Name: Sloppy Joe
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Light white rum; 30 ml Dry vermouth; 10 ml Orange Curaçao; 7.5 ml Grenadine syrup; 5 ml Sugar syrup (2:1); 20 ml Lime juice

Sloppy Joe
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Glass:

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 fl oz	Light white rum (charcoal-filtered 1-4 years old)
1 fl oz	Strucchi Dry Vermouth
¹⁄₃ fl oz	Ferrand Dry Curaçao
¹⁄₄ fl oz	Monin Grenadine Syrup
¹⁄₆ fl oz	Sugar syrup 'rich' (2 sugar to 1 water, 65.0°Brix)
²⁄₃ fl oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
Prepare garnish of lime wedge.

How to make:

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

Garnish:

Garnish with lime wedge.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Dry vermouth - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Cocktail of the day:

18th March 2026 is National Sloppy Joe Day

Review:

A well-balanced combination of sweet and sour.

View readers' comments

History:

One of two vintage cocktails that variously appear under the names of Sloppy Joe or Sloppy Joe's. They either originate from or are named after Sloppy Joe's, a famous bar in Havana, Cuba during the 1930s. Ernest Hemingway was a regular and Sloppy Joe's inspired the fictitious Freddy's Bar in his novel To Have and Have Not.
Adapted from a recipe in Stanley M. Jones' 1977 Jones' Complete Barguide.

SLOPPY JOE'S COCKTAIL
Cocktail Glass Shake
1 oz lime juice
¼ oz grenadine
¼ orange curacao
¾ oz rum
¾ oz dry vermouth

Variation

¾ oz pineapple juice
¾ oz brandy
¾ oz port
1 dash grenadine
1 dash orange curacao

Shake vigorously with ice cubes. Strain into double old-fashioned glass with ice-con around straw.
Stanley M. Jones, 1977

Nutrition:

One serving of Sloppy Joe contains 170 calories

Alcohol content:

1.2 standard drinks
15.35% alc./vol. (30.71° proof)
16.9 grams of pure alcohol

More Aperitivo/aperitif cocktails
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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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Chris Brislawn

10th June 2025 at 02:07

Grenadine *and* sugar syrup make for too many inert ingredients so I replaced them with 1/3 oz pomegranate liqueur. A "sweet & sour," fruity daiquiri variation (along the lines of the Pomegranate Daiquiri) whose vermouth adds a subtle touch of herbal complexity.

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Tuber Magnatum

16th March 2024 at 22:46

A very tasty drink and aptly described as sweet and sour. I think next time though I will use same volume grenadine (used home made) and cut the simple syrup in half to up the sour and decrease the sweet.

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Miguel Perales

18th March 2023 at 21:38

Don't know if the ingredients showing now are the revised ones (mine still shows 1/4 oz/7.5 ml grenadine syrup) but this is very close to being nicely balanced (still a just a touch on the sweet side for me). I really like the flavors though. I will just have to find the right balance for me.

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Simon Difford

19th March 2023 at 10:02

Yes, Miguel. The recipe above with 1/4oz / 7.5ml grenadine is my preferred one. However, very dependent on your grenadine and is amazing if homemade syrup with 2 parts fresh pressed pomegranate juice to 1 part caster sugar is used.

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Lawrence Cadloff

26th November 2020 at 18:11

I’d probably prefer just a dash of grenadine - it comes through too clearly using 1/4 oz.

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