The Thunderer

Difford's Guide
Discerning Drinkers (4 ratings)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring.

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Martini glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.
  3. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  4. STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.
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Strength & taste guide:


Review:

The strength and cleanliness of vodka, lightly softened and flavoured with cassis berry fruit and parfait amour's floral aromatics.

History:

"The Thunderer" is the nickname of The Times newspaper, and this cocktail was created in 1982 for the newspaper by legendary London bartender Dick Bradsell, who was working at a London bar called Zanzibar. In his Dicktails book, Dick says, "This is the first drink I ever invented." The Times Saturday columnist Jane MacQuitty commissioned Bradsell and other leading London bartenders to create a cocktail for the newspaper, and Dick's was judged to be the best.

Since cocktails invite imaginative experiment, Saturday commissioned the Zanzibar's Dick Bradsell to create an original drink suitable for The Times and its readers. A panel of experienced imbibers sampled several impressive concoctions before giving its unanimous vote to one which, although not in the fashionable fruit-and-parasol idiom, may well become a classic. Lovely and lethal, from its colour to its satisfying impact, it should be just the thing to sip while turning from the leader page to the Court Circular. Choosing a name was not difficult.

The Thunderer
2 measures Stolichnaya vodka
1 teaspoon Creme de Cassis
½ teaspoon Parfait Amour

The ingredients must be ice-cold. Keep them in a small frosted cocktail glass (about 4oz) in the fridge until the moment arrives to swirl the Crème de Cassis around the inside of the glass. Add Parfait Amour and top up with the frozen vodka (at a pinch, any Russian or Polish vodka would do, or Smirnoff Silver). Serve instantly before the glass defrosts. The Parfait Amour may be omitted if its aroma is deemed too provocative.

Jane MacQuitty, The Times, 1982

Nutrition:

One serving of The Thunderer contains 185 calories.

Alcohol content:

  • 1.8 standard drinks
  • 30.14% alc./vol. (60.28° proof)
  • 24.9 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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Bacardi's birthday image

Bacardi's birthday

The founder of Bacardi was a Catalan wine merchant called Facundo Bacardi Massó, who left Spain for Cuba in 1830.

Valentine's Day image

Valentine's Day

You can't have failed to notice that 14 February is St. Valentine's Day, a time of year when a sum equivalent to the GDP of a small country is spent on

Fernand Petiot's birthday image

Fernand Petiot's birthday

On this day in 1900, Fernand Pete Petiot was born in Paris, to parents who owned a guesthouse - he would come to fame, correctly or otherwise, as the inventor

Margarita Day image

Margarita Day

There are days for most things in the US, but Margarita Day is a subject very close to our hearts. Because, no matter who invented this classic cocktail,

World Bartender Day image

World Bartender Day

We're celebrating what the Oxford English dictionary defines as a person serving drinks at a bar, but we know as creative, hard-working folk who satisfy

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