The history of the Navy Grog starts in the 1650s when sailors in the British Royal Navy began to receive a daily ration of half a pint of rum to boost their moral during long and treacherous journeys across the oceans. Their moral was indeed boosted but it came at the price of drunk sailors performing far below navy standards. 

Enters a man and his favorite weather proof grogram overcoat. Grogram, taken from the French gros grain, meaning coarse grain, was a fabric made of silk and wool or mohair and often stiffened with gum. 

The man with the coat was Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon of The British Royal Navy. Starting his career he soon realized that half a pint of rum per day was a rather bad idea, made worse by the fact that they usually had it in one go. Being drunk on a boat is generally a bad idea but being drunk during active duty in the navy is even worse. 

In 1740 the Vice-Admiral ordered that, not only should the ration be divided in two quarter pint servings, the rum was to be diluted 4:1 with water. Mixing it with lime that was kept on board to stave off scurvy he unintentionally created one of the first ever mixed drinks, the grog, getting its name from Vernon’s nickname Old Grog. 

200 years later in the early 1940s Donn Beach, or Don the Beachcomber, created a three ounce rum drink that he called Navy Grog. Made with three types of rum he described it in his menu as “A robust rum punch dedicated to the gallant men of the American Navy.” The Navy Grog was slightly altered by “Trader Vic” Bergeron who made it even more famous at his Tiki bars across the US. Allegedly, Richard Nixon used to sneak in the back door at Trader Vic’s in Washington DC at 3 am during the Watergate hearings to pour his heart out to the bartender over a several Navy Grogs.

The glass called Rami was designed by Jasper Morrison in 2019. 

Product information

This is one in a series of illustrations of classic cocktail recipes with a selection of the most beautifully designed glasses.

The size 40x50 cm (approx 16x20”) are signed and printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Bright White 310g archival paper and are sold in a limited edition of 50 prints.

The size 30x40 cm (approx 12x16”) are printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art Studio Enhanced 210g archival paper.