Ideal

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (38 ratings)

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
56 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
56 oz Strucchi Dry Vermouth
56 oz Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
16 oz Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
14 oz Pink grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of serve with almonds on the side.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 8/10

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.

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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
ΒΌ 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

Nutrition:

One serving of Ideal contains 137 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.1 standard drinks
  • 17.14% alc./vol. (17.14° proof)
  • 15 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 Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
24th March 2023 at 00:05
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.
21st August 2020 at 00:37
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’s Avatar Simon Difford
21st August 2020 at 08:59
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.