Name: Quelle Vie
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 50 ml Cognac (brandy); 15 ml Kummel liqueur

Quelle Vie
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Glass:

Photographed in an UB Koto Old Fashioned 30cl

Ingredients:
1 ²⁄₃ fl oz	Cognac (brandy)
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Kummel liqueur

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.

How to make:

STIR all ingredients with ice.
STRAIN into ice-filled glass.

Garnish:

EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Cocktail of the day:

17th April 2026 is International Kummel Day

Review:

Originally served straight-up but better over ice, this cocktail is kümmel's answer to the Stinger. To quote Harry Craddock, "Brandy gives you courage and Kümmel makes you cautious, thus giving you the perfect mixture of bravery and caution, with the bravery predominating."

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History:

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

QUELLE VIE COCKTAIL.
⅓ Kummel.
⅔ Brandy.
STIR well and strain into cocktail glass.

Brandy gives you courage and kummel makes you cautious, thus giving you the perfect mixture of bravery and caution, with the bravery predominating."
Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book, 1930

More cocktails by Harry Craddock

Alcohol content:

1.4 standard drinks
31.13% alc./vol. (62.27° proof)
20.3 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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Chris Dimal

22 hours ago

Used Three Barrels and Helbing Kuemmel. Utterly horrendous drink. It felt like eating a musty crushed caraway seeds straight with some battery acid thrown for good measure. I wouldn't be surprised if a better brandy might make it better, but it is so horrendous that I don't care to try it again. Also, instructions indicate a straight-up serve, whereas the picture is of a rocks glass.