Name: Tuxedo Cocktail Original
Total time: 2 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Old Tom gin; 45 ml Dry vermouth; 1 dash Maraschino liqueur; 1 dash Absinthe; 2 dash Orange bitters; 2 dash Aromatic bitters

Tuxedo Cocktail Original
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Hayman's Old Tom Gin
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Strucchi Dry Vermouth
1 dash	Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
1 dash	La Fée Parisienne absinthe
2 dash	Orange Bitters by Angostura
2 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of skewered lemon zest twist and Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.
STIR all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish with skewered lemon zest twist and maraschino cherry.

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

Review:

I've tried this recipe with 2 to 3 dashes of Angostura and also orange bitters, but I prefer it with 2 dashes of both aromatic (Angostura) and orange bitters, so honouring Johnson, MacElhone, Mahoney and Grohusko. The result is a very aromatic semi-Dry Martini.

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Variant:

Tuxedo No. 1 (Savoy & Duffy's recipe) - equal parts dry gin and dry vermouth with lemon peel and absinthe.
Tuxedo No. 2 (Savoy & Duffy's recipe) - equal parts dry gin and dry vermouth with maraschino, orange bitters and absinthe.
Tuxedo No. 3 (Lowe & Straub's recipe) - two-thirds dry gin to one-third dry vermouth with sherry, maraschino, absinthe and aromatic bitters.
Tuxedo No.4 (AKA Tussetto) - two-thirds dry gin to one-third dry sherry with orange bitters.
Tuxedo (Difford's recipe) - as per the "Original" but with dry sherry and some balancing sweetness by splitting dry and bianco vermouths.
Flora Bar's Tuxedo No.2 - in an absinthe-rinsed glass with dry gin, bianco vermouth, maraschino liqueur and orange bitters.

History:

Based on the earliest Tuxedo recipe I'm aware of in Harry Johnson's Bartenders Manual (1900 and later editions). The same recipe, bar the odd dash of bitters, also appears in Jack's Bar Manual by Jacob Abraham Grohusko (1910), Hoffman House Bartender's Guide by Charles Mahoney (1912) and Barflies & Cocktails by Harry MacElhone (1927).

All four of the revered bartenders stipulate equal parts old tom (sweet) gin and French (dry) vermouth with one dash each of maraschino and absinthe, but Grohusko's recipe adds 3 dashes Angostura Bitters; while MacElhone, Mahoney & Johnson call for orange bitters in place of the Angostura.
Also see: Tuxedo cocktail history

More cocktails by Harry Johnson

Nutrition:

One serving of Tuxedo Cocktail Original contains 149 calories

Alcohol content:

1.5 standard drinks
23.57% alc./vol. (23.57° proof)
21.7 grams of pure alcohol

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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 4 comments for Tuxedo Cocktail Original.
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Jacques Gaudin

14th February at 01:02

It's remarkable how these little dashes bring life to this drink. An absolute delight.

Ian Lessels

7th November 2024 at 22:39

Just wow! This is really what you want from a cocktail. Everything in perfect balance.

John CARR

24th October 2024 at 12:57

Really features the dry vermouth so make sure you’re using one you like. Used Hayman’s Old Tom and it was just perfect here. The Flora Bar version seemed to work better with Bitter Truth bitters, this one with angostura, tho could be personal preference of course.

Renee Thorpe

4th October 2022 at 11:32

Meant to add: succeeds in being fruity AND dry.

John CARR

30th September 2023 at 12:33

Agreed, I preferred Simon’s version with 50/50 dry and Blanc vermouth, which worked better for me.

Renee Thorpe

4th October 2022 at 11:36

Very complex drink as all tasting notes from ingredients remain distinctive. Beautiful clear blush color. I am not a fan of vermouth, so I used 15-20% less than recipe calls for.