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Ideal

Name: Ideal
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 25 ml Gin; 25 ml Dry vermouth; 25 ml Rosso/sweet vermouth; 5 ml Maraschino liqueur; 7.5 ml Pink grapefruit juice

Difford’s Guide

Discerning Drinkers (43)

Measurements in:

Serves:

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Ingredients
⁵⁄₆ fl oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
⁵⁄₆ fl oz	Strucchi Dry Vermouth
⁵⁄₆ fl oz	Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
¹⁄₆ fl oz	Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
¹⁄₄ fl oz	Pink grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)

How to make

Glassware

Serve in a Coupe glass

Method

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
Prepare garnish of serve with almonds on the side.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Ideal contains 137 calories

Alcohol content:

1.1 standard drinks
17.14% alc./vol. (34.28° proof)
16.1 grams of pure alcohol

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

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

History

The first known appearance of this classic cocktail is in Hugo R. Ensslin's 1917 Recipes for Mixed Drinks (2nd Edition) (It may have also appeared in his 1916 first edition.)

IDEAL COCKTAIL
1/3 Italian vermouth
2/3 Dry Gin
3 dashes Maraschino
Juice of a small piece of grapefruit
Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain and serve.
Hugo R. Ensslin, 1917

Like so many other cocktails in Ensslin's book, it also features in Harry Craddock's influential 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book, and then the next year in Cuba's
Sloppy Joe's Bar 1931-32 Season menu/manual.

IDEAL COCKTAIL.
3 Dashes Maraschino.
1/3 Italian Vermouth.
2/3 Dry Gin.
1 Teaspoon Grapefruit Juice.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Serve small nut in glass.
Harry Craddock, 1930

IDEAL
1 Teaspoon of sugar.
1 Part of Grapefruit juice.
2 Parts of Gin.
1 Part of Noilly Prat Vermouth.
Shake with ice, and serve in a tall glass.".
Sloppy Joe's, 1932

However, our recipe is adapted from the recipe in the 1937 Bar Florida Cocktails menu (later renamed Floridita), Havana, Cuba.

IDEAL
¼ Grapefruit
1 Teaspoon Maraschino
1/3 Martini Rosso Vermouth
1/3 Noilly Prat Vermouth
1/3 Gordon Gin
Cracked Ice.
Shake very well and strain into cocktail glass. Serve with a few almonds.
Bar La Florida Cocktails, 1937

Review

On the dry, tart side of bittersweet with hints of freshening zesty grapefruit and dry gin botanicals which cut through heavier vermouth notes. The maraschino is subtle but key.

Hayman's London Dry Gin 750ml - makes 30 cocktails
$33.99 $1.13 per cocktail Hayman's London Dry Gin image

Luxardo Maraschino liqueur 375ml - makes 75 cocktails
$32.99 $0.44 per cocktail Luxardo Maraschino liqueur image

$1.57 per cocktail*

Makes a minimum of 30 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.

Comments & Discussion

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John Hinojos Premium Member 3y

Great cocktail and do go perfect with almonds. Just a little hint of sweet, but the combination does have a nice herbal taste with a hint of spice. Was perfect before dinner. Along with the almonds we include an organic sharp cheddar.

maybe carve 6y

It is interesting to find this recipe in the earliest cocktail manual by Sloppy Joe which is available on euvs, for the 1932 season (note: this edition is full of errors, and it is interesting to see the recipes change through subsequent editions).

Simon Difford Verified User Premium Member 6y

Many thanks for bringing the Sloppy Joe manual to my attention. I've added to the history notes above and included a link to EUVS. I've also just remade and tweaked the recipe [21.Aug.20] by reducing each of the vermouths and gin from 30ml to 25ml to lift the influence of both the grapefruit and maraschino.

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