On August 9, 1902
the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra as king and queen of the
United Kingdom finally took place. Edward was 59 and never had been the model
of health and vitality. He smoked upwards of twenty cigarettes and a dozen
cigars a day and indulged in overeating, so it probably isn't surprising that
he fell ill just before his coronation. Three days before he was to be crowned,
surgery was performed on a table in the music room at Buckingham Palace. The
festivities which had been scheduled for June, were moved back to August. As a
result prospective guests filed who lost money on hotel rooms filed a raft of
“coronation suits” and most of the foreign dignitaries who’d come to London for
the ceremony returned home and missed the crowning. In the end the 59 year old
monarch would be crowned by an archbishop who’d be dead in less
than a year and he would join the him in eight more. Still the crowning of a new
monarch, no matter how short lived, was cause for celebration and commemoration
and in the case of Edward, a namesake cocktail.
 |
| Joseph Rose, creator of the Coronation from Mixer and Server No. XII, January 15, 1903 |
Joseph Rose was a
Newark bartender, a young man working the counter at Murray's Buffet Cafe a forgotten but once popular watering hole for
local businessmen. Possibly inspired by the ascension of old King Edward he
introduced a new libation: the Coronation. And exactly how did young Rose make
his Coronation? Well, it's tough to say, or at least there aren't any period
cocktail books laying out the recipe. The best I could come up with was a 1913
copy of Straub's Manual of Mixed Drinks, I
guess that'll have to do.
The Coronation
1/3 Jigger French
Vermouth
1/3 Jigger Dry
Gin
1/3 Jigger
Dubonnet
Mix and serve.
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