After learning about the beers drank in the Meiji and Taisho eras, the next logical step was to learn about the eras’ cocktails. The recipes for mixing liquor travel well and last a really long time compared to beers.

To find out what cocktails people were drinking during the Taisho era (1912-1926) I reached out to the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. It stands to reason that what the well-heeled drank at their hotel bar was likewise the fashion being followed by other good bars in the city in this time of jazz and democracy.

Funded by three nobles and supported by the Imperial Family, the Imperial Hotel opened in 1890 and was immediately compared to the finest hotels in Europe at the time; its clientele was international in nature and its location near Japan’s center of government made this a place where East and West could meet in style. This also meant Western style eating and drinking and in turn those foreign tastes were being further introduced to the country.

At the time Japan was working to overturn the unequal treaties, part of this was showing that its nobility and upper-class where no different than those of Europe. One of its most impressive instruments of diplomacy was the Rokumeikan, which was a government-funded opulent hall built to host foreign dignitaries where lavish costume balls and fancy dinners could be held. Its first soiree was in 1883 and the last in 1890 when it was sold as an expensive failed experiment that resulted in Foreign Minister Inoue Kaouru, who had ordered its construction, resigning in 1887 though he would be working in government again within a year. Inoue would later be one of the prime backers of a new project which performed some of the same functions as the Rokumeikan but better and rendered it redundant. The new project was built next to the Rokumeikan and was named the Imperial Hotel.

During the Taisho-era the Imperial received an update with the old hotel replaced with a fantastic new one like no other designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright was a well-known American modern architect and lover of Japanese art, the Imperial would be the largest of six projects he’d take on in Japan.

His Imperial was built in the Mayan Revival style, which has a fantastic otherworldly quality to it. I’ve visited the old lobby (preserved at Meiji-mura) a few times and with its rough oya stone and angular patterns, it felt more like entering a temple than a hotel. This is what greeted guests after the long voyage across the Pacific on an NYK steamer.

And in 1924 the other thing to greet them was Mt. Fuji. Mt. Fuji is the Imperial’s original signature cocktail and fittingly for an article on Taisho era drinking, it was created in this time period for passengers on an around the world cruise. Properly put together, it appears like a snowy top with a cherry on the rim to evoke the image of the rising sun over Japan’s most famous mountain.

The drink is made with Old Tom gin, maraschino liqueur, pineapple juice and lemon juice, an egg white and fresh cream. It fits somewhere between a gin sour and a Ramos gin fizz but with pineapple juice and maraschino for a unique flavor. The Imperial has served this drink since its creation and it can still be enjoyed today at the Imperial Bar, which maintains the aesthetic of Wright’s design.

To discover what else was being shaken or stirred at the time the hotel provided me with a 1946 menu, which though 20 years after the end of the Taisho era, was useful. If I removed all drinks created after 1926 I believe we’re left with what was likely being served then. Most of them are solid classics you’d expect from any good bar in an international city not experiencing Prohibition. You couldn’t legally get a Manhattan in Manhattan, but you could get one here, along with a Side Car, Rob Roy, Gin Fizz and an Old-Fashioned. (A full list with years will be provided at the end of the article for the curious and anyone wanting to throw an accurate Roaring Twenties or Great Gatsby-themed dinner party.)

Other than the Mt. Fuji, two other drinks stand out and those are the Bamboo and Million Dollar cocktails. These were either created or brought to Japan by Louis Eppinger, bar manager at Yokohama’s Grand Hotel. The German barman had been working in San Francisco when American officers hired him away in 1889 to bring his knowledge of American cocktail culture to Yokohama. I imagine there was some overlap between the two hotels’ upper class clientele.

Going by this, it’s a safe bet that the same drinks that were popular in Japan in the turn-of-the-century Meiji era were likely the same that were popular the world over but there’s one bottled cocktail that’s uniquely Japanese- Denki Bran. For our last look at Meiji and Taisho era drinking we’re heading over to the oldest Western bar in Japan, where that drink was born.

Thank you to the Imperial Hotel for the bar list, Mt. Fuji information and answering my questions. To learn more about the Imperial Hotel or book visit: https://www.imperialhotel.co.jp/e/tokyo/

 

1946 Imperial Hotel Drink Menu

To help anyone wanting to put together a swank by the decade bar list I’ve included dates where I could, these are generally the oldest dates I could find associated with a drink. Some drink ages cannot be ascertained because more than one drink shares the name, such as the Rose.

For anyone wanting to try these old time cocktails at home I don’t recommend breaking out the current Mr. Boston and calling it a night. Some things change, like in our beer article, a familiar name may not taste as it did. Ordering a Manhattan in 1900 will net you a drink that’s a half-wine glass of whiskey, any kind of whiskey, a half-wine glass of sweet vermouth, orange bitters and a dash of absinthe if that’s your taste. If you really want to get into the old drink spirit, look for vintage cocktail book websites or even pick up an old book from the desired era. Most of these drink ages were pulled from diffordsguide.com.

 

 

Alexander (1915)

Sidecar (1919)

Stinger (1914, possibly 1890s)

Devil

Rose

Hunter

Houla Houla (1930)

Inca (1930s)

Princess Mary (1922)

Red Lion (1937)

Cossack

Million Dollar (1894)

Mount Fuji (1924)

Pink Lady (1920s)

White Lady (1930)

Clover Club (1917)

Pink Rose

Bronx (1901)

Rob Roy (1894)

Manhattan (1882)

Ping Pong (1903)

Bacardi (1917)

Bamboo (1886)

Old-Fashioned (Bourbon or blended) (1800s)

Daiquiri (1902)

Martini (1922)

Whiskey Cocktail

Gibson (1908)

Gimlet (1928)

Hudson

Club Cocktail (1939)

Virginian

Gin Cocktail

Egg Nog (1700s)

Singapore Sling (1915)

Mint Julep (1800s)

Silver Fizz (1800s)

Golden Fizz (1800s)

Royal Fizz (1800s)

Sloe Gin Fizz (1800s)

Cuba Libre (c. 1900)

John Collins (Bourbon or Blended) (1800s)

Gin Fizz (1800s)

Gin Sling (1800s)

Tom Collins (1800s)

 

References

http://www.oldtokyo.com/imperial-hotel-1890-1922/

http://www.oldtokyo.com/imperial-hotel-wright/

https://www.lhw.com/get-inspired/destination-experiences/tokyo/hotel-stories/imperial-hotel-tokyo-old-imperial-bar

Louis Eppinger Backstory and Bamboo
https://www.diffordsguide.com/encyclopedia/1237/cocktails/the-bamboo-cocktail-history-recipes-and-pseudonyms

Investigation Relative to Wages and the Price of Commodities (1910 US government report)
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433016958658&view=1up&seq=227

Imperial Hotel Photos from the 1893 Album of Tokio

https://www.ndl.go.jp/scenery/e/data/223/