Woxum – Recipe from ‘Old Waldorf Bar Days’

Origin of name obscure. Solon thinks it is aboriginally American, and ascribes it to a “bunch of Indians” so-called—who occasionally made whoopee—or, as it was said at that time, “raised hell”—in the Bar when they could get away with it. 

One-half pony Yellow Chartreuse 

One-half jigger Apple Whiskey 

One-half jigger Italian Vermuth 

Stir

In 1928 Eddie Cantor released the musical ‘whoopee!’ which had as one of the tracks ‘makin whoopee’ which has been a euphemism for sex ever since, admittedly not as popular now as it was 50 years ago, but them’s the breaks. Now I’m pretty sure the Waldorf wasn’t that famous for a killing kittens vibe so I’m guessing the whoopee that Solon meant at the time was the ‘boisterous convivial fun’ kind so eloquently spelt out by the Oxford dictionary. Now I’m not sure what a “bunch of Indians” raising hell in the Waldorf would be like, but I suspect that if there were repeat visits then it sounds like the kind of raising hell I’d love to be a part of and I’m ever so slightly jealous of what it must’ve been like working in some of these old institutions 100 years ago.

I must admit I’m a little surprised as to there choice of tipple, it reads and tastes as American as Champagne, but hey, maybe after several visits they acquired a taste for weird European liqueurs!

The drink itself doesn’t quite work for me, it’s a little like the full house (18-04) and I think would really benefit from a hell of a lot more Applejack as the chartreuse and the vermouth together are just too sweet for this to be a classy cocktail, maybe its all this sugar that kept the whoopee going.