Drinks for Dames

Have you ever watched Casablanca just to see what everyone orders from the bar? Because even though Rick famously calls his place a gin joint, it’s mainly a marathon of brandy, Cointreau and Champagne. Perfect choices, I guess, if you’re stuck in Purgatory. Only one gin drink is ever mentioned: a French 75.

But my favorite scene of all features Carl the waiter and Mr and Mrs Leuchtag, who invite Carl to join them for a celebratory drink before they leave for America. “Oh, thank you very much,” Carl replies, “I thought you would ask me so I brought the good brandy. And a third glass.” Always try to be like Carl.

1939 Seagram’s Ad

Owner and barman Jose Abeal Otero working hard and smoking harder at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, Havana, 1929. 

Prohibition in the US meant big business in Cuba. Each year from 1920 through 1931, as many as 90,000 Americans would travel south so they could, for a few days, legally visit a bar. Gullets were dry and wallets were open.

And Joe welcomed them all

A Spaniard who had worked at bars in New Orleans and Miami, Abeal became America’s favorite bartender when he moved to Havana and opened his own place. Sloppy Joe’s was the second stop for most arriving Americans – partly because it was the second closest to the dock. 

But the crowds came back because of Abeal.

Sloppy Joe’s Bar became so famous, Movietone News filmed stories about it and Ernest Hemingway’s neighborhood bar in Miami took the name to use as their own. Watch old video and it’s clear that Jose Abeal has definite charm. His way of throwing a drink looks less like flair and more like ballroom dancing. He is in constant motion. He clinks glasses with all the customers. The women at the bar seem enchanted. I understand why. 

The recipe: Sloppy Joe’s Special Cocktail 

Jose Abeal served up all the top cocktails of the day, from the Douglas Fairbanks to the then-new and exotic Mojito. And of course he had a signature drink, the Sloppy Joe’s Special. Fun tradition: whenever this cocktail was ordered, the entire crowd would raise a glass to toast the barman. “To Sloppy Joe’s! Happy days!”

From the bar’s own 1933 cocktail manual:

So let’s mix one up and give a thought to hard-working, oddly attractive bartenders near and far, past and present. Lord knows, a girl loves them. 

Happy days!