Name: Cab Calloway
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Cream sherry; 15 ml Rye whiskey 50% abv; 7.5 ml Apricot liqueur; 7.5 ml Dry vermouth; 2 dash Aromatic bitters; 2 dash Orange bitters

Ingredients

1 1/2 fl oz

Lustau East India Solera Cream Sherry (chilled)

1/2 fl oz

Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)

1/4 fl oz

Luxardo Apricot Albicocca Liqueur

1/4 fl oz

Strucchi Dry Vermouth (chilled)

2 dash

Angostura Aromatic Bitters

2 dash

Orange Bitters by Angostura

How to make

Glass

Photographed in a TarQ Rocks

Prepare

Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.

Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.

Method

STIR all ingredients with ice.

STRAIN into ice-filled glass (preferably over a large cube or chunk of block ice).

Garnish

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

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Cab Calloway contains 128 calories

Alcohol content:

1.2 standard drinks
21.24% alc./vol. (42.48° proof)
16.2 grams of pure alcohol

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Cream sherry, Dry vermouth — Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

History

Adapted from a recipe created by bartender Tiffanie Barriere at One Flew South bar in Atlanta, Georgia. Tiffanie's original recipe calls for a sweet oloroso, but most oloroso sherries are dry with 1 to 4 grams of sugar per litre, hence my use of cream sherry.

Cab Calloway (1907-1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader and dancer who was known for his energetic scat singing, particularly in his performance of Minnie the Moocher. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, known in cocktail circles thanks to Charlie Conolly's book The World Famous Cotton Club: 1939 Book of Mixed Drinks.

Comments & Discussion

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John CARR Premium Member 10w

Superb! A new favourite. Wonderful and perfectly balanced ingredients, as usual on Difford’s. I served later in the evening with slight trepidation but it was simply delicious.

Simon Sedgley Premium Member 11w

Cab Calloway was also a contemporary of Dashiell Hammett and Lillian Hellman. So we insisted on serving this straight up in a Nick and Nora glass, where it sat very snugly. A really beautifully balanced sipper that just gets better and better as the warmth seeps into it.

Simon Sedgley Premium Member 11w

btw...and cream sherry is spot on.

Mike Premium Member 12w

Finally remade this with cream sherry and now we’re talking. This is wonderfully sherry-forward, fruity and well-balanced. The rye provides a solid foundation for the rest of the ingredients to sing.

If your taste runs dry, you might consider cutting the apricot liqueur slightly to a barspoon/5 ml.

Nelson bros rye, Giffard apricot, Gonzales Byass cream sherry, La Copa extra seco vermouth.

Mike Premium Member 42w

I researched this a bit and discovered the original recipe calls for *sweet* oloroso or PX sherry. My understanding is that in the EU, “sweet oloroso”
is known as “oloroso dulce”.

This would considerably change the flavor profile of the drink.

Simon Difford Verified User Premium Member 14w

Many thanks, Mike. Sherry houses mostly produce Oloroso sherry now, which is dry, so I tried using a PX sherry, but it produced a tasty but overly sweet cocktail. Hence, rather than the Dry Oloroso I originally used, I have opted for a cream sherry, as it produces a balanced cocktail where the apricot notes can shine. I've also added a note to say that Tiffanie originally used a sweet oloroso.

Matthew Coffey Premium Member 3y

I wonder if the portions for this are correct? I found the drink as written to be dominated by the sherry. The apricot flavor appears briefly after about the third sip, but disappears quickly.

I remade it several times based on the proportions in Difford's Perfect Bamboo. I found the most integrated version to be
1.5 Oloroso sherry
0.5 over proof rye
0.5 apricot liqueur
0.25 bianco vermouth
0.25 dry vermouth
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes orange bitters

Simon Difford Verified User Premium Member 3y

Many thanks, Matthew. Just tried your recipe against the comparatively very dry original and preferred yours so I've adopted it above.

Toby James Premium Member 1y

Thanking the both of you, this is a banger.

Clarence Castillo 3y

Interesting. Sometime when I have all the ingredients I'll have to try it and determine how well it captures the essence of Calloway's music and persona. But perhaps in honor of Calloway's home town of Rochester, NY, we should substitute the Rochester-based Fee Brothers' bitters.

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Cab Calloway