Name: RAC Cocktail
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 50 ml Gin; 25 ml Dry vermouth; 25 ml Rosso/sweet vermouth; 2.5 ml Grenadine syrup; 1 dash Orange bitters

RAC Cocktail
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Glass:

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 ²⁄₃ fl oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
⁵⁄₆ fl oz	Strucchi Dry Vermouth
⁵⁄₆ fl oz	Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
¹⁄₁₂ fl oz	Monin Grenadine Syrup
1 dash	Orange Bitters by Angostura

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 maraschino cherry.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Dry vermouth, 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:

A one-to-one Perfect Martini with extra grenadine sweetness and orange bitters adding complexity.

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AKA: R.A.C. Special Cocktail

History:

The house cocktail at London's Royal Automobile Club, a private members' club awarded its royal title by King Edward VII in 1907. The club moved to its splendid 89 Pall Mall address in 1911.

The R.A.C. cocktail's first appearance in a recipe book is Robert Vermeire's 1922 Cocktails: How to Mix Them, where its creation is credited to Fred Faechs in 1914.

R.A.C Cocktail.
Fill the bar glass half full of broken ice and add:
¼ gill of Dry Gin.
1/8 gill of French Vermouth.
1/8 gill of Italian Vermouth.
1 dash of Grenadine.
1 dash Orange Bitters.
Stir up well, strain into a cocktail-glass, add a cherry, and squeeze-orange peel on top.
R.A.C. means Royal Automobile Club. This is the largest club in London with, with over 16,000 members.
(Recipe by Fred Faechs, 1914.)
Robert Vermeire, Cocktails - How to Mix Them, 1922

The cocktail, apparently, also features in the 1924 book Kokuteeru written by Japanese bartender Yonekichi Maeda and considered the first modern Japanese bartending book.

The R.A.C. also appears in the 1933 The Green Cocktail Book written by the mysterious" Jimmy".

R.A.C.
2 parts Dry Gin.
1 part French Vermouth
1 part Italian Vermouth
1 dash Grenadine per cocktail
1 dash Orange Bitters per cocktail
Squeeze a piece of orange peel on top, and serve with a cherry.
The Green Cocktail Book by Jimmy, 1932

And in Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book.

R.A.C. SPECIAL COCKTAIL.
2 Dashes Orange Bitters.
¼ French Vermouth.
¼ Italian Vermouth.
½ Dry Gin.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel on top.
Harry Craddock, 1930

Nutrition:

One serving of RAC Cocktail contains 185 calories

Alcohol content:

1.6 standard drinks
22.35% alc./vol. (44.71° proof)
23 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 10 comments for RAC Cocktail.
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Shawn Clark

11 hours ago

The history is incomplete. The R.A.C. Cocktail was in Robert Vermeire's 1922 "Cocktails: How to Mix Them" on page. 42. This explains why it is also in the 1924 Japanese work "Kokuteeru" by Yonekichi Maeda. This latter work was republished as an English translation in 2022, and the R.A.C. recipe is on page 79.

Simon Difford

9 hours ago

Many thanks for the heads-up, Shawn. I've updated the history as best as I'm able until I get my hands on a translated copy of Kokuteeru. Please bear with me.

Joseph Nelson

20th November 2025 at 01:41

I am quite the fan of the Perfect Martini (or most drinks that mix equal parts dry and sweet vermouth) and that little splash of grenadine makes this just a little bit extra fine for me. Great company cocktail.

Calvin Grant

20th November 2025 at 02:55

Saw your comment on the log in page and thought I'd give it a try. Glad I did thanks. Tasted it before adding the zest and what a difference the orange zest made.

1 reply

Miguel Perales

15th March 2025 at 21:42

Definitely dry "Martini" notes with slight sweetness that finishes with the orange bitters. Very nice cocktail. Will add to rotation.

Tuber Magnatum

9th December 2024 at 00:26

Lovely cocktail and as suggested by John Hinojos, an excellent before dinner drink. I would add that if using grenadine rather than pomegranate syrup, the choice of grenadine is critical. By that I mean, this drink benefits from (requires?) home made grenadine!

John Hinojos

27th November 2022 at 01:43

Very delightful and much more complex in flavour than I was expecting. Not overly sweet and perfect for before dinner. Will definitely have this one again.

peter holmes

10th June 2022 at 23:38

Unusually complex with lots of layers of taste. Not too sweet. It doesn't taste like but I think this a bit of a smiling assassin.

Letti Penguin

30th January 2021 at 12:17

My old cocktail book suggests you can substitute dry orange curacao for orange bitters

Chrystelle b

16th January 2021 at 12:29

I’ve replaced the grenadine with a violet syrup, is more discret and better to taste ?

Louise Allen

25th November 2020 at 21:53

This is a deceptively light and crisp drink. The touch of sweetness from the grenadine really balances it out.

Doug Charnock

25th November 2020 at 01:34

Very nice, not too sweet with a good complexity. We enjoyed it more than the Pall Mall cocktail we had last night, which was similar but a bit too sweet. It’s also an opportunity to use cherries as a garnish, which is a positive for both of us ?.

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