Name: Scorpion
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Light gold rum 1-3yo; 22.5 ml Cognac (brandy); 50 ml Orange juice; 30 ml Lemon juice; 15 ml Orgeat syrup; 1&frasl;4 barspoon Xanthan gum (E415)

Scorpion
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Serve in a Double old-fashioned

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Light gold rum (1-3 year old molasses column)
³⁄₄ oz	Rémy Martin V.S.O.P. cognac
1 ²⁄₃ oz	Orange juice (freshly squeezed)
1 oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₂ oz	Monin Almond (Orgeat) Syrup
¹⁄₄ barspoon	Xanthan gum (E415) optional

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Garnish: Orange slice wheel, mint sprigs bouquet and ideally an edible gardenia flower or white rose. Serve with a straw.

How to make:

DRY BLEND (without ice) first 5 ingredients on slow setting and add Xanthan gum while continuing to blend. Add half a 7oz scoop of crushed ice and blend again. Pour unstrained into chilled glass.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Orgeat (almond) sugar syrup (2:1) - Nuts

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

A fruity cocktail with a sting in its tail.

View readers' comments

Variant:

With pisco in the place of cognac.

History:

Created by Victor Bergeron circa 1950s, this recipe is adapted from his 1972 Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide (Revised Edition).

SCORPION (INDIVIDUAL)
1½ ounce lemon juice
2 ounce orange juice
½ ounce orgeat syrup
1 ounce brandy
2 ounce light Puerto Rican rum
Blend in electric drink mixer with 1 scoop shaved ice. Pour into grapefruit supreme glass. Add ice cubes. Decorate with gardenia.

SCORPION (FOR THREE OR FOUR PEOPLE)
6 ounce orange juice
4 ounce lemon juice
1½ ounce orgeat syrup
6 ounce light Puerto Rican rum
1 ounce brandy
Blend in electric drink mixer with 2 scoops shaved ice. Pour into large scorpion bowl. Fill with ice cubes. Decorate with gardenia.
Victor Bergeron, Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide (Revised Edition), 1972

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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 Scorpion.
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Jose Cruz

5th March at 05:36

this cocktail wont blow you away, but if you want a much better version where the rum actually adds something simply use white agricole ! i used rhum clement white, might rival ... and -

John Hinojos

12th November 2024 at 02:45

My problem with this cocktail is the lack of rum flavour.
Made again with Hamilton Florida Rum Society rum - 90 proof blend of Caribbean rums and added a 151 float. Must stronger and better cocktail. Not for the faint of heart.

Raul Garcia

8th October 2024 at 00:08

It was 1:30am and my juicer was going to make so much noise that I decided to cut my orange into 8 parts and use my lime squeezer. I hadn't thought that by doing so I would also squeeze out the essential oils (i think) from the orange peel, which has given it a citrusy, even spicy, flavour that I hadn't experienced until now. The ice dilution will bring down the orange flavor...

John Hinojos

9th September 2024 at 02:49

When I originally had this at Don the Beachcomber it was a bit stronger and served with a fresh gardenia flower. This time I did add a 151 float which replicates more the strength of the cocktail.
The story behind the name is that you were limited to two cocktails or you would turn into a zombie.

Avery Garnett

15th April 2024 at 18:16

I didn't find this too sour at all; it's balanced just fine. It's not exciting but for what it claims to be, it's absolutely fine. Basically a non-funky Mai Tai served very long.

Chris Dimal

29th May 2023 at 07:32

Welp, too sour for me. Probably a dry drinker's delight, but not mine. I increased the orgeat all the way to 30ml (keeping in mind my orgeat was 1.5:1), but it still wasn't sweet enough. What a waste of the last few ml of my Cognac!

Jose Cruz

27th December 2023 at 03:13

haha, im cheapo and use brandy ;), can hardly tell TBH

C.A. Mat

12th May 2023 at 01:52

Also agree that it's not super sweet, but it's beautifully balanced and easy to drink, with no one player coming out as the dominant flavor. It works just as well shaken and strained over crushed ice. Yum.

Miguel Perales

4th May 2023 at 21:37

Agree with John that this is not an overwhelmingly sweet cocktail, which is not a bad thing. Nice citrus flavors upfront with the Orgeat coming through at the end.