Name: Creole Cocktail
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 37.5 ml Rye whiskey 50% abv; 37.5 ml Rosso/sweet vermouth; 10 ml Amer Picon; 7.5 ml Bénédictine D.O.M.

Creole Cocktail
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Glass:

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₄ fl oz	Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)
1 ¹⁄₄ fl oz	Strucchi Rosso Vermouth chilled
¹⁄₃ fl oz	Amer Picon chilled
¹⁄₄ fl oz	Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

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

How to make:

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

Garnish:

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

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

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

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Short and punchy and Manhattan-like. Best appreciated as an after-dinner digestivo or late-night sipper. Thanks to feedback and much refining, I'm happy this recipe balances the spirituous spice of rye with herbal aromatised wine and rich herbal liqueur notes.

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Variations/similar cocktails:

Creole Cocktail No. 2

History:

Adapted from a recipe in Jacques Straub's 1913 Manual of Mixed Drinks. It also notably appears in Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book.

CREOLE COCKTAIL
⅓ Jigger Absinthe.
⅔ Jigger Italian Vermouth.
Shake well.
Jacques Straub, Manual of Mixed Drinks, 1913

CREOLE COCKTAIL.
½ Rye or Canadian Club Whisky.
½ Italian Vermouth.
2 Dashes Bénédictine.
2 Dashes Amer Picon.
Stir well and strain into cocktail glass. Twist lemon peel on top.
Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book, 1930

More cocktails by Jacques Straub

Nutrition:

One serving of Creole Cocktail contains 200 calories

Alcohol content:

1.7 standard drinks
25.44% alc./vol. (50.88° proof)
23.6 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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Showing 7 comments for Creole Cocktail.
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Frederic D.

25th March at 02:02

I also used China-China in place if Picon, and I used a 3/2 ratio of Vya to Cocchi for the vermouth. It all worked really well. Perfectly balanced, with just the right level of spice. I might have to try some orange bitters next time.

Simon Sedgley

23rd February at 11:03

For us, the Amer Picon really 'chills' this in a lovely, gentle way. Having said which, we couldn't resist adding a dash of orange bitters, just to give it a slight edginess. If you're feeling a bit mellow, this is the one.

Mel Donahue

22nd February at 05:30

Tried for the first time, agree it’s a delicious after supper sipper. Swapped in China-China for the Amer since I’m in the US, thought it worked great. May try the alternate measurements (45/45/10/10) next time I make it.

Tuber Magnatum

14th December 2024 at 23:52

Tried this tonight and notwithstanding Simon's review suggesting this best as a late night drink, I had as an apertivo. However I did try his as of Dec. 2024 preference a 45/45/10/10 ratio. For me this was right on. I am a fan of Amer Picon and being fortunate enough to have some from a trip to England wanted to take advantage of the larger volume suggested by Simon. I was a bit worried the 10ml of D.O.M would add too much sweetness but for me it was very well balanced.

Simon Difford

21st February at 17:53

I’ve just re-tried several specs and find myself sticking with the recipe above. However, I have also ticked our aperitivo box.

Gonzalo Morelli

23rd May 2024 at 03:41

Si bien pude encontrar la primer receta mencionada en el libro de Straub, no logré encontrar la segunda mencionada, la cual encontré en el libro de Hugo Ensslin de 1917 en la página 13.

Simon Difford

23rd May 2024 at 07:33

As per the text, the second quotation is from Harry Craddock’s 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book. I relabelled this quotation. Thanks for bringing to my attention.

1 reply

Chris Brislawn

19th March 2024 at 03:09

It's Grohusko's Brooklyn with the maraschino liqueur replaced by Benedictine for even more herbal complexity. Used 3:2:1:1 proportions of Whistle Pig rye, Carpano Classico, Golden Moon Amer dit Picon (from Colorado), and Benedictine. In a nod to the name I gave it a good dash of Bitter Truth Creole Bitters. Still a tad sweet, will probably cut the Benedictine a bit next time. Excellent mix, esp. if you like Brooklyns, but is it Big Apple or Big Easy?

Whitney B

24th February 2024 at 13:01

Love this drink, but I have two questions. What would you substitute for the Amer Picon for those of us in the USA (where it's not available)? Have you tried this with Picon Biere, which was the only Picon I could find in France last summer? How does that compare to the Amer? Thanks everyone!

Rob San

20th February at 23:54

I've not made this cocktail, but have a substantial page of saved substitutions & will at least try this: Mix equal parts of Averna, Suze, & Cointreau, then add a few dashes of Angostura orange bitters to replicate the profile of Amer Picon.

1 reply

Matt Excell

29th February 2024 at 14:59

In addition to the already mentioned Bigallet, Amaro CioCiaro is also recommended by David Wondrich.

Personally, I prefer the recipe that Arnaud's use, with Punt e Mes instead of regular sweet vermouth and more of the other two modifiers:
- 45ml Rye
- 15ml Punt e Mes
- 15ml Benedictine
- 15ml Amer Picon (or substitute)

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