London - The Great Gatsby would never have achieved greatness without the cocktails.
F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic is saturated with exquisite alcohol combinations, cooked up by the book’s enigmatic protagonist.
The release of the novel’s latest Hollywood version this month - starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan - is seeing drinkers embrace the jazz era.
Sales of American whiskey and bourbon are up 31 percent year on year at Waitrose, gin cocktails have risen by 23 percent and vermouth has increased by a fifth as customers create home-made gin martinis.
Cocktails became the height of fashion when Prohibition outlawed alcohol between 1920 and 1933. Speakeasies popped up and strong flavours were used to mask the taste of bootleg drinks.
Vincenzo Sibilia, head barman at Barts in London, suggests the sidecar:
Shake 50ml cognac, 25ml Cointreau, 25ml lemon juice. Strain into a chilled martini glass over ice. Garnish with a lemon twist. - Daily Mail