Savoy Tango

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (19 ratings)
  • Savoy Tango Image

    Savoy Tango

  • Jump to
Savoy Tango image

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 1⁄3 oz Calvados / apple brandy / straight applejack
1 1⁄3 oz Hayman's Sloe Gin
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of float thin (dehydrated) red-skinned apple slice.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 9/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Just two ingredients but, as Jason E. Clapham told me, "a drink that is more than the sum of its parts."

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book and kindly brought to my attention by Jason E. Clapham of the St. Edward's MCR at Oxford. The fact that Craddock says it originated at The Savoy, but neither takes credit nor credits a colleague, leads me to suspect this cocktail was created by Ada "Coley" Coleman.

SAVOY TANGO COCKTAIL.
½ Sloe Gin.
½ Applejack or Calvados.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.
This cocktail is a very great favourite at the Savoy Hotel, London, where it was invented.

Harry Craddock, 1930
More cocktails by Ada 'Coley' Coleman

Nutrition:

One serving of Savoy Tango contains 191 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.4 standard drinks
  • 24.26% alc./vol. (24.26° proof)
  • 19.4 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.

Nassau Street Image
Previous cocktail

Nassau Street

Queen's Knees Image
Next cocktail

Queen's Knees

Join the discussion

Showing 1 comment for Savoy Tango.
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment
Nuno Mesquita’s Avatar Nuno Mesquita
29th January 2023 at 17:20
More boozy than what I usually look for with calvados and sloe, but surprising in the balance. The sweetness of both spirits make it dangerously easy to drink. Not sure about the garnish, would go for something more citrus for balance.
2
reply
advert banner
Nassau Street Image
Previous cocktail

Nassau Street

A voluptuously flavoured nightcap that tastes boozier than it actually is. However, the residents of Nassau Street party hard

Queen's Knees Image
Next cocktail

Queen's Knees

Apple brandy and honey are a natural fit, and they nestle harmoniously with bitter zesty orange and enlivening dry sparkling wine

Sloe gin & other sloe berry liqueurs Image

Sloe gin & other sloe berry liqueurs

Sloe drupes (sloe berries), the fruit of the blackthorn shrub have been infused in alcohol for centuries, most famously in England where they are steeped...
Calvados Image

Calvados

Calvados is a French brandy made from apples (though it can also contain pears). The name is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, meaning that calvados...
Wimbledon cocktails Image

Wimbledon cocktails

When Wimbledon kicks off the British summer has officially begun. Cue hordes of tennis fans making their annual pilgrimage to sit on Aorangi Terrace in...
20 best Summer cocktails Image

20 best Summer cocktails

When it comes to cocktails, summer screams "Sex on the Beach", or at least fruit-forward rather than spirit-forward, more refreshing cocktails, but not...
20 best/most rated Martinis Image

20 best/most rated Martinis

There are 1,000s of cocktails with "Martini" in their name on Difford's Guide, and the majority are not actually true Martinis, at least going by the Oxford...
20 best Amaretto cocktails Image

20 best Amaretto cocktails

The bittersweet almond and vanilla flavour of amaretto mixes brilliantly with dark spirits – particularly whiskey but this versatile liqueur also mixes...