Floradora

Named after a turn-of-the-century Broadway sensation, this gin cooler marries raspberry sweetness with ginger beer spice and fresh lime. Summer in a glass, elegant and refreshing.

The Floradora takes its name from Florodora, the British musical comedy that became one of the most celebrated theatrical events of the turn of the 20th century. The original London production opened at the Lyric Theatre on November 11, 1899, and ran for 455 performances. The American production opened at the Casino Theatre in New York in November 1900 and ran for 552 performances, making it one of the longest-running Broadway shows of its era. The musical's most famous element was the double sextet — six male and six female performers who sang Tell Me, Pretty Maiden in a scene that made all six women (the Florodora Girls) immediate celebrities, several of whom married wealthy New York socialites in what became a running newspaper story throughout the run. The tradition of naming cocktails after popular theatrical productions was standard in American and British bar culture at the turn of the century, when theater and drinking establishments were commercially and socially intertwined. The Floradora's formula — gin, raspberry liqueur, lime juice, and ginger beer in a long glass — is a fruit-forward Buck format whose berry and citrus character and effervescent ginger finish produce an unusually refreshing drink that remains compelling on modern menus.