The Cocktail Associated With Al Capone's Prohibition-Era Drinking

Al Capone was such a notorious ne'er-do-well that we're still talking about his exploits 100 years later. The mobster defined the Prohibition era — charismatic yet ruthless, he controlled vast bootlegging networks and speakeasies. He's the reason you should never buy food from the grocery store without checking the expiration date and even (so apropos for a bootlegger) inspired a cocktail that takes its name from his gangland territory — Chicago's South Side. 

By the tender age of 26, Capone was already head of one of the country's most influential crime organizations. The gang did develop some legitimate businesses, but it was the illegal brewing, distilling, and distribution of beer and spirits that led to their infamy. Capone's network of illegal booze distribution reached all the way to Canada and was protected by police and politicians thanks to Capone greasing their palms. He spent the next several years eliminating rival gangs and taking over their territory.

The city of Chicago was divided: While North Side gangs imported regular, legally-made booze from Canada, Capone's South Side gangs made bathtub gin — by all accounts, a nasty concoction. Capone and his gang needed to figure out a way to make their sauce a little more palatable. Enter the Southside cocktail.

The Southside cocktail is relatively simple to make. Start by muddling some mint and add gin (not from a bathtub), then add lime juice, simple syrup, and soda into a shaker. Shake and strain then pour into a highball glass. Capone himself is known to have enjoyed the drink, but the history of the Southside cocktail is murky. 

According to an article published in Vice, the first glimmer of the Southside cocktail appears years before Prohibition in "Life" magazine in 1913 as part of a Gordon's gin promotion. The Gordon's South Side calls only for lemon juice and is served over crushed ice, frappe-style, in a julep cup. Later, a variation of the drink was printed in Hugo Ennslin's bible of early bartending, "Recipes for Mixed Drinks," published just before Prohibition in 1917 — his version calls for a splash of club soda to act as a digestif. Still others claim that the drink originated at Long Island's Southside Sportsman's Club, but we find the Capone connection adds a certain je ne sais quoi.

It's easy to imagine Capone sipping a Southside cocktail at one of the legendary Chicago bars he frequented, and no matter if you prefer lemon or lime, a splash of club soda, shaken and served in a coupe or over crushed ice, you owe it to yourself take a step back into the annals of cocktail history and sample this classic tipple.