“Livy my darling, I want you to be sure and remember to have, in the bathroom, when I arrive, a bottle of Scotch whisky, a lemon, some crushed sugar, and a bottle of Angostura bitters. Ever since I have been in London I have taken in a wine glass what is called a cock-tail (made with those ingredients) before breakfast, before dinner, & just before going to bed.”

Mark Twain’s birthday is November 30th, and this year would have been his 178th. There may be no better way to celebrate his legacy than with his favorite cocktail – a real old-school treat which he describes above in a 1874 letter to his wife.

Mark Twain Cocktail

• 1 1/2 oz of scotch
• the juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 sugar cube
• 2 dashes of bitters
• crush the sugar with a muddler in a cocktail shaker
• add ice, shake, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass