangaree that shows how little manipulation was needed for the style once the nutmeg signature was in place.

The sherry sangaree demonstrates that the family was not tied to one sweetness level. In Thomas, the form stays recognisable even as the underlying wine moves from port richness toward sherry dryness.

This is a minimal-movement drink. The point is not aeration but quick assembly and aromatic topping, leaving the sherry's character legible.

Compared with Port Wine Sangaree, the sherry version makes the family look less like dessert refreshment and more like a seasoned aperitif.

Barkeepers' Ready Reference by A. V. Bevill (1871, p.58)

1. Shake the sherry, sugar, and ice in a small glass.
2. Grate nutmeg on after shaking.
3. Serve cold.

Garnish: Nutmeg

Ice: Plenty of ice

American and Other Drinks by Leo Engel (1878, p.45)

1. Fill the tumbler one-third with ice, shake, and grate nutmeg on top.

Garnish: Grated nutmeg

Ice: One-third full of ice

Modern American Drinks by George J. Kappeler (1895, p.99) — George J. Kappeler 1895

1. Prepare the drink the same as Port Wine Sangaree, using sherry wine in place of port.

Garnish: Nutmeg

Ice: Fine ice

Anleitung zur Bereitung Amerikanischer Eis-Getraenke by The Continental Bodega Company (1898, p.6) — Anleitung Amerikanischer Eis-Getraenke 1898

1. Dissolve sugar in a little water, add one or two pieces of ice and sherry, mix with a spoon, remove ice, sprinkle nutmeg over, and serve.

Garnish: Nutmeg

Ice: One or two ice pieces

New and Improved Bartenders' Manual by Harry Johnson (1900, p.231) — Harry Johnson 1900

1. Dissolve the sugar with a little water in a whiskey glass.
2. Add the broken ice and sherry wine.
3. Stir up well with a spoon and remove the ice.
4. Grate nutmeg on top and serve.

Garnish: Nutmeg

Ice: Broken ice

Nose

Nutmeg slightly sweetens the perception of the wine before the drink reaches the palate.

Palate

Sherry Sangaree is a small but telling wine-service branch, less structured than a cobbler and softer than a cocktail, but clearly part of the mixed-drink universe.

Finish

The finish is vinous, lightly sweet, and spice-marked.

Summary

A compact sherry sangaree preserving the seasoned wine line inside Johnson's practical bar service.

Sangarees help keep visible a whole family of modest seasoned wine drinks that later classics tend to overshadow. Johnson's version shows that this line was still normal professional bar stock in 1900.

The removal of the ice after stirring is part of the old sangaree feel. It keeps the drink cool without turning it into a long iced refresher.

The Complete Buffet Guide by V. B. Lewis (1903, p.65) — V. B. Lewis 1903

1. Add the powdered sugar, shaved ice, and sherry to the glass and shake well.
2. Grate a little nutmeg on top and serve.

Garnish: Grated nutmeg

Ice: Shaved ice

Nose

Nutmeg and sherry produce a drier wine aroma than the Port version.

Palate

The sherry variant is historically useful because it shows how the sangaree family flexed across fortified wines rather than belonging to Port alone.

Finish

The finish is nutty, wine-led, and lightly sweet.

Summary

A sherry-led sangaree extending the fortified-wine side of the family.

The Reminder by Jacob A. Didier (1909, p.83) — Didier 1909

1. Prepare in the same manner as Port Wine Sangaree, using sherry wine in place of port.
2. Omit the nutmeg and serve.

Ice: Half a glass of fine ice

This is useful because it shows the sangaree family still moving easily across fortified-wine bases in 1909 rather than belonging to Port alone.

The explicit omission of nutmeg matters here; Didier is preserving a service distinction, not just swapping the wine.