Cocktail Hour on Baker Street

Yesterday a Sherlockian friend and his wife engaged in a bit of badinage on Facebook about the time of cocktail hour. This is never a problem at our house, where the antique clock outside the Sherlockian library is always set with the little hand on the 5 and the big hand on the 12.

Nevertheless, this did set me thinking. The great John Bennett Shaw famously said that the only thing necessary two start a Sherlockian society was two Sherlockians and a bottle – “and in a pinch, you can do without one of the Sherlockians.”

So what was cocktail hour like on Baker Street?

When I did an Internet search of “Sherlock Holmes themed cocktails,” I was amazed at how often the recipe above came up, under a number of different names. (This one came from the The More-I-Arty.) Since I can’t abide scotch, I’m not tempted to try it.  

Fortunately, the Baker Street duo also consumed beer, brandy, and Imperial Tokay. And wouldn’t Holmes in his disguise as Altamont, the Irish-American, have drunk either bourbon or Irish whiskey? I like to think so.