Difford's Fruit Cup No.1 (gin based & Pimm's Cup-like)

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (101 ratings)

Serve in a Collins glass

Ingredients:
56 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
56 oz Orange Curaçao liqueur
56 oz Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
2 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
1 23 oz Thomas Henry Ginger Ale
1 23 oz Cola (e.g. Coca-Cola or Pepsi)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Collins glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of lemon, orange & strawberry slices, mint sprig & borage in drink.
  3. POUR all ingredients into glass.
  4. Half fill glass with ice.
  5. Add a citrus slice and a couple of mint leaves from garnish
  6. Fill to brim with ice.
  7. Finish with rest of garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

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

Review:

This long refreshing fruity cocktail mimics the characteristics of a Pimm's Cup but with the punch and fullness flavour, reminiscent of distant decades when Pimm's No.1 carried a full 9% more alc./vol. than it does today. Predictably, my version is a good deal boozier. If you find too boozy for a summer's afternoon, then knock each of the first 3 ingredients back a tad to (22.5ml / .75oz) and add a splash more of the last 2 ingredients.

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History:

Created in 2011 by yours truly in an attempt to improve on a Pimm's Cup. For more recipes and history see Fruit Cups and Pimm's.

Nutrition:

One serving of Difford's Fruit Cup No.1 (gin based & Pimm's Cup-like) contains 213 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.6 standard drinks
  • 12.73% alc./vol. (12.73° proof)
  • 22.3 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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Showing 10 of 13 comments for Difford's Fruit Cup No.1 (gin based & Pimm's Cup-like).
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Richard Forbes’ Avatar Richard Forbes
16th July 2024 at 16:48
There is something unusual about this recipe, in my "You Can Make" list I can see all of the other fruit cups except this one, and of course I have gin which is the only different ingredient
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
17th July 2024 at 09:56
Hi Richard. If you haven't seen a reason for this issue, please email me so our IT team can look into it. simon.difford@diffordsguide.com
Avery Garnett’s Avatar Avery Garnett
30th March 2024 at 17:56
as there doesn't seem to be a way to comment on the fruit cup article as a whole: having tried the gin (1), brandy (3), and tequila (7) cups I also wondered about what this mythical 16 could be. Having 1 serving of the mix (everything except spirit) left, I figured I would try to work out a missing option...and I tried aquavit. I don't think I'd recommend that one... :)
Avery Garnett’s Avatar Avery Garnett
30th March 2024 at 16:49
It's nice. It tastes an awful lot like Pimms despite the ingredient list making me think "this is nothing like Pimms". I do think it needs a little less cola though, as it seems to take over a little.
28th January 2024 at 06:37
Lovely! I only had ginger beer which made this quite sweet, I can imagine the ginger ale would make it more dry, which would be perfect! As mentioned below, mine is much darker too.
Eva S.’s Avatar Eva S.
3rd July 2023 at 04:55
Tried this for the first time today and loved it! Easy to build snd easy to drink. Tried it with the celery bitters someone suggested and I will say they added something nice to this already lovely cocktail.
Cynthia  Horen ’s Avatar Cynthia Horen
25th June 2022 at 23:16
Perfect for the end of June!
Stephan Gröhn’s Avatar Stephan Gröhn
24th July 2021 at 14:40
Put in a splash of black tea and it’s getting even closer to what Pimm‘s intended to…
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
24th July 2021 at 17:35
Great suggestion!
G. M. Genovese’s Avatar G. M. Genovese
21st July 2021 at 00:15
I've had my bottle of Vya Sweet for at least 2 months now, never finding a home for it. Wow, did it excel in this concoction!... Attempted this countless times in the past 48 hours and (considering my stock) angling toward a 70:30 blend on the ginger to cola. I only have Fever Tree Ginger Beer and Coke zero on hand... Also used Gordon's and Marie Brizard Orange Curacao... I will be returning to this recipe though in perpetuality, auditioning stars.
29th May 2021 at 19:21
Liked it a lot but with an extra shot of ginger ale. It ended up much darker than the picture implies due to the Martini and Coke.
25th April 2021 at 18:19
NICE!