Godfather
35 ml Scotch whisky, 35 ml Amaretto, 237 ml Ice
Mamie Taylor
Scotch, lime and ginger - the highball that named a Broadway star.
Classic
Easy
3 min
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 6 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 360 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 360 ml line. Scotch whisky - A blended Scotch does this beautifully - save the single malt
- 120 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 120 ml line. Lime juice
- 600 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 600 ml line. Ginger ale - Ginger beer if you want the bolder, older version
- 6 wedges Lime wedge (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Scotch and lime over ice, ginger ale to top, lime wedge in.
Method
Pitcher (6 drinks)Pitcher (6 drinks) - about 1.08 l of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Fill a highball glass with ice.
- Pour in the Scotch and the lime juice.
- Top with ginger ale - or ginger beer, for the drink as it was first poured.
- Stir briefly, squeeze the lime wedge over the top and drop it in.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Mamie Taylor
Named, in the 1890s, after an actress who was appearing on Broadway in a show called The Menagerie - the drink was apparently invented in her honour at a bar nearby, and it became so popular that her name ended up on bar lists from New York to San Francisco. It is a Buck in everything but name: spirit, lime, ginger, ice.
Getting it right
Two things make the difference here. The first is a dry ginger ale: this drink is Scotch, lime and fizz, and a sweet, creamy ginger ale will bury both. The second is the ratio, which wants to be drier than you would guess - 120 ml of lime against 360 ml of whisky keeps the smoke in the drink where it belongs. Traditionally the ginger was the fiercer ginger beer, which makes a bolder, spicier highball; ginger ale makes a gentler one that is easier to drink in quantity. Both are good, and both are better with ice right to the top.
Tasting notes
Peat and smoke through sharp lime and hot ginger, with a long, dry, faintly medicinal finish. It is what a whisky and ginger wants to be when it grows up.
If you like this, a Moscow Mule is the same shape made with vodka, and a Dark 'n' Stormy is the same shape made with rum.
More Scotch whisky cocktails
Penicillin
60 ml Scotch whisky, 20 ml Lemon juice, 20 ml Honey syrup, 1 slice Ginger, 7.5 ml Mezcal, 1 piece Crystallised ginger
Rob Roy
60 ml Scotch whisky, 30 ml Sweet vermouth, 2 dashes Angostura bitters, 1 Maraschino cherry