In 2020, boutique publisher Apollo Publishers released the small-sized hardback How to Drink Like a Writer: Recipes for the Cocktails and Libations that Inspired 100 Literary Greats. Within its pages is a chronological listing of famous writers, (such as Edgar Allan Poe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Agatha Christie, Maya Angelou, and others) coupled with a cocktail recipe and a paragraph or two that contextualizes the drink to that particular author.
Edgar Rice Burroughs, father of the sword and planet genre and creator of the transmedia icon Tarzan, is counted as one of the many luminaries represented in the tiny tome. Burroughs’ entry is for a cocktail appropriately named the Tarzan Cocktail. The recipe for this libation from How to Drink Like a Writer is as follows:
1 oz rum
1 tsp Cointreau
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz simple syrup
The directions are to shake all ingredients with ice, strain into a chilled coup glass and garnish with a lime wheel.1
Unlike other entries in the book, the contextualizing paragraphs for Burroughs’ cocktail are scant: it simply reads that Burroughs “designed this cocktail with the tropics in mind.”2 There is a foot note that indicates that the Tarzan Cocktail was lifted from an earlier publication, the long out of print 1935 book So Red the Nose or Breath in the Afternoon, which is similar to How to Drink like a Writer in that it also pairs cocktails with famous writers. The incarnation of the Tarzan Cocktail in this older book is slightly different:
1 oz Bacardi
1 tsp Cointreau
Juice of a half of a lime
1/3 tsp of Sugar
As with How to Drink Like a Writer, there are a few flavor text paragraphs for the cocktail, mostly focusing on anecdotes from Johnny Weismuller who portrayed Tarzan in around a dozen films and not much detail about the genesis of the drink proper from Burroughs.3
The question becomes, was this a cocktail that Burroughs created? Scott Tracy Griffin, a Burroughs expert and author of Tarzan on Film (2016) deduces that the legendary writer probably did: “As far as anyone knows, ERB created the cocktail. It’s possible someone else did it under his name (fully approved), but he loved his libations, so I would imagine that he did provide it.”4
Authorship of the Tarzan Cocktail established, the next question would be, in the same vein as to folks attempting to re-create James Bond’s iconic Vesper Martini, can one re-create the Tarzan Cocktail as Burroughs would have enjoyed it? The answer, sadly, is no. However, one can come fairly close.
Conceptually, the Tarzan Cocktail itself looks to be a mix of a traditional daiquiri (rum/lime/sugar) and the Cuban Sidecar (rum/lime/Cointreau). Comparing and contrasting the 1935 and the 2020 versions of the cocktail, the drink can be deconstructed and then reconstructed into a modern drink that would be in the same ballpark as Burroughs’ original, maybe even perhaps improved upon.
Lime: The alteration of using the juice of a half of a lime to half of an ounce of lime is a suitable change. A normal, whole lime can hold anywhere from .75 oz to over an ounce of a lime. The newer version standardizes the quantity and makes for a consistent beverage.
Simple Syrup: As with the lime, the updating of adding sugar directly to using simple syrup is an appropriate change. The practice of adding sugars to a drink has long been superseded by using simple syrups which is a mixture of sugar dissolved in water. Different ratios of water to sugar control how sweet the simply syrup is. The modern version calls for 1 part sugar dissolved in 1 part water which is standard. Different sugars can also be used in simple syrups, such as Demerara sugar. However, as will be shown below, since the end result of this cocktail is going to be on a clear side, one will want to use a white granulated sugar to create a colorless simple syrup to use.
Cointreau: No change here for this orange liqueur.
Rum: This is where the recipe hits a stumbling block: what rum to use? The modern version of the recipe simply calls for “rum” which of course can mean any rum. In the world of rums, this is a huge net to cast as rums differ from the country they are produced in (Jamaican compared to a Puerto Rican), if they are aged or not, what they are aged in, any spices added, and so on and so forth.
The original 1935 version from So Red the Nose narrows the rum selection down considerably to simply “Bacardi.” However, during the 1920s/1930s there were actually a plethora of different Bacardi rums in production:
Bacardi Carta Blanca
Bacardi Carta de Oro
Bacardi Añejo
Bacardi Elixir
Bacardi Anis5
Of these five rums which one was Burroughs most likely to use? A reasonable, educated guess can be surmised by looking at another cocktail book of the era, The Savoy Cocktail Book from 1930. This foundational cocktail book lists two recipes that overtly call for “Bacardi”: the Bacardi Cocktail (Bacardi rum/grenadine/lime) and the Bacardi Special Cocktail (Bacardi rum/gin/grenadine/lime).6 In an article for the Wall Street Journal called “Grenadine, True and False” Eric Felten writes about both the Bacardi Cocktail and the Bacardi Special Cocktail. He describes the Bacardi Cocktail as such: “In the years just after Prohibition, the Bacardi Cocktail — white rum, fresh lime juice and grenadine — threatened to unseat the king of cocktails.”7 This additional description clarifies (literally and figuratively) that the Bacardi rum used in these cocktails was white (clear), and therefore it rules out the Bacardi Carta de Oro and Bacardi Añejo which were gold, darker rums. The Bacardi Elixir was a plum-based spirit while the Bacardi Anis was licorice-flavored rum,8 so those can be ruled out as those flavors would not compliment these drinks. That leaves the Bacardi Carta Blanca being the Bacardi rum used in these drinks, and thus it can be reasonably deduced from The Savoy Cocktail Book that if a drink called for Bacardi, it was calling for Bacardi Carta Blanca. Thus, the Tarzan Cocktail would have called for the Bacardi Carta Blanca as well.
A clarified version of the Tarzan cocktail would read as follows:
1 oz Bacardi Carta Blanca
1 tsp Cointreau
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz simple syrup
This is where a second and more critical snag is encountered: Bacardi Carta Blanca does not exist anymore as it was superseded by the Bacardi Superior. The original proof of Bacardi Carta Blanca was 89 proof while the modern day Bacardi Superior is 80 proof and thus a lower alcohol by volume. This problem is also further compounded by the fact that the original Bacardi rums were made in Cuba, but because of the Cuba Embargo, they are now produced in Puerto Rico. This means that the Bacardi Superior of today not only has less alcohol than the original, but it has a slightly different flavor profile due to the shift in country of production.
There’s a few options to go from here.
The first is to use a Cuban-style rum. For non-Americans this should be easy by simply procuring a bottle of Havana Club 3 years. This is probably the best solution as it will provide the closest taste to Burroughs’ original cocktail, though at 80 proof, it will have a lower alcohol content.
In the late 2000s, Bacardi released their Bacardi Heritage rum as a throwback to their original Bacardi Carta Blanc. Produced at 89 proof, the Bacardi Heritage has both the branding and the alcohol content of Burroughs’ original, though not quite the same flavor. However, the Bacardi Heritage has been out of production for a few years now and much more difficult to procure.
The third alternative is to use Bacardi Superior. This rum is readily available and contains the same branding as Burroughs’ original cocktail, though the taste and the alcohol content will be off. However, this is as close to being in the same ballpark as possible. Using Bacardi Superior makes an excellent drink however, though a little on the sharp side.
The final alternative, especially for Americans, is to suss out a non-Bacardi, non-Cuban rum that would work well as a successor, and perhaps even elevate the cocktail from its original incarnation. A rum that fits this bill perfectly is the Hamilton 87 White ‘Stache. A clear rum with an 87 proof, this rum ups the alcohol content to the level Burroughs preferred while offering a smoother, richer taste as compared to the Bacardi Superior.
If one wanted to be bold and go past the 89 proof, other quality white rums that could be used would be the Diplomatico Planas and Probitas both at 94 proof.9 Burroughs would be quite impressed with the Hamilton.
Revised Tarzan Cocktail
1 oz Hamilton 87 White ‘Stache
1 tsp Cointreau
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz simple syrup
End Notes
1. Margaret Kaplan, How to Drink Like a Writer: Recipes for the Cocktails and Libations that Inspired 100 Literary Greats (New York City, NY: Apollo Publishers, 2020), 64-65.
2. Ibid., 64.
3. Sterling North and Carl Kroch, So Red the Nose or Breath in the Afternoon (New York City, NY: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1935), 27. https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1935-So-Red-the-Nose-or-Breath-in-the-Afternoon/VI/.
4. Scott Tracy Griffin, email message to author, September 7, 2020.
5. Michelle Sugrue (Bacardi help desk), email message to author, September 9, 2020.
6. Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book (Mansfield Centre, CT: Martino Publishing, 2015), 25.
7. Eric Felton, “Grenadine, True and False,” The Wall Street Journal, last modified June 10, 2006, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB114988345577576379.
8. Sugrue.
9. Thanks to Marie King from The Tonga Hut and Cory Schoolland for their rum suggestions.
Bibliography
Craddock, Harry. The Savoy Cocktail Book. Mansfield Centre, CT. Martino Publishing, 2015.
Felton, Eric. “Grenadine, True and False.” The Wall Street Journal. Last modified June 10, 2006. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB114988345577576379.
Kaplan, Margaret. How to Drink Like a Writer: Recipes for the Cocktails and Libations that Inspired 100 Literary Greats. New York City, NY. Apollo Publishers, 2020.
North, Sterling and Carl Kroch. So Red the Nose or Breath in the Afternoon. New York City, NY. Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1935. https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1935-So-Red-the-Nose-or-Breath-in-the-Afternoon/VI/.