Lucien Gaudin

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (145 ratings)

Glass:

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 12 fl oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
12 fl oz Cointreau L'Unique triple sec liqueur
12 fl oz Italian red bitter liqueur
12 fl oz Strucchi Dry Vermouth chilled
× 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 8/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 7/10

Review:

A vintage French riff on a Negroni. This cocktail is perhaps better, certainly easier drinking when served on-the-rocks.

View readers' comments

History:

A vintage French riff on a Negroni. This cocktail is perhaps better, certainly easier drinking when served on-the-rocks.
O/ Named after Lucien Gaudin, a French fencer who achieved gold medals with two different weapons at the 1924 Olympics in Paris and the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam. After retiring from competitive sport, Gaudin became a journalist and co-owner of Les Films Sportifs, a sports media company noted for producing the film of the 1924 Olympics, now known as "the real Chariots of Fire Olympics." Sadly, the company was not a financial success, and Gaudin committed suicide in 1934 following its bankruptcy.

This cocktail, which won the Honorary Cup at the Professional Bartenders Championship in Paris on 2nd February 1929, first appears in the Cocktails de Paris Présentes book, published the same year. The recipe is credited to Charlie of Le Cheval Pie (The Black And White Horse), a Parisian restaurant that operated between 1925 and 1930, where Gaudin is thought to have been a regular.

LUCIEN·GAUDIN
1/2 Gordon's dry Gin
1/6 Campari
1/6 Cointreau
1/6 Vermouth français
Charlie, du « Cheval Pie ».
Coupe d'honneur au Championnat des Barmen professionnels, disputé à Paris le 2 février 1929.

Cocktails de Paris Presentes, 1929

Nutrition:

One serving of Lucien Gaudin contains 187 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.7 standard drinks
  • 27.11% alc./vol. (54.23° proof)
  • 24.5 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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29th March at 21:44
Just what Caspian wrote about the Campari and Cointreau. A growing diamant among the Negroni cocktails. Very nice.
13th January at 23:56
These ingredients seem the right proportions. I think works better, as shown, rather than on the rocks, unlike how I prefer my negroni. Might even grow to prefer to Negroni as it invites more variations.
13th December 2025 at 20:22
For me it's very nice, but kinda feels like a gin with seasonings, which is very pleasant, but I don't know if it's a full on cocktail flavor wise.
1st December 2025 at 00:15
I thought this was pretty good actually. I really like how the Campari and Countreau goes together. It's not super complex but it doesn't need to be. It's balanced with a nice orange flavor offset by the herbaceous gin and vermouth.
30th November 2025 at 04:34
Out of gin substituted Carta Blanca. Will definitely do again.
29th November 2025 at 16:51
Maybe it takes aeay from the spirit of the drink, but I found adding lemon juice— 1/4 of an average lemon (7.5 cl?) brightens the drink up.
1st December 2025 at 00:18
My controversial take on cocktails is that a lot of stirred drinks could benefit from a dash of lemon juice (or any acidity for that matter). I haven't tried your suggestion yet but wholeheartedly support it.
1st September 2025 at 22:38
My last name gave me a good reason to try this. It was definitely a vintage type of cocktail, pleasant but unusual. It feels like it needs something to bind it together.
30th August 2025 at 00:42
Very complex and tasty. On the rocks does improve the drink.
14th June 2025 at 11:46
It's really good. People that aren't fond of traditional Negronis should drink this, it has the perfect balance between sweet and bitter.
15th March 2025 at 11:26
Not to sound picky, but I think the photo is wrong, because it looks like there's a lemon zest twist but the recipe calls for an orange zest twist. Can someone check it please?
15th March 2025 at 12:05
Not a great pic, but I think it's an orange zest, and this is indeed what should be used.