Princeton

Difford's Guide
Discerning Drinkers (13 ratings)

Serve in a

Coupe glass

Garnish:

Orange zest twist

How to make:

STIR all ingredients with ice and strain into chilled glass.

2 fl oz Hayman's Old Tom Gin
1/2 fl oz Tawny port
1/6 fl oz Sugar syrup 'rich' (2 sugar to 1 water, 65.0°Brix) (optional)
3 dash Orange Bitters by Angostura
1/3 fl oz Chilled water
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Review:

Kappeler's 1895 recipe calls for the Old Tom gin and orange bitters to be stirred with ice and strained into a glass, with port poured down the side of the glass so it settles to form a red layer beneath the orange bitters tinted gin.

I've added a spoon (5ml) of sugar syrup to Kappeler's recipe to slightly sweeten the gin (omit if using a sweet old tom) and a splash of water to add some much-needed dilution. I also prefer to abandon the original layering and stir all the ingredients together.

History:

Adapted from a recipe in Harry Craddock's influential 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book.

PRINCETON COCKTAIL.
2 Dashes Orange Bitters.
1/3 Port Wine.
2/3 Tom Gin.
Stir well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon peel on top.

Harry Craddock, 1930

However, the Princeton predates The Savoy Cocktail Book by at least 30 years as it first appears in George J. Kappeler's 1900 Modern American Drinks.

Princeton Cocktail.
A mixing-glass half-full fine ice, three dashes orange bitters, one and a half pony Tom gin. Mix, strain into cocktail-glass; add half a pony port wine carefully and let it settle in bottom of cocktail before serving."

George J. Kappeler, 1900

In his 1948 The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks David Embury also includes the "Princeton" with "1 part Port, 3 parts Gin, 2 dashes Orange Bitters to each drink" along with the following notation:

Authorities differ as to the proper mixing of this drink. Under one version, all the ingredients are stirred together; under another version the gin and bitters are shaken with crushed ice, poured into a cocktail glass, and the port is then poured into the glass and allowed to settle through the gin and bitters. A twist of lemon over the top.

David Embury, 1948

Alcohol content:

  • 1.7 standard drinks
  • 26.19% alc./vol. (52.38° proof)
  • 23.8 grams of pure alcohol
Difford's Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Buy direct from
the_whisky_exchange store logo
£ -.--

Makes a minimum of ... cocktails
Just £ -.-- per cocktail*

* This list may not include all required ingredients.
Price per cocktail is an estimate based on the cost of making one cocktail with the available ingredients shown above and does not include any postage charges.
Buy direct from Difford’s Guide
Difford's Easy Jigger
£8.72 £8.72 exc VAT
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