Fairbanks No.1

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (87 ratings)

Photographed in a ZigZag Coupe

Ingredients:
1 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
1 oz Luxardo Apricot Albicocca Liqueur
1 oz Strucchi Dry Vermouth
13 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
16 oz Monin Grenadine Syrup
13 oz Chilled water omit if using wet ice
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of skewered Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. Garnish with skewered cherry.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10

Review:

Apricot liqueur dominates this cocktail but dry vermouth, dry gin, lemon juice, and dilution save it from excessive sweetness.

View readers' comments

Variant:

Fairbanks No. 2

History:

Adapted from a recipe in Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book.

FAIRBANKS COCKTAIL. (No.1)
1 Dash Lemon Juice.
1 Dash Grenadine.
1/3 Apricot Brandy.
1/3 French Vermouth.
1/3 Dry Gin.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass, with a cherry.

Harry Craddock, 1930

Nutrition:

One serving of Fairbanks No.1 contains 184 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.4 standard drinks
  • 17.11% alc./vol. (17.11° proof)
  • 19.7 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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Rob’s Avatar Rob
6th April at 22:52
Yummy and interesting! It's pretty cool how the dry vermouth does something different at the end of the sip than bitters would have. It's a new sensation and really neat.
Caspian Berggren’s Avatar Caspian Berggren
27th February at 17:38
Not at all as sweet as I thought it would be. I came in with prejudice but no, it's actually quite lovely. It's like a floral apricot candy with body from the gin and vermouth. I thought the lemon wouldn't be able to control the sweetness but it actually does. Solid 4.5/5 for me.
5th September 2024 at 13:41
Lovely. Marie Françoise Apricot Liqueur, Beefeater, Dolin, tempered ice. I am happy with the lemon part as indicated, adding more would be a detriment I think. The way it is, the apricot shines through robustly. It's a fine lingering sipper, not a guzzler.
Calvin Grant’s Avatar Calvin Grant
1st April 2024 at 03:20
This one's delightful! The apricot and grenadine play well together amongst balancing bitter and sour support.( I used Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot.)
Jeremy Harrold’s Avatar Jeremy Harrold
19th April 2023 at 16:09
A nice drink where the sweet/tart flavour of the apricot liqueur blended instead of intruding (for me).
Michael Z’s Avatar Michael Z
14th January 2023 at 02:58
Wonderfully colourful drink. I tried it with "Tempo Arandano" blueberry gin, and it is divine.
Miguel Perales’ Avatar Miguel Perales
25th August 2022 at 23:33
Made it as posted and interestingly, it pushed my sweetness tolerance limits. Second time I doubled the lemon juice (1/3 oz or 10 ml) and it was definitely more balanced. The Apricot does shine well in this cocktail.
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
26th August 2022 at 18:38
Agreed. Thanks, Miguel (and Florian). I've upped the lemon juice accordingly.
23rd February 2022 at 16:57
The subtleness of the apricot makes the drink, perfect hot summer sun downer
John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
9th December 2021 at 00:23
This was great. Love the hint of apricot. Would do this one again.
Florian Ruf’s Avatar Florian Ruf
27th November 2021 at 16:22
Very good cocktail, we love it. I doubled the lemon juice and gave a little bit more Grenadine to balance that. This let the Apricot brandy step back a very little bit. Delicious!