An Evening with the Darb Cocktail

In early February, my wife and I had the privilege of spending a weekend in San Francisco. Of course, a trip to this fine city would not be complete without visiting the Absinthe Bar & Brasserie. This evening, after too many cocktails, the bar sent out an old drink from Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail Book.

There is not a lot of documented history relating to the Darb Cocktail. Though, one famous story surrounding this cocktail happened at the Savoy Hotel. It was a cold, blustery evening in 1954 when Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart were in London for the opening of their new film, Sabrina. The two stars were in the city for the festivities and the party soon moved to the bar at the Savoy Hotel.

When the Lady Hepburn entered, it is said that an immediate hush fell on the room. Then, everything erupted into a thunderous applause. After things died down a bit, she and her leading man found their way to a corner table.

As the scene was unfolding, an eager young bartender that went by the name of Holden, took it upon himself do his best to impress Miss Hepburn. Within seconds of her taking a seat at the booth he appeared tableside to present her with a forgotten Savoy favorite, the Darb Cocktail. She was so taken with his gesture that she immediately took a sip. Delighted with what she tasted, she passed the drink around the table. Within minutes, everyone at the party was ordering the Darb. Then, in one fell swoop she lifted Bogie’s silken white pocket square from the breast pocket of his suit, pressed it to her lips leaving a red imprint. She proceeded to neatly fold it and give it to Mr. Holden as a token of her appreciation. Enamored by her elegance, it is said that young Holden was, from that day on, never without the handkerchief.

So the above story might indeed be complete bullshit. In fact, I may have made the whole thing up. Why you ask? Because a cocktail that tastes as good as the Darb, deserves a damn good story behind it to insure its place in bar history.

Last October, Erik Ellested, in his eGullet thread dedicated to “Stomping Through the Savoy”, posted what he found out about the Darb. Bartleby tells us that the word “Darb” is an “Americanism probably nearly obsolete today, a slang word from the 1920s meaning ’something or someone very handsome, valuable, attractive, or otherwise excellent.’” This is a quite good description in my humble opinion. The guys at Absinthe Bar & Brasserie make their Darb with these proportions:

The Darb:

¾ oz Gin
¾ oz Dry Vermouth
¾ oz. Apricot Brandy
¼ oz Lemon-Lime Juice

Being too lazy to juice both lemons and limes, I opted to use just lemon juice when I began making them Monday night. I started the evening using Plymouth Gin, Vya Dry Vermouth, and Marie Brizzard Apry. After the first one, I felt that Plymouth Gin didn’t fair very well with the strong flavor of the Apry. I also tend to prefer my cocktails a bit more on the acidic side of things. The proportions and brands that I settled on enjoying the most were:

1 oz. Junipero Gin
1 oz. Vya Dry Vermouth
1 oz. Marie Brizzard Apry
½ oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a long lemon twist. If you suck at lemon twists just cut a section of the peel off as if you’re going to do a flamed orange peel. The goal here is to spray a good layer of oil across the top of the drink.

I find the finished cocktail to strike a good balance of sweet fruit and bright acid, which are both supported by the strong gin and highlighted with the spice from the vermouth.

One might assume that I could then leave well-enough alone. As I sat on my couch mulling over my second…ok, third Darb of the evening, I began to think about what potential variations this most classic of cocktails held.

Maybe it was because I was several drinks deep into my evening, or maybe I’m just trying to make up excuses as to why this next idea entered my head. I went to my liquor cabinet and reached into the back to pull out a bottle of Clement Premiere Canne Rhum. For those of you that are not familiar with rhum agricole, you’re in for a treat. Most rum is made from a by-product of the sugar-making process, molasses. While there are fine molasses rums on the market, they are worlds away from the taste of a rhum agricole. Rhum agricole is made by first fermenting sugar cane juice (think sugar cane wine) and then distilling that liquid. The result is an extremely flavorful and complex spirit. Some say it is an acquired taste, but I immediately thought about it as a substitute for the gin in our Darb Cocktail.

I wish there was more logic in my decision to use the Clement rhum along with some freshly muddled mint. There wasn’t though. I just knew I didn’t want to go in the Tiki direction. I ran out to the garden and picked about 10 large mint leaves and lightly muddled those in my cocktail shaker. Then I added the rhum, dry vermouth, apricot brandy, and lemon juice. Here again, are the proportions.

1 oz. Clement Premiere Canne Rhum
1 oz. Vya Dry Vermouth
1 oz. Marie Brizzard Apry
½ oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

Lightly muddle the mint leaves in a cocktail shaker. Add the rhum, vermouth, apricot brandy, lemon juice, and ice. Shake and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist around a sprig of mint.

My wife is not the type of person who craves drinks with rhum agricole and it won her over. I feel like it is a great drink to introduce this type of rhum to a person who might be little close-minded to trying new things.

So maybe the Darb never graced the lips of the beautiful Audrey Hepburn, it is still a good story right? I would like to say thanks to the guys at Absinthe in San Francisco for bringing this cocktail to the public’s attention in a bar setting. It deserves a bit of a renaissance, even if it is a brief one.