The Mary Pickford recipe
for your table
Place a coupe in the freezer for ten minutes or fill it with ice and water.
Pour the rum, pineapple juice, maraschino and grenadine into a shaker.
Fill the shaker with ice and shake vigorously for fifteen seconds so the pineapple juice develops a layer of foam.
Dump the ice out of the coupe and double-strain the cocktail into it.
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The story
The Mary Pickford originated in Havana in the 1920s, when many Americans traveled to Cuba to escape Prohibition in their own country. The cocktail is attributed to Eddie Woelke or Fred Kaufmann, two bartenders who worked in Havana at the time. According to the story, they made it for Mary Pickford herself when she was on the island with Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin. Exactly how it happened and in which bar cannot be established with certainty; the sources differ. Pickford, born in Canada, was one of the best-known faces of silent film and founded the film company United Artists with, among others, Chaplin and Fairbanks in 1919. Her cocktail is on the official IBA list.
The right glass
Serve the Mary Pickford without ice in a chilled coupe holding 22 to 24 cl. With just over 10 cl of ingredients and the dilution from the shaker, you end up with approximately 13 cl, leaving room for the pineapple juice's foam. The round, open bowl shows off the pink color and releases the aromas of pineapple and cherry. The stem keeps the drink cold for longer. View our champagne coupe glasses.
RCR Opera Champagne Glass / Coupe 24 cl (6 pieces)
Bormioli Rocco America'20S Champagne Glass / Coupe 22 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 79,90.
The right tools
For a Mary Pickford, besides the glass you use a Boston shaker, a jigger for precise measuring, a cocktail strainer and a fine strainer for double straining. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glassware set (our choice 01) + 4 bar tools together € 132,75.
What do you make a Mary Pickford with?
For a Mary Pickford, you need rum and liqueur. Well-known bottles include Havana Club and Bacardi. On every drink page, you can read the alcohol percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it goes with and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
Some recipes use 1 cl of grenadine and a cocktail cherry as a garnish; the IBA sticks to half a centiliter and no garnish. Using pineapple juice from a carton makes it sweeter and flatter, and you miss the layer of foam. If you swap the pineapple for grapefruit and lime, you're close to the Hemingway Special, which also uses maraschino. If you like the combination of rum and pineapple, continue to the Piña Colada or the Painkiller.
Servingtip
Use real pomegranate grenadine, not red syrup made only from sugar and coloring; the flavor is fresher and the color softer. Juice or blend the pineapple yourself, or buy fresh juice from the chilled section. If you like, place a cocktail cherry on the bottom of the glass.
Good to know
Making a Mary Pickford without a shaker
If you don't have a shaker, a jam jar of at least half a liter with a tightly fitting lid will work. Pour in the rum, pineapple juice, maraschino and grenadine, fill the jar two-thirds full with ice and shake as hard as you can for fifteen seconds. Shaking is particularly important with this cocktail: the pineapple juice becomes frothy and gives the drink its smooth texture. Then strain through a tea strainer into the chilled coupe, so no pulp or ice chips make it in. Stirring in a glass produces a flat, watery version.
Which rum works best
The IBA calls for white rum, and a light Cuban-style rum is the best fit for a drink from Havana. Havana Club 3 Años and Bacardi Carta Blanca are dry and clean, allowing the pineapple and maraschino to shine. A heavy, dark rum overwhelms the delicate cherry note and turns the color brown instead of pink. A lightly aged rum can work if you want it slightly rounder and fuller. It is better to avoid spiced rum and coconut rum, as they pull the drink too far toward a sweet tropical cocktail.
Making fresh pineapple juice yourself
Fresh pineapple juice makes the difference between a flat and a lively Mary Pickford. Peel a ripe pineapple, remove the tough core and put the pieces in a blender. Blend for half a minute until smooth, then press it through a fine sieve or cloth. A medium-sized pineapple yields about 40 to 50 cl of juice, enough for eight to ten cocktails. The juice keeps for two days in the refrigerator. Fresh juice foams much better in the shaker than juice from a carton, which has been heated.
Maraschino and grenadine: what do they do
Both are added in small quantities, but they each do something different. Maraschino is a clear, dry liqueur made from marasca cherries, with a floral, slightly nutty flavor. It adds depth and makes the pineapple less one-dimensional. Luxardo is the brand named by the IBA. Grenadine is pomegranate syrup and mainly provides the pink color and a little fresh sweetness. Half a centiliter keeps the drink light pink; more grenadine makes it darker and sweeter. You also need maraschino for the Aviation, so a bottle will last a long time.
Making a Mary Pickford for a group
For a group, mix the base in advance. For eight glasses, pour 36 cl rum, 36 cl fresh pineapple juice, 6 cl maraschino and 4 cl grenadine into a bottle or jug and refrigerate for at least an hour. Shake the bottle briefly before use, as the pulp settles. Shake two glasses at a time with plenty of ice in a spacious shaker from our cocktail shakers, so each cocktail gets its layer of foam, and double-strain into chilled coupes. Pouring an entire jug at once without shaking produces a flat drink, no matter how cold it is.
How much alcohol is in a Mary Pickford
Expect about 15 percent in the glass. The 4.5 cl of 40 percent rum provides 1.8 cl of pure alcohol, and the 0.75 cl of 32 percent maraschino adds just over 0.2 cl. Together, that is about 2 cl, divided over a glass of around 13 cl after shaking. That amounts to slightly more than one and a half standard drinks. Because of the pineapple juice, it tastes smooth and fruity, so it is stronger than it tastes. If you want it lighter, use 3 cl of rum and top up with an extra 1.5 cl of pineapple juice.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Mary Pickford cocktail?
A Mary Pickford is a pink cocktail made with white rum, fresh pineapple juice, maraschino liqueur and grenadine, shaken and served without ice in a coupe. It originated in Havana in the 1920s and was named after film star Mary Pickford. The drink is on the official IBA list.
What is in a Mary Pickford?
According to the IBA, it contains 4.5 cl white rum, 4.5 cl fresh pineapple juice, 0.75 cl Luxardo maraschino and 0.5 cl grenadine. Shake everything with ice and strain it into a chilled cocktail coupe. The IBA does not specify a garnish, although you often see a cocktail cherry.
Can you use pineapple juice from a carton?
You can, but you make a trade-off. Juice from a carton is heated, often sweeter and barely foams, making the Mary Pickford flat and dull. Choose refrigerated juice with no added sugar, or blend a pineapple yourself and strain it through a fine sieve.
Which glass do you use for a Mary Pickford?
A chilled coupe of 22 to 24 cl. The drink goes into the glass without ice, so a stem is useful, and the open bowl shows off the pink colour and layer of foam. A small martini glass works too, but the drink is more likely to slosh over the rim.
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