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Blackthorn No. 5

Name: Blackthorn No. 5
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Sloe gin liqueur; 22.5 ml Gin; 22.5 ml Dry vermouth; 5 ml Lemon juice; 2.5 ml Sugar syrup 'rich' (2:1); 1 dash Aromatic bitters

Difford’s Guide

Discerning Drinkers (39)

Measurements in:

Serves:

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Ingredients
1 ¹⁄₂ fl oz	Hayman's Sloe Gin liqueur
³⁄₄ fl oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
³⁄₄ fl oz	Strucchi Dry Vermouth
¹⁄₆ fl oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₁₂ fl oz	Sugar syrup 'rich' (2 sugar to 1 water) 65.0°Brix
1 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters

How to make

Glassware

Serve in a Coupe glass

Prepare

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.

Method

SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Blackthorn No. 5 contains 189 calories

Alcohol content:

1.4 standard drinks
18.92% alc./vol. (37.84° proof)
19.9 grams of pure alcohol

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Dry vermouth — Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

History

William "Cocktail Bill" Boothby features a version of this cocktail in his 1908 World's Drinks And How To Mix Them. By the 1930 Swallows edition of his book, Boothby adds three numbered variations to the original Blackthorn recipe, but this fifth version doesn't appear until the posthumously published 1934 edition.

BLACKTHORN
Sloe Gin . . . . . . . . . ⅓
It. Vermouth . . . . . ⅓
Fr. Vermouth . . . . ⅓
Orange bitters . . . . 1 dash
bitters . . . . . . . . . . . 2 drops
Stir well with ice, strain into chilled glass, twist lemon peel over and serve.

BLACKTHORN, NO. 2
Sloe Gin . . . . . . . . . ⅓
Bitters . . . . . . . . . . . 2 drops
It. Vermouth . . . . . ⅓
Sweet-Sour . . . . . . 1 spoon
Orange bitters . . . . 2 dashes
Stir well with ice, strain into chilled glass and serve.

BLACKTHORN, NO. 3
Whiskey . . . . . . . . . ½ jigger
Fr. Vermouth . . . . . ½ jigger
Absinthe . . . . . . . . . 1 spoon
Bitters . . . . . . . . . . 3 drops
Stir well with ice, strain into chilled glass and serve.

BLACKTHORN, NO. 4
Gin . . . . . . . . . . . . . ½ jigger
Dubonnet . . . . . . . . ¼ jigger
Kirschwasser . . . . . ¼ jigger
Stir well with ice, strain into chilled glass and serve.

BLACKTHORN, NO. 5
Sloe Gin . . . . . . . . . ½ jigger
Gin . . . . . . . . . . . . . ¼ jigger
Fr. Vermouth . . . . ¼ jigger
Sweet-Sour . . . . . . 1 spoon
Bitters . . . . . . . . . . 2 drops
Shake well with ice, strain into chilled glass, twist lemon peel over and serve.
William Boothby, The World's Drinks And How To Mix Them, 1934

Review

Sloeberry fruit and gin form the backbone of this aperitivo/digestivo, which is freshened by a splash of lemon juice and opened by being shaken. (Other versions of the Blackthorne tend to be stirred.)

Variations/similar cocktails

There are numerous blackthorn recipes, but they fall into two camps: one based on Irish whisky with vermouth and absinthe and the other with gin/sloe gin and vermouth. The numbering of the various Blackthorn variations starts in the 1930 Swallows edition of Boothby's World's Drinks And How To Mix Them and continues in his posthumously published 1934 edition, where he adds the Blackthorn No. 5.
Blackthorn No. 1 - sloe gin, rosso vermouth, dry vermouth, aromatic bitters, orange bitters.
Blackthorn No. 2 - sloe gin, rosso vermouth, sugar syrup, lemon juice, aromatic bitters, orange bitters.
Blackthorn No. 3 (AKA Blackthorn Irish) - Irish whiskey, dry vermouth, absinthe, Bokers bitters.
Blackthorn No. 4 - gin, Dubonnet, kirshwasser, orange bitters.
Blackthorn No. 5 - gin, sloe gin, dry vermouth, lemon juice, sugar syrup, aromatic bitters.
Blackthorn (English) - gin, sloe gin, rosso vermouth, dry vermouth, orange bitters, aromatic bitters.

Hayman's Sloe Gin 750ml - makes 16.5 cocktails
$34.99 $2.12 per cocktail Hayman's Sloe Gin image

Hayman's London Dry Gin 750ml - makes 33 cocktails
$33.99 $1.03 per cocktail Hayman's London Dry Gin image

Monin Pure Cane Syrup (US) 750ml - makes 301 cocktails
$14.99 $0.05 per cocktail Monin Pure Cane Syrup (US) image

Angostura Aromatic Bitters 120ml - makes 384 cocktails
$13.99 $0.04 per cocktail Angostura Aromatic Bitters image

$3.24 per cocktail*

Makes a minimum of 16.5 cocktails.
Shipping and applicable tax calculated at checkout.

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* May not include all ingredients. Price per cocktail is an estimate based on cost of one cocktail with ingredients shown above and does not include shipping.

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Scott from Fife Premium Member 1y

A perfectly balanced sloe gin cocktail for an autumn evening

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