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Froupe Cocktail

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (102 ratings)

Glass:

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 12 fl oz Cognac (brandy)
1 12 fl oz Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
16 fl oz Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur
2 dash Difford's Bokers Bitters By Bob's Bitters optional
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

  1. Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.

How to make:

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

Garnish:

  1. EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 5/10

Review:

A bittersweet, herbal old-school drink that's in line for rediscovery.

View readers' comments

Variations/similar cocktails:

The Addington

History:

It transpires (many thanks to Ian Fenton for pointing this out) that what we now know as the "Froupe" cocktail was originally named "Fioupe" and the spelling change most likely came about due to a mistake in its translation from this cocktail's first known appearance in Carlo Beltramo's 1924 Carlo's Cocktail et Boissons Américaines written in French. This explains that the cocktail was named after "Mr. Fioupe", who "was, before the war, a well-known figure all along the Riviera."

Fioupe Cocktail
Prepare in a tumbler half-filled with ice cubes: equal parts of Italian vermouth and good old Cognac, 1 teaspoon of Bénédictine. - Stir well and pour into a cocktail glass with a lemon zest.

Mr. Fioupe was, before the war, a well-known figure all along the Riviera.

Carlo Beltramo, Carlo's Cocktail et Boissons Américaines, 1924 (translated from French)

This cocktail's notoriety is mostly due to its inclusion in Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book.

FROUPE COCKTAIL.
1 Teaspoon Bénédictine.
½ Italian Vermouth.
½ Brandy.
Stir well and strain into cocktail glass.

Harry Craddock, 1930

Nutrition:

One serving of Froupe Cocktail contains 187 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.5 standard drinks
  • 22.58% alc./vol. (45.15° proof)
  • 21.6 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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5th July at 12:38
I didn't use any bitters because they were optional, but it's a very tasty and balanced cocktail despite the big amount of vermouth.
It would be possible to use another type of bitters?
5th July at 12:59
We think that Angostura or Orange Bitters would work just fine. Maybe just one dash if you're a bit shy when it comes to bitters. We really enjoy this cocktail.
2nd June at 16:03
Beautifully balanced and complex. A subtle and elegant alternative to a 'big' late night digestivo. We enjoyed it with some Red Leicester.
1st June at 03:01
. I was not expecting it.to be this good. But it was. Didn't have bokers, so substituted dash ango and 1 dash cardamom bitters
19th May at 23:39
Measuring in ounces, the math will be hard, but I need to remember to make this as 3:2:1/2. As is, it is a delicious after dinner drink.
20th May at 05:18
Perhaps 60ml : 40ml : 10ml ?
20th March 2025 at 17:35
More complex than I expected with a bitter sweet finish. I do think the bitters are more than optional.
7th February 2025 at 01:58
Tastes great! I substituted licor 43 for the Benedictine.
12th December 2024 at 02:12
For fun, replaced the vermouth with Gancia Americano. Very nice cocktail.
23rd July 2024 at 13:22
Accidentally put 7.5 ml Benedictine instead of 5. The balance was thrown but the flavour was immense! And I’m a bit agnostic on Benedictine but shows what it does in the drink!
10th February 2024 at 11:57
I came back to try a Cynar variation; more of the Addington than the Froupe, but my curiosity led to this gem:
“ If you look up the word “froupe” in Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary, you’ll find it means “To dive with a sudden impetuosity. A word out of use.” But more than that, it’s a word that never existed. Dr. Johnson, having misread the word “soupe,” meaning to swoop, created a new word.” from Professor Jack Lynch.
12th July 2024 at 10:44
In a beautiful irony, I have found the “Fioupe” in the 1924 “Les Cocktails et Les Boissons Americaines”.

“Prepare in the tumbler half-filled with broken ice: Equal parts of Italian vermouth and good old Cognac, 1 teaspoon of Bénédictine. Stir well and pour into the cocktail glass with lemon zest.

Mr. Fioupe was, before the war, a very well-known figure throughout the Riviera.”

So “froupe” exists both as a word and a cocktail due to transliteration errors.
24th July 2023 at 03:42
Just because Craddock's customers back in the 1920's liked equal proportions doesn't mean we still have to overwhelm the cognac with vermouth. 2 oz cognac to 1 oz vermouth works fine. And I like the addition of Boker's, which Craddock could have done back then (though it's not in his book).