Name: The Ninth Ward
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Bourbon whiskey; 15 ml Elderflower liqueur; 10 ml Lime juice; 5 ml Falernum liqueur; 7.5 ml Sugar syrup (2:1); 2 dash Creole bitters; 10 ml Chilled water

The Ninth Ward
Jump to

Photographed in a Michelangelo Coppa 225ml

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Bourbon whiskey
¹⁄₂ oz	Elderflower liqueur
¹⁄₃ oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₆ oz	Difford's Falernum liqueur
¹⁄₄ oz	Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
2 dash	Peychaud's or other Creole-style bitters
¹⁄₃ oz	Chilled water omit if using wet ice

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of lime zest twist.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Express lime zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Brother, forgive me, I've tweaked your cocktail in the quest for harmony between whiskey, elderflower, falernum, and lime. Ideally, I also add 5ml (1 spoon) bottled-in-bond rye whiskey. The Ninth Ward cocktail is also perhaps best served on-the-rocks rather than straight-up.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created in 2008 by Robert "Brother Cleve" Toomey in Boston, USA for Tales of the Cocktail. The cocktail is a play on the classic Ward Eight and a homage to one of the New Orleans neighbourhoods hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina. His original recipe comprised:
45ml (1½oz) Bourbon
22.5ml (¾oz) Lime juice
22.5ml (¾oz) Falernum
15ml (½oz) Elderflower liqueur
2 dash Peychaud's bitters

More cocktails by Robert "Brother Cleve" Toomey

Nutrition:

One serving of The Ninth Ward contains 192 calories

Alcohol content:

1.3 standard drinks
19.24% alc./vol. (19.24° proof)
17.9 grams of pure alcohol

More Citrusy cocktails
More Floral (e.g. Elderflower spritz) cocktails
More Sours (citrus) 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.

Join the discussion

Showing 10 of 14 comments for The Ninth Ward.
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment

Caspian Berggren

15th December 2024 at 17:49

Difford's recipe is certainly delicious but a bit sweet. I'm surprised at how much the falernum shone through the bourbon and elderflower. Now I'm really curious about the original recipe. It feels like it's going to be more balanced in some ways, less balanced in others.

Peter McCarthy

8th October 2024 at 22:26

This was really tasty and well-balanced; everything combined to create something new as a whole.
Tried with 45 ml 50/50 blend of Wild Turkey 101 & 81 bourbon, 15 ml St-Germain, 10 ml lime juice, 5 ml Velvet Falernum, 7.5 ml Monin Pure Cane sugar syrup, 24 drops Peychaud's, 10 ml water, & lime zest twist. Shook for 12 seconds and served on the rocks. I'm curious to try the original recipe, to compare, as well as Difford's preference of adding 5 ml of bottled-in-bond rye (once I acquire some).

Shannon Brown

28th September 2024 at 20:13

After reading the reviews, I thought I’d try the original Ninth Ward. The only change I made was to serve it on the rocks (after shaking with ice). It’s a lovely well-balanced cocktail. Almost too sweet, but the lime juice counters it nicely. I’ll be making it again.

Calvin Grant

18th July 2024 at 03:47

Used a high rye bourbon 99 proof plus an extra 5ml of the same. Long shake, served on ice. Excellent.

Daniel Jones

13th May 2024 at 06:00

After reading Difford's recipe & Brother Cleve's, I chose some ratios for this cocktail based on my tinkering with other drinks where I liked the ingredients but knew it was going to be too sweet for me. I used 1.5 Elijah Craig Bourbon .25 Rittenhouse rye .5 St. Germain Elderflower liqueur .5 John D. Taylor's Velvet Falernum .5 Lime juice & 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters served up in a coupe. I'll reduce the Falernum to 1/3oz next time. The suggestion of Rye by Simon made this one to make again.

Kate Evans

9th September 2022 at 17:34

Tried this on the rocks - it’s good, but definitely needs to be iced or very well chilled, otherwise it would be too sweet.

Jill Ghosh

19th May 2022 at 12:34

We enjoyed this cocktail! A bit sweet for me. Next time I will leave out the simple. But overall, well balanced and tasty. I think this would be a good introduction drink for someone not sure about bourbon.