Sherry Cobbler (1862)
A cold, refreshing sherry drink packed with shaved ice and fresh fruit.
- Original yieldYield
- 1 drink1 drink
- PrepPrep time
- TotalTotal time
Published Updated
Original recipe: 1 drink
The story behind the recipe
A Sherry Cobbler looks almost spoonable: a mound of shaved ice with berries and orange tucked into the glass. The straw is the clue. Under that snowy surface is a wine drink, sweetened with sugar and brightened by citrus.
Let sherry be the main ingredient
Amontillado is the dry sherry chosen for this recipe. The wine has space to show through the orange and sugar, so pick it for its flavor as well as the label. A sweeter sherry would change the starting mixture before you've added anything from the sugar bowl.
The fruit lends a fresh contrast to the wine. Orange goes into the mixture; berries decorate the top. That's a different experience from a fruit juice drink with a small measure of spirit concealed underneath.
It's also a useful cocktail for a host who'd rather open a wine bottle than collect several specialist liqueurs. Sherry, citrus, sugar and seasonal berries make the shopping list, with plenty of ice to prepare before serving.
Read more about this recipe
Thomas wanted it to look inviting
Jerry Thomas's 1862 book introduces the Cobbler as an American invention and pays particular attention to its appearance. His Sherry Cobbler calls for two wine-glasses of sherry, a tablespoonful of sugar and two or three orange slices. Shaved ice follows, then shaking, berries in season and a straw arranged as shown in the woodcut.
The garnish is part of that printed description. The bartender isn't merely handed a formula and left to devise something pretty for a photograph. Thomas wants the berries and straw to sit well in the glass.
Seasonal berries still offer a pleasant choice. The recipe lists blackberries or raspberries, with room for another berry in the notes. A few sound pieces resting above the ice are enough; you don't need a fruit basket perched on the rim.
Orange reaches the liquid
Our method quarters the orange slices and presses them into the sugar before shaking. That brings juice and peel oils into the mixture. Thomas gives the slices without this muddling direction, so it's a practical modern way to use them.
Caster sugar dissolves readily enough for the short mixing stage. The aim is sweetness carried by the wine, with no gritty layer waiting at the bottom. The orange helps begin that work before the cold sherry and ice enter the shaker.
The cocktail is poured without straining. Fruit and the small scoop of mixing ice travel with it into the tumbler, then the remaining shaved ice fills the glass. The result is a drink you sip around its fruit and ice, with the straw giving a path through the arrangement.
A glass full of fruit and ice
A tumbler needs enough space for the liquid, quartered orange and packed ice. That mound is part of the serve, not a decorative handful added to a glass already full of sherry.
The Brandy Crusta offers the opposite kind of presentation: a chilled mixture strained into a sugar-rimmed glass lined with lemon peel. Both appear in Thomas's book. The historic ice feature follows that difference alongside the julep and Rickey.
With the cobbler, let the wine and fresh fruit make the invitation. The preparation is brief once the ice is ready, and the garnish is whatever good seasonal berries you've chosen.
Make it your wayOriginal: 1 serving · Makes 1 drink
Original recipe: 1 drink
Ingredients
For 1 drink. Quantities are shown as written.
Source measurement convention: Metric. Explicit unit definitions take precedence; unconfirmed measures must be checked before conversion.
Original quantities for 1 drink.
- Amontillado sherry75 ml
- Caster sugar10 g
- Orange(quartered)2 slices
- Shaved ice1 1/2 metric cups (250 ml per cup)
- Fresh blackberries or raspberries (for garnish)3
Measurement notes
Measurement notes
Original ingredients
- 75 ml Amontillado sherry
- 10 g caster sugar
- 2 orange slices (quartered)
- 1 1/2 cups shaved ice
- 3 fresh blackberries or raspberries (for garnish)
Equipment
Cocktail shaker
Muddler
Tumbler or large rocks glass
Drinking straw
Instructions
Add sugar and orange to the shaker
Place the caster sugar and orange slices in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.
Muddle the orange
Press the orange slices firmly with a muddler to release their juice and peel oils into the sugar.
Add sherry and some shaved ice
Add the Amontillado sherry and a small scoop of the shaved ice to the shaker.
Shake to chill and dissolve sugar
Shake well for 10 seconds to dissolve the sugar and chill the wine.
Pour without straining
Pour the entire contents into a tumbler without straining.
Pack with the remaining ice
Pack the rest of the shaved ice into the glass, piling it high.
Garnish with berries and add a straw
Garnish with the fresh blackberries or raspberries and insert a drinking straw before serving.
Estimated calories 170 kcal
Nutrition portion: whole recipe · Original yield: 1 drink
Source & assumptions
Ingredient-based estimate using CoFID 2021, USDA SR Legacy (2018). About 170 kcal per nutrition portion (whole recipe). Uses a representative dry fortified dessert wine, about 40 g edible flesh in the two orange slices, and three raspberries. Orange peel is excluded from the edible amount. Actual ingredients and preparation affect the estimate.
Recipe notes
When adjusting quantities
Scale ingredients proportionally. Maintain the high ratio of shaved ice to liquid for each glass.
Original recipe notes
These notes describe the original recipe. Quantities mentioned here do not change when you adjust servings.
Jerry Thomas, How to Mix Drinks, or The Bon-Vivant's Companion (1862), no. 98, p. 47. Dry Amontillado, 75 ml sherry, 10 g sugar, quartered and muddled orange, and the detailed shake-and-pour method are modern choices. Thomas's wine-glasses don't define a universal volume.
Use the listed berries or another seasonal berry. Divide the shaved ice between a small scoop for the shaker and the rest for the serving glass; it supplies the cobbler's packed texture.
Read the scaling guide. Times, temperatures and equipment need their own consideration. Open the recipe tool to review and correct individual amounts.
Sources and attribution
Jerry Thomas, How to Mix Drinks, or The Bon-Vivant's Companion (New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1862), p. 47
Recipe details
- Recipe tradition
- Vintage
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- Drink
- Cuisine
- American
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- Drinks & Cocktails