After completion of their “Bright College Years”, I imagine Yale graduates in springtime Connecticut back in the ‘30’s and ‘40’s rushed to a campus bar and threw back a couple of Yale cocktails in celebration. I think it’s kind of cool that a few universities had the wherewithal to create their own private drinks, and I imagine if you graduated from one, you owe it to yourself to partake. Did you know that Cole Porter wrote the Yale Fight Song while attending? Go Bulldogs!

Here we go –

• 2 ounces gin
• 1 ounce dry vermouth
• 3 dashes Crème de Yvette (you can substitute w/ Crème de Violette)
• 1-2 dash(es) bitters

Shake contents with ice in shaker ‘til cold. Serve up in a cocktail glass.

With 36 athletic teams represented, Cornell must constantly have reason for celebration or commiseration. Their official cocktail is a pretty one, using an egg white to create a rich foam. Long winters in upstate New York so I imagine a night in a toasty bar with a couple of Cornells might be just the ticket.

Here we go –

• 2 ounces gin
• 1 egg white
• 3+ dashes Maraschino liqueur
• 2-3 dashes lemon juice

Shake above ingredients with cracked ice in shaker ‘til frothy & cold. Serve up in a cocktail glass with maraschino cherry as garnish.

This colonial college libation is a pretty adventurous one. The use of an olive as garnish is a bold move, yet one that carries the drink back to its sophisticated martini drinker’ roots. No idea when it was actually invented, but I found this one in a recipe book dated 1939, so the kids were knockin’ back in NJ pre-War. I can imagine the undergrads enjoying this one at their celebratory bonfire after beating Yale and Harvard back in the day.

Here we go –

• 2 ounces gin
• 1 ounce dry vermouth
• 2-3 dashes of lime juice

Shake ingredients gently in an ice-filled shaker ‘til terribly cold. Serve up in a cocktail glass with an olive for garnish.

So, the Rhode Islanders like their bourbon. The Brown University cocktail may be the most interesting and familiar of the Ivy League bunch. Basically a half and half manhattan, the Brown had to be a mainstay of the raccoon coat-wearing, gold-fish swallowing, roaring twenties-loving Brown undergrads. No garnish mentioned in the old recipe I found but a cherry seems natural.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ ounces bourbon
• 1 ½ ounces sweet vermouth
• 2-3 dashes of orange bitters

Shake everything with ice ‘til cold. Serve up in a cocktail glass. Cherry garnish optional.

A pretty sophisticated cocktail and one I just can’t envision anyone under 30 drinking. But, this drink is at least 75 years old and kids back then didn’t have shooters, light beer and wine coolers. Quite possible a faculty and graduates’ pleasure, The Harvard works wonderfully as a pre-dinner cocktail. Strong so be careful.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ ounces brandy
• 1 ½ ounces sweet vermouth
• 1-2 dashes bitters
• 3 dashes grenadine

Shake in a shaker with ice ‘til cold. Serve up in a cocktail glass.