Name: Blackthorn (English)
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Gin; 30 ml Sloe gin liqueur; 7.5 ml Rosso/sweet vermouth; 7.5 ml Dry vermouth; 1 dash Orange bitters; 1 dash Aromatic bitters

Ingredients

1 fl oz

Hayman's London Dry Gin

1 fl oz

Hayman's Sloe Gin liqueur

1/4 fl oz

Strucchi Rosso Vermouth

1/4 fl oz

Strucchi Dry Vermouth

1 dash

Orange Bitters by Angostura

1 dash

Angostura Aromatic Bitters

How to make

Glass

Prepare

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.

Prepare garnish of orange zest twist and Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.

Method

STIR all ingredients with ice.

FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

EXPRESS orange zest twist over cocktail and discard.

Garnish with skewered maraschino cherry.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Blackthorn (English) contains 157 calories

Alcohol content:

1.3 standard drinks
23.88% alc./vol. (47.76° proof)
18.1 grams of pure alcohol

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Rosso/rouge/sweet vermouth (di Torino), Dry vermouth — Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

History

The Blackthorn dates back to the 1890s and the Blackthorn No. 1 appears in William "Cocktail Bill" Boothby features a version of this cocktail in his 1908 World's Drinks And How To Mix Them. This version is adapted from one of five different Blackthorn recipes in Stanley M. Jones' 1977 Jones' Complete Barguide.

BLACKTHORN
Cocktail Glass Stir
Variation
1 oz gin
1 oz sloe gin
1/4 oz dry vermouth
1/4 oz sweet vermouth
1 dash orange bitters
1 dash Angostura bitters
Lemon twist, cherry

Stanley M. Jones, 1977

Comments & Discussion

Please log in to make a comment

Simon Sedgley Premium Member 1w

Substituting Cardamaro for the Vermouth Rosso worked very nicely for us here. And maybe goes some way towards addressing other commenters' misgivings about sweetness.

Larry Havard Premium Member 13w

I found this mostly medicine like due to the sloe gin. Really wasn’t impressed with this. I don’t know what would fix it for me, so my comment is pretty useless.

John CARR Premium Member 1y

Tried Sean baron’s suggestion using Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz gin, and swapped the angostura for 4 drops Bob’s chocolate bitters. My only regret is how insufficiently it fills a coupe! Very tasty I thought. I dub thee Sir Bloodthorn (it is lent, after all).

Stephen Broughall Premium Member 1y

Personally I would up the gin slightly and definitely reduce the sloe gin. As is, it is on the sweet side. As in the photo, use a cherry garnish rather than the orange. Don’t think it needs the bitters.

Caspian Berggren Premium Member 1y

I don't know why I expected a sweeter cocktail, considering sloe gin is a quite dry liqueur, but I did. This is almost like a perfect Martini in terms of sweetness, despite the sloe. It's honestly quite cool and can be riffed in multiple ways. This is why the classics are so interesting!

John CARR Premium Member 1y

Just noting that the image appears to show Cherry garnish, while text describes orange twist. Prob both god really… 🤩

Paloma Difford Verified User Premium Member 1y

Oopsy, thanks for spotting this John! The recipe calls for both…orange zest twist, discarded, and a maraschino cherry. We have amended the recipe accordingly.

John CARR Premium Member 1y

Yep, that’s the way I made mine - delish!

John CARR Premium Member 1y

Revisiting. Love these classic recipes and the unapologetic flavour hits. Sweet, sour, fruity and lovely touch of palate cleansing bitterness at the end - with a vermouth di Torino as suggested. It’s a classic for a reason!