The White Lady
The White Lady is a simple, silky drink, laced with gin and a sour finish. The recipe probably originated in the late 1920s and was supposedly created by Victor Cabrin who worked at Grosvenor House Hotel in London. And it gained popularity after being published in Harry Craddock’s 1930 book The Savoy Cocktail Book.
An early iteration of the drink was created by Harry MacElhone, using equal parts brandy, creme de menthe, and Cointrau, shaken and then strained into a glass, rather different from the way the drink is understood today. This recipe appears in his 1922 ABC of Mixing Cocktails. He created the version we know today in 1929 while working in Paris. But this claim is disputed by the Savoy Hotel in London, who claim that the White Lady version as it is understood today was created at the hotel by Harry Craddock. The story goes that F Scott Fitzgerald’s wife Zelda was drinking at the bar and inspired by her platinum blonde hair, Craddock gave the drink its name.
To add to the confusion, the 2021 book Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails references an Along the Wine Trail column in the New York Sun where drinks writer G Selmer Fougner says the White Lady originated at London’s Quaglino restaurant bar.
Another contender to the title of the cocktail’s founder is Victor Cabrin. An advertisement on 5 May 1934 about Booth’s Dry Gin in The Illustrated London News shows Victor mid-shake as he prepares the White LAdy. later, on 30 October 1935, is a story by Miss Ann Todd in The Daily Mirror, titled “Go and Drink Coal!”
“Go and Drink Coal!
Fashionable cocktail drinkers will in future be seen swallowing what looks like liquid coal - but isn't.
It's the "Black Lady" cocktail, latest invention of Victor, the famous Grosvenor House bartender, who originated both the "White Lady" and the "Blue Lady."
He calls it a "pure black mammy" without a suspicion of mulatto[sic]. Here is what its made of:-
Cocoa syrup.
Cocoa kola with amer picon.
White of egg and akvavit.
This colour idea in cocktails is interesting as long as fashion doesn't decide that those who drink them must dress to match, or have nails coloured to contrast!"
Later, in 1946, came out a piece called “Originator of the White Lady Cocktail” on 23 November in the Eastbourne Chronicle. It reads:
“ORIGINATOR OF THE "WHITE LADY" COCKTAIL
CELEBRATED BARMAN AT THE QUEEN'S HOTEL
The originator of the famous cocktail, "White Lady," Mr. Victor Cabrin, is now supervising the new lounge bar of the Queen's Hotel, having come to Eastbourne after many years service in "Victor's Bar" at the Grosvenor House Hotel.
"Victor" invented the cocktail in 1929, and the flavour quickly caught on and has proved a popular drink in bars all over the world.
One of the most amusing incidents "Victor" recalls was when a young couple asked him to mix up a special drink which they called "Two Tigers in a taxi."
"I was horrified when they told me what to mix up," he told a "Chronicle" reporter, "and when they had drunk it my fears were fully justified for they both turned green"!
"Victor" cannot mix his famous cocktails at the moment for with the shortage of eggs and cointreau he is unable to do justice to the "White Lady."
The real inventor may never be confirmed, but the stories are all in front of us to decide.
Ingredients
Method
- Pour all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker
- Shake well with ice
- Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
