DOTD For Tuesday, December 2, 2025

A Drink For The Curious, Observant - & Brilliant

Today’s DOTD - Drink Of The Day - is a Sherlock Holmes Cocktail inspired by the birthday of Dr. Joseph Bell, the inspiration for the legendary sleuth.

Bell was born on December 2, 1837 and earned his medical degree in 1859. He distinguished himself as a brilliant doctor, and a brilliant professor at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Bell was known to emphasize the importance of making small, close observations to his students. He’d do things like pick a stranger and then deduce their occupation and recent activities. This led to him becoming considered a pioneer in forensic science and pathology. Yes, Scotland Yard really did bring him some cases.

In the fall of 1877, Dr. Bell got a student whose name is probably more familiar to you: Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle, like Bell, also went on to become a physician. Unlike Bell though, Doyle quickly abandoned the profession. Instead, Doyle became a writer, penning all of the Sherlock Holmes stories - and he was open about the Holmes character being based on Dr. Bell.

Sherlock Holmes, the character, as we all know, was highly intelligent. In his own modest words, “I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix.” But Holmes was not without faults. The character had varying degrees of dependence on alcohol, tobacco, and cocaine, and occasionally let his vices have more sway than was good for him. However, Holmes did at least have good taste in clothing, furnishings, and drinks, and was a connoisseur of French wines, particularly white Burgundy from Montrachet and Meursault.

During the late 1800s, tobacco consumption was an ordinary sort of thing, and the pipe and deerstalker cap became trademarks of the Sherlock Holmes image. Holmes’ pipe was so ingrained in the character, he would sometimes declare a particularly puzzling mystery a “three pipe problem.”

Holmes also had a similar tie to his character with cocaine, which was legal at that time. If you weren’t already aware, Holmes’ “7 percent solution” refers to a cocaine injection the character took regularly. Historians have debated whether Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was also an enthusiast of cocaine, but the evidence is inconclusive.

While some modern interpretations have lessened or changed Holmes’ vices, the best delivery of the character remains a brilliant man, who was highly observant, significantly flawed - and still sharper and cooler than most people then or now.

In salute to a great character, and the real doctor that inspired him we give you the Drink Of The Day, the Sherlock Holmes Cocktail.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’re going to need for this drink: