Call of Cthulhu RPG, but Speakeasy, Brother

Here is a little bit of background for those of you who are playing Call of Cthulhu in the 1920s.  A major meeting place for illicit activities were places where illegal substances could be imbibed.  I’m not talking about drug dens, but ... bars.  Beer and liquor was made illegal by national prohibition (in the U.S. October 1919 to December 1933) although some states such as Mississippi had prohibition from 1908 to 1964.  The 18^th Amendment and the Volstead Act, the same year pretty much put selling liquor out of business, legally in the whole of the United States.

Needless to say, where there is a will, there’s a drink and bootleggers began to manufacture, import, distribute, and sell illegal alcohol drinks in semi-secret locations all over the country.  Real bottle and bond liquor was sold with dangerous rotgut and moonshine of dubious origin and manufacture to anybody who was willing to pay for the stuff.  Illegal bars, speakeasies, sprang up all over.  Organized crime flourished and millions were to be made.  Of course, gang wars also sprang up as well all the inherent vices associated with gangs.  Graft and corruption was rampant: from just looking the other way and payoffs to fixing elections and murder.  Millions were made and lost and gang warfare paralyzed cities for a decade.

Speakeasies were a place where the affluent could drink with low-lifes, if they had the price of a drink.  Many illicit deals were made in speakeasies and the incessant smuggling involved with alcohol meant that other items might be smuggled as well.  Speakeasies might also host gambling and possibly drugs as well as worse vices as millionaires and petty overdressed thugs mingled.  Information could also be disseminated or picked up in speakeasies and illicit clubs.

I have added a short list of some of the most popular cocktail drinks of the Roaring 20s for a bid of added authenticity to the article.  Cocktails, which had been around since the 1820s became even more popular as the sweet and strong flavorings in cocktails could mask inferior liquor and even some of the terrible rotgut manufactured in basements might be sellable with lots of flavoring mixed in.  This list is mostly of highly popular prohibition mixed drinks, which are seldom made now, 90 years later.  This list (in no particular order) is by no means exhaustive or definitive but I have included some links that will help you with your 1920s liquid quest for authenticity for period speakeasy drinking.

French 75

In a cocktail shaker, add and shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/2 oz French cognac (later gin was substituted)
1/2 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
3/4 oz simple sugar syrup
Strain into highball glass full of cracked ice and top off with chilled champagne.

Mary Pickford
In a cocktail shaker, shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/2 oz white rum
1 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon grenadine
Strain into chilled cocktail glass and drop in a maraschino cherry.

Colony Cocktail
In a cocktail shaker, shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/2 oz gin
3/4 oz grapefruit juice
2 tsp maraschino
Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Sidecar
In a cocktail shaker, shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/4 oz cognac
1/2 oz triple sec liqueur
3/4 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Strain into chilled, sugar-rimmed cocktail glass

Bacardi Cocktail
In a cocktail shaker, shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/2 oz light rum
1 /2 oz lime juice
3 dashes grenadine
Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Old Fashioned
2 oz. Whiskey or Bourbon, a splash of simple syrup, bitters, and Soda. Fill  glass with ice, add simple syrup, bitters, liquor, and soda, garnish with an orange slice and cherry.

 Barbary Coast
In a cocktail shaker, shake well with cracked ice:
3/4 oz blended scotch
3/4 oz gin
3/4 oz crème de cacao
3/4 oz heavy cream
Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Sidecar
In a cocktail shaker, shake well with cracked ice:
1 1/4 oz cognac
1/2 oz triple sec liqueur

3/4 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Strain into chilled, sugar-rimmed cocktail glass

Rob Roy

1½ oz. Blended Scotch Whiskey

¼ oz. White Vermouth
¼ oz. Red Vermouth
Dash of Angostura Bitters
Maraschino Cherry

Manhattan

There are a few variations in this drink:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_%28cocktail%29

 

Stinger

There are several variations of this drink:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini_%28cocktail%29

 

High Ball

Actually a series of drinks:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highball

Martini Cocktail

A huge variation of martini cocktails are listed, so here are some links:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini_%28cocktail%29

Brass Monkey

1 shot Bacardi rum 

1 shot vodka 

2½ shots Freshly squeezed lemon juice 

1 shot simple syrup

White Lady

2 ounces gin

½ ounces triple sec liqueur

½ ounce lemon juice

1 egg white

Anyway, you get the gist:  sweet syrup and liqueurs and a wild mix of liquors.  If minions and cultists don’t get you, the bad hooch will.  Knock three times and tell ‘em CoastConFan sent you.

                                                                                    CoastConFan

Try also http://prohibitioneracocktails.blogspot.com/