Hanky-Panky cocktail came in, I told him I had a new drink for him. He sipped it, and, draining the glass, he said, "By Jove! That is the real hanky-panky!" And Hanky-Panky it has been called ever since. The Hanky-Panky is a variation on the sweet martini, inasmuch as it calls for gin and sweet vermouth, but Coley's secret ingredient was Fernet Branca, a bitter Italian digestivo. By adding a couple of dashes of this herbal elixir, she transformed it into a whole new drink. A recipe for the cocktail was included in Harry Craddock's "The Savoy Cocktail Book". Hanky-Panky cocktail The
The Cocktail Hour opens on Bradley and Ann having preprandial cocktails with their middle-aged, ostensibly single son and daughter. The cocktail hour stretches out because "the maid doesn't know how to cook a roast". So the little family carries on consuming increasing amounts of alcohol leading to increasing arguments. Their son, John, is an editor at a publishing company and a part-time playwright. He has written a play that seems to present an unflattering picture of the family, and the parents are upset. The discussion of John's play, which is also called "The Cocktail Hour", gives Gurney a lot of opportunity to lampoon