I had never heard of the Mary Pickford. It is within The Unforgettables category of cocktails, a classic, and you would think that everybody would know the classics, but most of us rarely get past a Martini, a Daiquiri, a Manhattan, and a Gin Fizz. I was drawn to it by the vibrant pink colour or at least that is what every picture I came across showed.
There was a problem thought, it needs Grenadine, and as I’ve mentioned I’m trying, for a variety of reasons, not to let my drink cabinet balloon. Fortunately we have this thing called the internet where you can find everything, and so “What is Grenadine made from” quickly turned into “Recipe for Grenadine” and my hunt for it turned into a hunt for pomegranate juice instead. How is that different you might ask, well not only do I get some fun making the syrup myself but I can then drink the pomegranate. So should you want to:
𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐲𝐫𝐮𝐩
150gm Sugar
150ml Pomegranate juice
½tsp orange blossom water
Heat the sugar and juice gently until fully dissolved and bring to a simmer for 1 minute. Leave to cool and add the orange blossom water. Bottle and pop in the fridge.
Ok I know you’re waiting for the history but I’m going to keep it short.
Mary Pickford was an actress from the era of silent films from 1909. She starred in hundreds of movies and in 1919 founded the United Artists studio along with friends and partners Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith and husband at the time Douglas Fairbanks.
The popular story is that the drink was invented in Havana in the 1920s when Mary and Douglas came to Cuba to make a movie. Truth be told, Mary was not in Cuba in the 1920s, she had visited in 1913 but professed to hate the place because of the way the humidity affected the curls of her hair.
American bartenders had flocked to Cuba during that time to avoid the prohibition restrictions in the USA and so the suggestion that it was invented in the 1920s by one of two possible American bartenders, Eddie Woelke or Fred Kaufman holds a lot of water including that they would name a sweet pink cocktail after an American movie Sweetheart.
Now back to my colour problem. Every picture I see is vibrant pink, but the ingredients are Rum, Pineapple Juice, Maraschino, and just 5ml, 1 teaspoon, or Grenadine. Now maybe commercial Grenadine is more concentrated or has, shock horror, red colouring in it, but my drink did not come out pink as you can see from the photo.
Mary Pickford
45ml White Rum
45ml Pineapple Juice
7.5ml Maraschino Liqueur
5ml Grenadine Syrup
Combine all the ingredients into an ice filled cocktail shaker and shake until thoroughly chilled. Serve in a cocktail glass and garnish with maraschino cherries and a pineapple slice if you have one.
No worries, it is as sweet as the star it is named after is beautiful, and I will try again to get the colour I want. If you haven’t already then please subscribe, you know Mary would!
I hope you have a pink Hollywood weekend ahead and let me know any classic cocktails you have stumbled on.