The Mocking Origins Of The Scofflaw Cocktail

Scofflaw isn't a word you hear every day. It describes a lawbreaker or, in other words, someone who "scoffs the law." We may not use the word very often in conversation today, but there was a time when everyone knew it. The Scofflaw cocktail was invented in 1934 in Harry's New York Bar in, of all places, Paris, France. The original cocktail consisted of a ratio of one-third rye whiskey, one-third French vermouth, one-sixth lemon juice, and one-sixth grenadine. As for mixing all that together, the Scofflaw cocktail is one that should be shaken, not stirred before straining into a glass.

During Prohibition in the U.S., much alcohol was outlawed (though some alcohol was retained for medical use and consumption was never criminalized). However, if you were an American living in or visiting Paris, you could drink to your heart's content, making you a scofflaw. Calling the boozy beverage a Scofflaw cocktail was a clever way for the Parisians to mock what they had deemed to be silly American laws.

Believe it or not, the word scofflaw was created in response to Prohibition-era contest. In the 1920s, a staunch Prohibitionist from Massachusetts, Delcevere King, offered $200 in gold to anyone who could coin a word for the practice of illegally being in possession of alcohol (technically speaking, Prohibition outlawed the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol). A woman by the name of Kate L. Butler came up with the term and won the contest in 1924. To be a scofflaw in the U.S. at that time meant risking imprisonment and a hefty fine of up to $5,000.

Harry's New York Bar in Paris has quite a history of its own. Not only was it a favorite watering hole for the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Humphrey Bogart, and Rita Hayworth, but the Bloody Mary cocktail – whose name could really use a rebrand – was reportedly invented there in 1921. The cocktail known as the Boulevardier also claims Harry McElhone, founder of Harry's New York Bar, as its inventor.