Gin Cocktail

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (24 ratings)

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
2 oz Rutte Old Simon Genever
13 oz Orange Curaçao liqueur
16 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
2 dash Boker's bitters
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.
  3. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 8/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 5/10

Review:

Bready genever with a hint of orange curaçao adding flavour and the merest touch of sweetness balancing Boker's Bitters. If you don't have Boker's to hand then use the more widely stocked Peychaud's Bitters which produce a different but very tasty drink. I'd go as far as to suggest that Peychaud's produces better cocktail, one with an attractive pale shade of salmon pink – if you like that kind of thing.

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AKA: Fancy Gin Cocktail, Improved Gin Cocktail

History:

A close relation to the Martinez, and so by default also the Martini, this cocktail is adapted from one of the oldest known cocktail recipes. Some say this recipe dates back to 1824, coincidentally the same year Dr Siegert created Angostura Bitters. However, the first known recipe appears in Jerry Thomas' 1862 The Bartender's Guide.

111. Gin Cocktail
(use small bar glass)
3 or 4 dashes gum syrup.
2 do. bitters (Bogart's). [it's widely accepted that he meant Boker's Bitters]
1 wine-glass of gin.
1 or 2 dashes of Curaçao.
1 small piece lemon peel; fill one-third full of fine ice
shake well, and strain in a glass.

112. Fancy Gin Cocktail
(use small bar glass)
This drink is made the same as the gin cocktail, except that it is strained in a fancy wine-glass and a piece of lemon peel thrown on top, and the edge of the glass moistened with lemon.

Jerry Thomas, 1862

There are conflicting claims as to what constitutes a "Fancy" or "Improved" Gin Cocktail as opposed to a bog-standard "Gin Cocktail", some stating it's the style of glass used and others the inclusion of either lemon peel and or orange curaçao. Incidentally, some versions of this recipe suggest switching absinthe for curaçao. Rather than substituting, we recommend adding a couple of dashes of absinthe in addition to curaçao, or alternatively, absinthe rinsing the glass before mixing the drink.

Gin, sugar and bitters can make for a perfectly delicious cocktail without the addition of either curaçao or absinthe – a combination best known as a 'Gin Old Fashioned'.

Alcohol content:

  • 1.4 standard drinks
  • 26.31% alc./vol. (26.31° proof)
  • 19.9 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’s Avatar John CARR
13th April at 15:09
Yes I found the bokers too heavy handed, peychauds picked up the genever botanicals and aromatics much better, and an absinthe pre-spritz of the glass combined nicely, including with a lemon twist.
Jamie Glover’s Avatar Jamie Glover
29th May 2022 at 11:35
Hello. Am I wrong in thinking that Jerry Thomas stipulated maraschino rather than curaçao?
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
29th May 2022 at 12:42
I've double-checked the quote above and Jerry Thomas specifies Curaçao.