Mamie Taylor
Scotch whisky, ginger ale, and lime — Sterritt's 1899 Ontario Beach creation for soprano Mamie Taylor, predating the Moscow Mule by four decades.
- 1Fill a Collins glass with ice
- 2Add Scotch and lime juice
- 3Top with ginger beer and stir briefly
- 4Garnish with a lime wedge
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The Mamie Taylor is one of the oldest documented ginger highballs in history, predating the Moscow Mule by more than four decades. The drink was created in 1899 at Ontario Beach, near Rochester, New York, when a bartender — reportedly Bill Sterritt — improvised a long, refreshing combination of Scotch whisky, lime juice, and ginger ale for soprano opera singer Mamie Taylor after she had spent a warm day sailing on Lake Ontario. She had requested 'a long but not a strong drink,' and declared the result a success. The drink spread rapidly, becoming a nationwide phenomenon by 1900. The New York Press warned readers to 'Beware of Mamie Taylor' in June 1900. Bartenders reportedly raised its price to discourage orders during its peak popularity. The drink faded after Prohibition but has been championed by cocktail historians David Wondrich and Ted Haigh as a key progenitor of the ginger highball tradition.
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