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History of the El Diablo Cocktail in Trader Vic's Books

I was trying to find the first reference to the El Diablo cocktail recently.

Mexican El Diablo

1/2 lime
1 ounce tequila
1/2 crème de cassis
Ginger Ale

Squeeze lime juice into a 10-ounce glass; drop in spent shell. Add ice cubes, tequila, and crème de cassis. Fill glass with ginger ale.

Searching the web, the earliest reference I read to it was from Trader Vic's books of 1946 and 1947.

I asked tiki expert Martin Cate, who has these books, if he knew if the drink was a Trader Vic original. After his research it's still not entirely clear, but the research is interesting in itself.

Martin says:

IT IS in the 1946 TV Book of Food and Drink- It is called a "Mexican El Diablo" and it IS singled out as an original cocktail.

 

IT IS in the 1947 TV Bartender's Guide again as a "Mexican El Diablo", but does not declare it an original- although that book does not specify.

 

It's not in the TV Kitchen Kibitzer 1952

 

IT IS in the TV Pacific Island Cookbook of 1968, but now called "El Diablo" only

 

IT IS in the TV Bartender Guide Revised 1972 as an "El Diablo", but does not say it's his.  This edition DOES call out original drinks.

Thanks Martin!

If anyone finds an earlier reference to the El Diablo or Mexican El Diablo, please let me know.

San Francisco Cocktails, Past and Present

It's unusual for me to miss days of blogging, but I've been busy writing up some stuff for SF Cocktail Week. Check out these pieces I wrote and let me know if I'm missing anything big (or am completely full of beans).

San Francisco's Historic Cocktails and Barbary Coast Saloons

Connecting the Past to the Present: Modern Cocktails in San Francisco

Drinks and Conversation Pairing

I just got hip to a new public radio podcast- Dinner Party Download. It's a 15 minute podcast of dinner party conversation, each time featuring an anniversary of an historic event (such as the explosion of the USS Princeton with President John Taylor on board) and a cocktail to match (such as the Bloodyberry Fizz by Todd Thrasher.) Fun stuff.

Cocktail Theory

Great. Like there weren't enough unproven theories as to the origin of the word "cocktail" Jared Brown comes up with another one.

Because a cocktail is a "bittered sling" (the sling being a drink category of its own) and bitters dashers bottles used a feather (such as a rooster's tail feather) as the pouring spout, Jared proposes the origin of the word could come from the feather in the bitters bottle.

Read his theory here.