Name: Red Lion (Difford's recipe)
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Gin; 22.5 ml Grand Marnier; 22.5 ml Orange juice; 7.5 ml Lemon juice; 2.5 ml Grenadine syrup; 2.5 ml Sugar syrup (2:1); 1 dash Orange bitters

Red Lion (Difford's recipe)
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Serve in a Nick & Nora glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
³⁄₄ oz	Grand Marnier or other cognac orange liqueur
³⁄₄ oz	Orange juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₄ oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₁₂ oz	Monin Grenadine Syrup
¹⁄₁₂ oz	Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
1 dash	Orange Bitters by Angostura

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill a NICK & NORA GLASS.
RIM glass with sugar (moisten the outside edge with orange juice and dip into sugar).
Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.

How to make:

SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish:

EXPRESS orange zest twist over cocktail and discard.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Cocktail of the day:

10th August 2025 is World Lion Day

Review:

The sophisticated drinker's answer to a gin and juice with dry gin and orange liqueur made all the more fruity with orange juice, lemon juice and pomegranate syrup.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from Arthur Tarling's 1933 competition-winning Red Lion recipe by yours truly in August 2016.
See: Red Lion cocktail history

More cocktails by Simon Difford

Nutrition:

One serving of Red Lion (Difford's recipe) contains 183 calories

Alcohol content:

1.5 standard drinks
19.76% alc./vol. (19.76° proof)
20.3 grams of pure alcohol

More Aperitivo/aperitif cocktails
More Citrusy cocktails

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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Showing 9 comments for Red Lion (Difford's recipe).
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Tuber Magnatum

10th August at 23:40

Excellent cocktail, light and refreshing and I am generally not a huge fan of cocktails with OJ. I think the lemon tames the orange sweet notes by adding some added acidity. I have had a couple times now (If memory serves me correctly, last time was a year ago when it was also cocktail of the day!) The only thing I might comment on is that this benefits from a quality Grenadine and I think homemade is the way to go. Also, I have to say I'm not keen on the sugar rim and suggest that maybe for first time drinkers consider just sugaring half the rim so to have both options available to try.

Florian Ruf

4th June at 13:39

I am no fan of de Kuypers Grenadine because IMHO it is in every aspect much to artificial. But this cocktail gets a real "red" lion if one uses this 😏.

John CARR

3rd January at 11:19

Used a local pomegranate liqueur 5ml, no sugar, otherwise to spec. Perfect sweet-sour balance with fresh citrus initially dominant, then added warmth and depth from the Grand Marnier. Very enjoyable and slipped down very easily!

Louise Allen

10th August 2024 at 19:09

Nice and fruity, really quite refreshing. I wouldn't say it was a 7 on the boozy scale, more a 6?

Simon Difford

11th August 2024 at 08:35

Thanks, Louise. Agreed, I've dropped to a 6 on the boozy scale.

Chris Dimal

14th February 2024 at 15:03

Really nice drink, and the sugar rim is interesting, in that it oscillates the drink's balance. No sugar rim results in a balanced drink on the sour side, but the rim makes it balanced on the sweet side. Everything combines well, and I personally find that all components come through just a bit more with the sugar rim.

Herbert Brant

3rd September 2023 at 19:00

Just perfect for this hot Sunday afternoon. Flavour explosion in a coupe glass! The lemon juice makes this cocktail sparkle.

Kevin Haynes

9th May 2022 at 21:51

Glorious! I used a Cutie mandarin/clementine for the orange juice so left out the simple syrup since they are so sweet. It was perfect.

Anonymous

5th December 2021 at 17:33

Fab flavours - definitely a favourite of favourites.

John Hinojos

3rd September 2021 at 23:56

This is outstanding. You get the wonderful tastes of the juices, the herbal of the gin, and the hint of cognac from the Grand Marnier. Left out the sugar syrup as our oranges were very sweet, but test your orange juice sweetness before you would do this.

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