Piccadilly Martini

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (25 ratings)

Serve in a Martini glass

Ingredients:
1 23 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
56 oz Strucchi Dry Vermouth
0.08 oz Monin Grenadine Syrup
0.04 oz La Fée Parisienne absinthe
0.04 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

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

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 9/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 8/10

Review:

A classic 2:1 Dry Martini tempered by a hint of pomegranate and absinthe.

View readers' comments

History:

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

PICCADILLY COCKTAIL.
1 Dash Angostura.
1 Dash Grenadine.
⅓ French Vermouth.
⅔ Dry Gin.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book, 1930

See Martini cocktail and its evolution

Nutrition:

One serving of Piccadilly Martini contains 156 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.5 standard drinks
  • 25.54% alc./vol. (25.54° proof)
  • 20.4 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.

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adrian lord’s Avatar adrian lord
21st December 2023 at 18:51
I’ve just made a variant using blue Curaçao instead of grenadine, and Dolin blanc vermouth. It’s lovely and clean and elegant.
adrian lord’s Avatar adrian lord
5th June 2023 at 18:27
Just sipping my first Piccadilly - I used Bols grenadine syrup, perhaps slightly too much. Personally I like to get the Absinthe coming through with definition, so wouldn’t dial that back too much. It’s a gorgeous drink whatever the variance, I am sure.
John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
25th August 2021 at 00:00
I really liked this. Being that I like dry cocktails, I did cut back on the sugar syrup. Very flavourful. Will try again with the blue curacao.
Richard Elgar’s Avatar Richard Elgar
11th January 2021 at 01:58
In fact, I decided to go with a riff on this, and create a blue "Piccadilly Line Martini". A bit drier, so it might need a tad of sweetening to balance the absinthe.
https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/7079/piccadilly-line-martini
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
15th January 2021 at 20:56
I've just revisited the Piccadilly Martini again, and yet again I've cut the absinthe back. I've also added some sugar. The difference in colour varies between the use of homemade and commercial grenadine and we'll reshoot ASAP. As you say, Richard, given the name perhaps it's the blue curacao rather than the grenadine I should be reaching for.
Richard Elgar’s Avatar Richard Elgar
10th January 2021 at 01:56
I like this! But the grenadine makes it pinker than it looks in the photo.
7th December 2020 at 00:03
Personally, I think this could use a little bit more grenadine, and a little less absinthe. A little absinthe goes a LONG way.
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
7th December 2020 at 18:39
Agreed. I've cut the abinsthe in half to 2.5ml (1/2 spoon)