The Knickerbocker Is Back in Style

The Knickerbocker, a largely forgotten Civil War–era drink, is an unlikely candidate for the cocktail menu at a chic restaurant in San Diego. But when Lucas Ryden, bar director at the newly opened Vulture, was looking for old drinks to revive for the menu, he searched for recipes that would hit a sweet spot: “not overplayed, but also not too weird or strange that the modern drinker wouldn’t enjoy them.” That’s when the rum punch caught his eye.

Though there are records of a cocktail called the Knickerbocker dating to at least the 1840s, the version at Vulture is based on the recipe in Jerry Thomas’ 1862 bar guide. It’s one of the few single-serving drinks in the book that bears a unique name—a rarity at the time—as opposed to a formulaic combination of spirit and drink style, like the Whiskey Smash or Brandy Fix.

Thomas’ recipe calls for a base of Santa Cruz rum with Curaçao and raspberry syrup, plus the juice (and rind) of a lemon or lime. This was all to be cooled with shaved ice and shaken up, then garnished with berries.

Santa Cruz rum, made on the Caribbean island of St. Croix, was a popular ingredient in cocktails during the 19th century. Though the island continues to make rum, it no longer produces the 19th-century pot still style that Thomas would have used. At Vulture, Ryden uses a mix of three rum expressions for his take: Probitas, an aged white rum from Foursquare in Barbados and Hampden Estate in Jamaica; Chairman’s Reserve from St. Lucia, which is aged in ex-bourbon barrels; and Saint Benevolence, a Haitian clairin, which contributes a grassy, almost savory note. Ryden says the flavorful blend “pairs really well with the fruity, jammy, citrusy notes” in the cocktail.