How to Drink Like a World War II Soldier

April 3, 2024

There were a lot of reasons to become a soldier during WWII— patriotism, idealism… and daily booze rations.

The idea of pairing booze and warfare wasn’t new in World War II: the British Navy had been giving out rum rations since at least the eighteenth century when they realized they’d get more recruits and fewer complaints about abysmal conditions with a little liquor in the mix. Perhaps something for HR to keep in mind.

While the benefits of liquoring up the troops was questioned during the first World War, by WWII the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, saw rum and beer as a key step in getting soldiers to keep calm and carry on. Overseas, their allies had different drinks: the French offered their troops wine, the Soviets vodka, and despite protests from abolitionists, FDR made sure the American troops got beer. Which is partly why beer and patriotism are so linked in the US to this day.

But, when soldiers were off duty, they had more options and fewer limitations and several cocktail recipes are credited to this era.

The Scotch Martini was allegedly invented during WWII because it was hard to import vermouth from the continent thanks to Germany’s nonstop U-boat attacks, so martinis got a dash of scotch in place of using vermouth.

Another drink, Torpedo Juice, was named after the 180 proof alcohol used to fuel the torpedo engines used in submarines: soldiers liked to help themselves to the fuel and then add pineapple juice for a nice little under-sea tipple. Once this caused a fuel shortage, the buzzkill higher ups started adding blindness-inducing methanol.

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Scotch Martini

Ingredients:

3 oz London Dry Gin
Dash of Scotch
2 Dashes Orange Bitters
Lemon Twist

Instructions:

Add the gin, scotch, and orange bitters to a frozen mixing glass. Fill the glass ¾ full of freshly cracked ice, stir 75 times, then double strain into a frozen coupe. Express a lemon twist over the surface of the drink then garnish with the twist and serve.

Torpedo Juice

Ingredients:

1.5 oz vodka (or neutral grain spirit)
4 oz pineapple juice
Garnish with pineapple frond or lime wheel (optional)

Instructions:

Add vodka and pineapple juice to a shaker ¾ full of ice. Shake vigorously for approximately 15 seconds, then double strain over ice. Garnish and serve.