Name: The Opening Act
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 60 ml Ginger liqueur; 15 ml Red bitter liqueur; 15 ml Lime juice; 1 dash Orange bitters; Top up with Tonic water

The Opening Act
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Serve in a Collins glass

Ingredients:
2 oz	Ginger liqueur
¹⁄₂ oz	Strucchi Red Bitter (Campari-style liqueur)
¹⁄₂ oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
1 dash	Orange Bitters by Angostura
Top up with	Thomas Henry Tonic Water

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Garnish: Mint sprig

How to make:

SHAKE first 4 ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled glass. TOP with tonic water.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Bitter liqueur and ginger topped with tonic, a surprisingly good combo. Adult and balanced. A great long drink.

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History:

Adapted from a recipe originally created by Andrew Pollard for the 2010 Domaine de Canton Bartender of the Year competition winning 'Best Overall Cocktail'.

Nutrition:

One serving of The Opening Act contains 226 calories

Alcohol content:

0.9 standard drinks
13.87% alc./vol. (13.87° proof)
12.5 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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Showing 4 comments for The Opening Act.
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G. M. Genovese

9th September 2024 at 19:52

This blew away my expectations severalfold, whatever they may have been... Made this with Barrow's, Campari, Ango orange, and Fever Tree Tonic Water... Shot up to my top 25 maybe (at least top 50). Fantastic!

James Casswell

15th April 2023 at 21:54

Doesn't taste alcoholic (which is a tad worrying..) but refreshing and delicious. Perhaps my favourite long drink, certainly one of.

James Brooke

10th October 2021 at 17:41

Excuse me if this is a silly question, but lots of the recipes say “adapted from…” and I’m interested to know what “adapted from…” means?
How different is the recipe given from the original?
This is a lovely drink by the way.

Simon Difford

11th October 2021 at 07:20

“Adapted from is something I add to pretty much all origins now as there is almost always some change from the original recipe, some as small as fine straining or not fine straining through to more significant changes in measures or ingredients. It also frees me to stipulate brands that may not have originally been used. I now also tend to add the original recipe or a note to highlight and significant change I’ve made.”

Tristan Riggs

12th July 2020 at 23:25

for a long drink, this is simply ideal; sweet spicy ginger, balanced with bitter, and a hint of citrus. wonderful!

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