Royal Smile

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (103 ratings)
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    Royal Smile

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Royal Smile image

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
1 oz Calvados / apple brandy / straight applejack
1⁄2 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
1⁄4 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
1⁄6 oz Monin Grenadine Syrup
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

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

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 9/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile
Cocktail of the day:

15th June 2025 is Smile Power Day

Review:

This balanced sweet and sour cocktail could put a smile on anyone's face. Unless that is, "one is not amused!" Calvados notes shine through.

View readers' comments

Variant:

Pan American Clipper
Jack Rose

History:

Adapted from a recipe in David A. Embury's 1948 seminal book, The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.

ROYAL SMILE
1 part Grenadine
2 parts Lemon Juice
4 parts Gin
4 parts Apple Brandy
Shake with cracked ice. The relative proportions of gin and applejack can be varied to suit the individual taste. Some recipes call for the addition of 1 egg white to each 2 drinks.

David A. Embury, 1948

Nutrition:

One serving of Royal Smile contains 182 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.3 standard drinks
  • 20.48% alc./vol. (20.48° proof)
  • 17.9 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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Showing 9 comments for Royal Smile.
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Simon Sedgley’s Avatar Simon Sedgley
22nd June 2024 at 04:14
Perhaps a close relative of the Pan American Clipper. And those commenters here advocating the addition of absinthe seem to be nudging it that way. Both cocktails are just lovely.
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Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
22nd June 2024 at 09:38
Thanks, Simon. I've added a link to the excellent Pan American Clipper.
0
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Miguel Perales’ Avatar Miguel Perales
13th August 2023 at 22:09
Nicely balanced with the apple Brandy (Calvados) coming in at the end. I then tried it with an Absinthe misting of the coupe glass, and it was a definite improvement. It added to the complexity of the cocktail and was even more enjoyable.
1
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Nathalie O'Flynn’s Avatar Nathalie O'Flynn
15th June 2023 at 10:56
I was all geared up to make a Floral Daiquiri from my Must Try list but opened the site and saw the cocktail of the day and went for it, I added 2 dashes of absinthe to copy another discerning drinker, very nice choice. The Floral Daiquiri is planned for tonight, have picked lavender from our bushes already.
1
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Beverly Stanton’s Avatar Beverly Stanton
8th April 2023 at 22:45
Did a revisit tonight. Original was a 4 star up to 5.
This is so well balanced and perfectly sweet for an after dinner cocktail. Highly recommed.
1
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Steve Trax’s Avatar Steve Trax
7th February 2023 at 01:22
Bumped everything by a half and added 1/6oz Absinth as below. Fantastic.
2
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Alexandre Perron’s Avatar Alexandre Perron
30th December 2022 at 20:23
Wow ! Applejack and grenadine are definitely a great match.
1
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Avatar

Anonymous

1st January 2022 at 23:47
Agree Calvados forward. First impression was somewhat mixed. However as you continue to sip the flavors blended nicely. As I took my last sip I was wishing I has another sip!
1
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John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
7th April 2021 at 04:06
Tried the original recipe, it is great. Also tried Matthew French's suggestion, but put in 1/2 teaspoon of Pernod Absinthe, it was great also and cut down, a little, on the sweetness. Would recommend both.
5
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Matthew French’s Avatar Matthew French
17th February 2021 at 23:17
Your original recipe is delicious, but I decided to give it a little kick in the direction of a French 75 and added a 1/6 part of La Fee Parisienne Absinthe, maybe a tad too much but worth revisiting...
5
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