White Lady is the name attributed to two quite different art-deco-era cocktails. The first was reputedly created by Harry McElhone, a Scottish bartender who worked at London’s Ciro’s Club, and was included in the 1922 edition of his Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails. See McElhone, Henry “Harry”. His White Lady was brandy, crème de menthe, and Cointreau, shaken and strained into a cocktail glass.
The other White Lady, with equal parts gin, lemon juice, and Cointreau, was closely associated with the bar at London’s Savoy Hotel, although—according to a correspondent of the
Harry Craddock provided the first recipe for this drink a year later in his Savoy Cocktail Book; it would go on to entirely supplant McElhone’s version. In some modern variations of this classic sour, egg white is added to increase the creaminess and froth of the drink (the addition goes back to New York in the late 1930s). However, barmen such as the Savoy’s head barman, Peter Dorelli, prefer to shake the drink to the proper consistency than to add more ingredients. See Dorelli, Giampiero “Peter.”
Recipe: Shake well with ice 45 ml London dry gin, 22 ml Cointreau, and 22 ml lemon juice (Quaglino’s used lime). Add before shaking 15 ml egg white, if desired.
Cocktails as Served at the Hotel Martinique, New York City. New York: American Hotels Corp, 1938.
Dorelli, Peter. Personal interview, September 12, 2013.
Fougner, G. Selmer. “Along the Wine Trail.” New York Sun, September 13, 1934, 32.
McElhone, Harry. Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails. London: Dean & Son, 1922.
By: Anistatia R. Miller and Jared M. Brown