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

Blackthorn (English)
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Glass:

Photographed in an Italesse Presidente Wormwood

Ingredients:
1 fl oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
1 fl oz	Hayman's Sloe Gin
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

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
Prepare garnish of orange zest twist and Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.

How to make:

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

Garnish:

EXPRESS orange zest twist over cocktail and discard.
Garnish with skewered maraschino cherry.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

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

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

A sloe berry-influenced fruity Perfect Martini.

View readers' comments

Variations/similar cocktails:

There are numerous blackthorn recipes, but they fall into two camps: one based on Irish whiskey 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.

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

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

More Classic/vintage cocktails
More Fruity (e.g. Pornstar Martini) cocktails
More Nightcap/sipping cocktails

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 11 comments for Blackthorn (English).
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Larry Havard

30th May at 19:48

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

4th April 2025 at 13:33

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

16th March 2025 at 23:56

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

15th March 2025 at 15:18

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

27th February 2025 at 13:33

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

Paloma Difford

4th April 2025 at 14:57

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.

1 reply

John CARR

13th October 2024 at 13:44

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!