Name: Comet Cocktail
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Cognac (brandy); 7.5 ml Triple sec; 7.5 ml Honey herbal liqueur; 30 ml Pink grapefruit juice; 5 ml Sugar syrup 'rich' (2:1); 1 dash Aromatic bitters

Ingredients

1 1/2 fl oz

Cognac (brandy)

1/4 fl oz

Cointreau L'Unique triple sec liqueur

1/4 fl oz

Honey herbal liqueur (e.g. Drambuie)

1 fl oz

Pink grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)

1/6 fl oz

Sugar syrup 'rich' (2 sugar to 1 water) 65.0°Brix

1 dash

Angostura Aromatic Bitters

How to make

Glassware

Prepare

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.

Prepare garnish of grapefruit zest twist.

Method

SHAKE all ingredients with ice.

FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

EXPRESS grapefruit zest twist over cocktail and use as garnish.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Comet Cocktail contains 171 calories

Alcohol content:

1.4 standard drinks
18.63% alc./vol. (37.25° proof)
19 grams of pure alcohol

History

Created in 1952 by Eddie "King Cocktail" Clarke at the Albany Club, Albermarle Street, London, England. Made to honour the first-ever jet aircraft to fly a commercial route. The de Havilland DH 106 Comet was developed and manufactured by de Havilland at its Hatfield Aerodrome, Hertfordshire, England. The Comet 1 prototype, registered G-ALYP ("Yoke Peter") first flew on 27th July 1949. This same aircraft, on 2nd May 1952 took off from London bound for Johannesburg on a scheduled BOAC service as the world's first jetliner flight with fare-paying passengers.

Eddie Clarke's original recipe called for Van der Hum, a South African orange liqueur, undoubtedly selected by Eddie due to the destination of that inaugural flight. The use of equal parts triple sec and Drambuie is an accepted substitution but leaves this cocktail on the bitter side, hence I've added a spoon of sugar syrup.

Comments & Discussion

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Matthew Kay 42w

Very nice!

G. M. Genovese Premium Member 1y

The re-engineering of this recipe to make it taste unique enough from the Sidecar is ridiculous. I've been through five spec tweaks and none of them truly highlight the grapefruit, even after replacing the Ango with BT Grapefruit bitters (which I'm second+ guessing because it removes underlying complexity)... The recipe above is reluctantly my favorite, and the most distinctive, despite not resulting in a moreish swill... I'll keep chipping away...

Jonathan Stephens Premium Member 3y

Didn’t seem to add up to sum of its parts for me. Might try Drambuie in a regular sidecar though.

John Hinojos Premium Member 4y

It was very, very good. Like the lift the grapefruit gives the cocktail. Since our grapefruits are tree ripened and tend to be a bit sweeter, we left out the sugar syrup.

Calvin Grant Premium Member 4y

This is really good with white grapefruit juice. Were pink grapefruits available in '52?

John Hinojos Premium Member 4y

Yes, the ruby red grapefruit was patented in 1929.

Lorenzo Thayn 5y

Isn't this supposed to be a dash of bitters not an ounce?

Simon Difford Verified User Premium Member 5y

Whoops! Thanks for letting me know Lorenzo. Selecting "1 shot" rather than "1 dash" when uploading recipes is a mistake I've made a few too many times. Now fixed.

Sally Morgan Premium Member 5y

I found this on the bitter side, so upped the drambuie to 10ml and that was more balanced for me

Simon Difford Verified User Premium Member 5y

Agreed Sally. I tried 10ml Drambuie but seemed to dominate so I added the tried and trusted "spoon full of sugar." One day I hope to try the original recipe with an old bottle of Van der Hum.