The Dubious and Popular Rock and Rye

Was it liquor or a health tonic?

- BY SHERRY MONAHAN

This popular 1880s drink got its name because rock candy syrup was used to rectify rye whiskey that became Rock and Rye. It was a controversial beverage because it was offered as a cocktail in saloons but was also sold as a health tonic. Some mixologists recommended it to soothe a sore throat, but some just liked the way it tasted. The Tolu brand of Rock and Rye was a popular health tonic in the late 1870s and early 1880s, and the company claimed it cured coughs, colds, sore throats, debilitated constitutions, weakness of the lungs or consumption. The high alcohol content and lack of other active ingredients, of course, meant that the elixir wasn't actually effective, and it was banned in some areas.

Despite its banishment from some locales, advertisements appeared all over the West for both the cocktail and the elixir under different brand names. The