The Sherry Cobbler is an American cocktail….. as American as apple pie. But for some reason, pie is now the rage and a sherry cobbler, you ask — what is it? Well, there’s really no reason they both can’t be enjoyed.
The Classic Cocktail codifier, Jerry Thomas, wrote these directions in his guide, How to Mix Drinks or The Bon-Vivants Companion in 1862.
2 wine-glasses of sherry
1 table-spoonful of sugar
2 or 3 slices of orange
Fill a tumbler with shaved ice, shake well, and ornament with berries in season. Place a straw as represented in the wood-cut.
*Accordingly, you can convert the 2 wine glasses of sherry, into four ounces. I’m afraid our current day swimming pool sized wine glasses might cause some problems of proportion!
Now, a note on the Sherry Cobbler. It was a quintessential American Cocktail, as even Mark Twain, in his signature cynical humor, noted in Sketches New and Old, published in 1875:
It is another great step when England adopts our sewing-machines without claiming the invention—as usual. It was another when they imported one of our sleeping-cars the other day. And it warmed my heart more than I can tell, yesterday, when I witnessed the spectacle of an Englishman ordering an American sherry cobbler of his own free will and accord--and not only that but with a great brain and a level head reminding the barkeeper not to forget the strawberries. With a common origin, a common language, a common literature, a common religion and–common drinks, what is longer needful to the cementing of the two nations together in a permanent bond of brotherhood?