Jockey Club

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (14 ratings)

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 12 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
34 oz Crème de noyau liqueur
34 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
14 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
2 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
2 dash Orange Bitters by Angostura
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 5/10

Review:

Reddy-pink coloured with a sweet and sour, almondy, amaretto-like flavour fortified with gin botanicals.

View readers' comments

Variant:

David Embury's 1948 Fine Art of Mixing Drinks describe the Jockey Club cocktail as a "Sweet Manhattan with 2 dashes Maraschino."

History:

Adapted from a recipe which first appears in Harry McElhone's 1922 Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails and established as being the default recipe thanks to its being repeated by Harry Craddock in his influential 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book.

However, a "Jockey Club cocktail" is first mentioned in the Friday 1st September 1882 edition of The Greenville Journal as being an alternative name for a Manhattan. Quite different and unrelated cocktails named "Jockey Club" also appear in Edward Spenser's 1903 The Flowing Bowl (equal parts gin and vermouth with gum syrup, Angostura, and raspberry syrup) and Tim Daly's 1903 Daly's Bartenders Encyclopedia (equal parts Jamaican rum and vermouth with dashes of Kümmel , gum syrup and Angostura bitters).

Talking about compounders of drinks reminds me of the fact that never before has the taste for "mixed drinks" been so great as at present and new ideas, and new combinations are constantly being brought forward. It is but a short time ago that a mixture whiskey, vermouth and bitters came into vogue. It went under various names – Manhattan cocktail, Turf Club cocktail, and Jockey Club cocktail. Bartenders at first were sorely puzzled what was wanted when it was demanded. But now they are fully cognizant of its various aliases and no difficulty is encountered.

The Greenville Journal, page 1, 01/September 1882

Jockey Club Cocktail
1 dash Orange Bitters, 1 dash Angostura Bitters, 2 dashes Crème de Noyau, 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice, ⅔ Gin.
Shake well and strain not cocktail glass and squeeze lemon peel on top.

Harry McElhone, Harry of Ciro's ABC of mixing cocktails, 1923

JOCKEY CLUB COCKTAIL.
1 Dash Orange Bitters.
1 Dash Angostura Bitters.
2 dashes Crème de Noyau.
4 dashes Lemon Juice.
¾ Glass Dry Gin.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book, 1930

[Research by Noel Sharkey, a fellow Discerning Drinker.]

Nutrition:

One serving of Jockey Club contains 186 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.4 standard drinks
  • 19.17% alc./vol. (19.17° proof)
  • 18.9 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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Noel Sharkey’s Avatar Noel Sharkey
17th August 2024 at 09:09
Craddock lifted this recipe from Harry & Wynn Barflies 1927. The first recipe was in the 1903 Daly's bartenders guidel but quite different: 50/50 Jamaican Rum and Vermouth with dashes of Kummel and gum syrup. Another in the 1903 Flowing Bowl had 50/50 gin & Vermouth. Much earlier The Greenville Journal Fri, 01 Sep 1882 ·Page 1 says it is an alternative name for a Manhattan. Hope this is useful Simon
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
17th August 2024 at 15:17
Many thanks for sharing, Noel. I've added above.
Calvin Grant’s Avatar Calvin Grant
20th May 2022 at 02:44
Substituted amaretto and a splash of pomegranite juice for the créme de noyau (thanks Simon) and this drink was delightful. Nice balance.
Andy Parnell-Hopkinson’s Avatar Andy Parnell-Hopkinson
2nd September 2020 at 18:12
Not so much "adapted from" as "entirely unrelated to", surely?
Noel Sharkey’s Avatar Noel Sharkey
11th March at 14:19
I think that you may be looking at the wrong recipe. It is adapted from and shares ingredients with The Harry McElone version
Andy Parnell-Hopkinson’s Avatar Andy Parnell-Hopkinson
13th September 2020 at 20:11
No argument with your proportions. David Embury's Jockey Club must have been in Brooklyn.
Moxie Green’s Avatar Moxie Green
25th March 2020 at 23:05
Nice hint of almond wrapped against the tart of lemons and bitters...