Recipe

• 1 part sloe gin

• 1 part dry vermouth

• 1 part sweet vermouth

Stir thoroughly with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass.  Add two twists of lemon zest and a dash of orange bitters.

We had some sloe gin to finish this evening, so I thought I'd look for a cocktail recipe that would make good use of it.  After a couple of uninteresting hits, I found the following article from a 1909 edition of the San Francisco Call:

SUFFRAGETTE COCKTAIL MAKES MAN DISH WASHER

Newest American Drink Invented in Minneapolis

The suffragette cocktail is the newest American drink.

Any other kind of a cocktail makes a man want to go home and beat his wife. The new drink has exactly the opposite tendency.  Two or three of the new drinks make a man go home and relinquish his position as head of the household to his wife, and accord her all the privileges he now enjoys as a citizen.

That's true, for it has already been tried.  A Minneapolis bar tender invented the new drink.  Here's his recipe:

Clio gin, French vermouth, and Italian vermouth, in equal parts to make a gill, mix in a cocktail glass, add a dash of orange bitters, twist in two strips of lemon peel and serve.

One makes a man willing to listen to the suffragettes' proposition.

Two convince him that it has some merit.

Three make him a missionary, willing to spread the gospel abroad, and four make him go home and wash the dishes.

—Pittsburg Press.

Well, I couldn't pass that up.  From other references to "the Suffragette", it seems Clio gin is sloe gin, and French and Italian vermouth are basically dry and sweet vermouth respectively, and I recently invested in some orange bitters, so I had everything I needed.  And given the risks that are apparently associated with any other kind of cocktail, I thought I'd better play it safe and have this one.

I mixed up a couple of these while my fiancée was making dinner, and we were both delighted to find that it's quite a nice drink.  Fruity and interesting, while also fairly dry and grown-up tasting, with a lingering festive taste reminiscent of sherry.  I finished mine in the lounge and watched a bit of TV while Claire finished up in the kitchen, and it thoroughly whetted my appetitep for the delicious meal that followed.

I only had one, so I didn't encounter the dramatic transformation of attitude that other men have experienced towards the issue of women's suffrage, but I definitely felt that I'd chosen well and done my bit for the evening.

Neither of us did the dishes.

Update: I did them before I went to bed.