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Monkey Gland
"Oh yay, another post on the Monkey Gland", is what a lot of people might be saying. Sure, it's been a topic of interest among bloggers and the Cocktail Brain Trust™ for the past few years. Most reviews are glowing, kind of like Canadians over President Obama. Personally, I suspect a lot of people like the cocktail because it makes people giggle like little school girls when they hear where the name came from. Yes, as many of you know, it was a xenotransplantation of monkey testicles into humans, to improve sexual drive. Lovely, just the perfect thing to name a drink after. OK, aside from the rehash of the Monkey Gland, a scan of the original 1923 newspaper article, detailing the drink, is included.
The following is an article from the April 23, 1923 edition of the Washington Post, describing the creation of this new, and popular, cocktail.
In the 1920's, the Monkey Gland would have been the equivalent of the modern "F*#ker" brand of cocktails, created by lesser "bar attendants" of today, and without the gads of sugar. Basically this drink was designed to be a cocktail with a kick, and something that would have attracted parched American tourists.
The name, especially in Paris, would have evoked the image of eunuch monkey's, French Chimera's, and terrified French maids. Sounds disturbing to me, but hey, times have changed. The reality was probably horribly swollen testicles, Ebola and one rich Doctor named Voronoff. How about a drink?
Monkey Gland
2 oz Citadelle Reserve Gin
2 oz Fresh Pressed Orange Juice
Dash Obsello Absinthe
Dash Raspberry Syrup
Instructions: Mix well with ice, strain and serve.
When it comes to the taste portion, I'm not overly thrilled. It's gin and OJ with a hint of anise. Whoopee.
Obviously, this drink was created for its marketing value. Strange name, with sexual innuendo, and the addition of a few drops of that evil, villainous spirit, Absinthe. By 1923, absinthe was well into its afterlife, so any legal stores of absinthe would have been used sparingly, as per a dash. But the absinthe name, like a dead Obi Wan Kenobi, would have been more powerful than one could imagine. Just the thought of imbibing the forbidden fruit would have been enough to drive American tourists into the bar.
The Monkey Gland cocktail has all the markings of a PR campaign, but it was created by a reputable bartender. Sure, in the 1920's the term "reputable bartender" was an oxymoron, but remember this was Paris. To sell a drink; make it red, forbidden and sexual and you have a winning formula.
If you think of drinks that have become modern bar mainstay's, like Red Bull or Jägermeister, both have mysterious connections to body parts and fluids. One was rumoured to contain Bull testicles and the other the blood of elk. Both not true, but both very good for marketing. Why? I have no idea, but people do weird things, like trans-species implants. I think the Monkey Gland falls into this category, and really isn't a classic cocktail, as much as it is an early example of shrewd bartender marketing.
97 Comments on Monkey Gland
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Whatever the logic behind it, it certainly is a painfully luminous hue!
It is a nice color. Perhaps raspberry spiked OJ & V/X would taste better.
Wow! Our bar ideas so close in this month :) Your post about MG very interesting for me. I explore MG this month too. You can see my result here. I am sorry, but russian text more interesting then english in my blog... I think It worth to try the MG with raspberry syrup.
Thanks for inspiration Darcy! I MG with berry syrups is great and amazing cocktail. I was fascinated by MG with berry-grenadine todays evening :) You can read about thishere.
My wife and I hosted a party over the weekend during which we screened the movie "Auntie Mame" and poured many of the drinks mentioned and consumed therein, including the Monkey Gland. I batched up Tropicana OJ with Monin Acai syrup and Taboo Absinthe at a ratio of 8:4:1 and then mixed that 1:1 with Plymouth Gin. It was a bit too sweet for my tastes but a hit at the party and the first cocktail to "sell out." (Meaning I ran out of my batched mixer.)
Say what you will. Nothing will sway me from my belief in the greatness of the Monkey Gland. It was a revelation when I first drank one and it remains a favorite. The name's funny, but I wouldn't give it a second thought if the drink didn't taste so wonderfully. For me, the miracle of the drink is that the touches of grenadine and absinthe somehow raise the pedestrian orange juice to a new level altogether.
Im not crazy about this drink. Something about orange juice in cocktails, (Bronx, income tax), just doesn't really do it for me.
In my opinion, to make it anything worth drinking, always use fresh juice, and homemade pomegranate grenadine/raspberry syrup. (the Framboise lambic liqueur recipe Boudreau has for his Blinker adaptation works nicely.)