Name: Zaza
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Gin; 60 ml Rouge aromatised wine

Zaza
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Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
2 oz	Dubonnet/French rouge aromatised wine

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Garnish: Orange zest twist

How to make:

SHAKE (or stir) all ingredients with ice and strain fine into chilled glass.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Zaza is a diminutive of Isabela. However, other than the simplicity of its ingredients, there is nothing diminutive about this classic cocktail.

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AKA: Dubbonet Cocktail

Variant:

If stirred this becomes a Dubonnet Cocktail No.1 or, substitute sloe gin or fino sherry in place of gin.

History:

It is named after a French play that was a hit around the verge of the 20th century and was followed by opera and film versions, the Zaza Cocktail appears in Hon. William "Cocktail Bill" Boothby's 1908 The World's Drinks And How To Mix Them.

ZAZA COCKTAIL.
(French.)
Half Dubonnet and half dry English gin, cooled well and served in a vermouth or cocktail-glass, is known as a Zaza Cocktail in all French cafés.
Hon. William Boothby, The World's Drinks And How To Mix Them, 1908

The Zaza also notably appears in Harry Craddock's influential 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book.

ZAZA COCKTAIL.
½ Dubonnet.
½ Dry Gin.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.
Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book, 1930

More cocktails by Harry Craddock

Alcohol content:

1.4 standard drinks
19.2% alc./vol. (19.2° proof)
20.2 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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John CARR

10th November 2024 at 13:00

Tried the variant with fino sherry, which was pleasant but nothing to write home about. Probably something more full bodied and richer than Dubonnet would take it further than 4 stars, eg vermouth Di Torino or Cynar? Or the older Dubonnet with higher abv.

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John CARR

26th January at 12:57

Tried shaking for a change and as a novelty: stuck with the above 3:4 ratio tho with a 47% gin so perhaps cheating slightly 😉. Very light, fresh and fruity, and slipped down very easily!

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Jack Reid

26th February 2022 at 04:21

I didn't like this, but I didn't think it tasted particularly strong. My wife, who is a gin drinker and generally prefers a stronger alcohol taste than I, liked it but thought it did taste strong. I'm not sure what to make of that. Either way, it's decently well balanced, simple to make and looks good.

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