Sherry Cobbler

Sherry, citrus, and fruit over crushed ice — Wondrich credits it with popularizing the drinking straw and crushed ice in America, Dickens describing it in 1844.

The Sherry Cobbler holds a unique place in cocktail history as the drink most credited by historians with popularizing two innovations that transformed the American bar experience: drinking through a straw and the commercial use of crushed ice. Cocktail historian David Wondrich documented in his research that the Sherry Cobbler — sherry wine, citrus juice, sugar, and seasonal fruit served over crushed ice in a tall glass — was among the most widely consumed American cocktails of the mid-19th century, its visual spectacle of layered fruit and crushed ice served through a straw creating a genuinely novel experience for drinkers accustomed to room-temperature punch or hot drinks. Charles Dickens, who visited the United States in 1842, had his character Martin Chuzzlewit encounter the Sherry Cobbler upon arriving in America in his 1844 novel, describing the drink with a wonder that conveyed its novelty to British readers. Jerry Thomas included the Sherry Cobbler in his 1862 Bar-Tenders Guide. Sherry — the fortified wine produced in the Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa María triangle in Andalusia, Spain, under a Denominación de Origen that has been recognized since 1935 — provides the Cobbler's backbone through its oxidative, nutty complexity.