Name: The Astor
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 37.5 ml Gin; 30 ml Sloe gin liqueur; 7.5 ml White crème de menthe; 15 ml Lime juice

The Astor
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₄ oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
1 oz	Hayman's Sloe Gin
¹⁄₄ oz	Giffard Menthe Pastille white crème de menthe
¹⁄₂ oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of float mint leaf or peg to rim.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

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Review:

Gin-laced rich berry fruit freshened with lime and mint. Enjoy as a satisfying palate cleanser before or after a meal.

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History:

The cocktail first appears as the Astor Punch in Jacques Straub's 1913 Manual of Mixed Drinks and then in Jacob Abraham Grohusko's 1933 Jack's Bar Manual.

ASTOR PUNCH
½ Jigger White Crème de Menthe.
Fine Ice in Goblet.
½ Jigger Slow Gin on top.
Dress with Fruit in season.
Jacques Straub, Manual of Mixed Drinks, 1913

ASTOR PUNCH
50% white crème de menthe
Fine ice in goblet.
50% sloe gin on top.
Dress with fruit in season.
J. A. Grohusko, 1933

The Astor was brought to my attention by Jason E. Clapham of the St. Edward's MCR at Oxford and the recipe above his "enhancement" of the Astor Punch.

More cocktails by Jason E. Clapham

Nutrition:

One serving of The Astor contains 174 calories

Alcohol content:

1.3 standard drinks
20.47% alc./vol. (20.47° proof)
18.4 grams of pure alcohol

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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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Simon Sedgley

25th July 2024 at 15:07

For those a bit leary of creme de menthe, as we are, Acqua Bianca works a treat.

Simon Sedgley

25th July 2024 at 15:34

One might even want to go as far as 15ml with the Acqua Bianca. Cheers.

Sally Morgan

17th February 2024 at 19:55

Absolutely fine with green crème de menthe if that’s what you have

David Hoyle

14th January 2024 at 19:57

I think the comparison with lemonade and toothpaste below is unfair! I made this with Plymouth Gin, Volare White Crème de Menthe and my niece's homemade Sloe Gin which, after a good 4+ year sitting has acquired a very slightly viscous consistency and depth of flavour. The mint liqueur adds a satisfying background 'sting' and coolness. Important not to use too much of it!

Henry Duke

2nd July 2023 at 07:00

Isn't this basically the same recipe as "Astor Punch" on page 106 of Jacques Straub's 1913 Manual of Mixed Drinks?

Simon Difford

2nd July 2023 at 08:12

Thanks, Henry. It is indeed. I've added Staub's recipe above.

George Ireland

20th February 2022 at 09:50

I made this last night with Tempus Fugit creme de menthe and the some very nice home made sloe gin. Delicious.

G. M. Genovese

5th February 2022 at 22:10

Wow! No... Again, I'm probably using bad brands (De Kuyper creme de menthe, Gordon's, Hayman's Sloe Gin), but this tasted like Sprite and toothpaste (more the latter)... Clearly, I need to regroup and get quality products. Yuck. (5 Feb 2022, 5:10p)

Lilly Marson

22nd February 2023 at 16:05

I used giffards creme de menthe, homemade sloe gin and Bombay sapphire.

I haven’t had a good time with de kuyper at all. The only one that I liked was their blue curaçao. But that’s just because it’s supposed to be artificial and the flavour is just orange.

I used Gordon’s as the base for the homemade sloe gin, but for a drinking gin, you wanna bump up the quality. If you don’t like it in a gin and tonic, you won’t like it in a cocktail.