Bennett Cocktail

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (64 ratings)

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
2 oz Hayman's Old Tom Gin
34 oz Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
12 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
2 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of float dehydrated lime wheel.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Strength & taste guide:

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

Review:

The judicious dashing of bitters makes or breaks this Gimlet-like cocktail which tastes good when made with a dry gin but better when made with an old tom gin, as per the original 1922 recipe. (If your old tom gin is sweet, reduce the sugar syrup.)

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History:

The Bennett Cocktail was first published in Robert Vermeire's 1922 Cocktails: How to Mix Them and then repeated in the 1930 book Cocktails by "Jimmy" Late of Ciro's London written by the mysterious Jimmy. Both recipes are based on old tom gin and without the addition of sugar.

Most modern versions of the Bennett, including that made in 2015 by Meaghan Dorman at The Bennett in New York City, USA call for dry gin rather than old tom.

Bennett Cocktail
Fill the shaker half full of broken ice and add:
2 dashes of Angostura Bitters.
2/6 gill of Old Tom Gin.
1/6 gill of fresh Lime Juice.
Shake well and strain into a cocktail-glass.
This cocktail, which is very popular in Chili, is called after the well-known and popular landowner and millionaire of that country.

Robert Vermeire, Cocktails - How to Mix Them, 1922

BENNETT
2 parts Old Tom Gin
1 part Lime Juice
2 dashes Angostura Bitters per cocktail.

Cocktails by "Jimmy" Late of Ciro's London, 1930

Nutrition:

One serving of Bennett Cocktail contains 177 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.3 standard drinks
  • 18.82% alc./vol. (18.82° proof)
  • 18.5 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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Shannon Brown’s Avatar Shannon Brown
30th September 2024 at 21:04
One of my favourite cocktails! I’m surprised that it’s not more well-known. I guess it’s another pre-prohibition cocktail that’s been forgotten. It deserves a resurgence in popularity.
G. M. Genovese’s Avatar G. M. Genovese
10th May 2024 at 12:03
Fantastic with Hayman's and cane syrup. With the Ango, this is like, "why didn't I think improvising something like this?"
Miguel Perales’ Avatar Miguel Perales
13th April 2024 at 21:35
Very nice, easy to drink cocktail. Nicely balanced. The Angostura bitters show up at the end for a great finish.
John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
6th September 2023 at 00:26
Much milder than I was expecting. Nice punch from the lemon juice. Not overly sweet, but perfectly balanced.
24th July 2023 at 13:12
It appears before, in "Cocktails: How to Make Them" by Robert Vermeire, 1922, with the same recipe.
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
24th July 2023 at 16:12
Many thanks for letting me know, I've amended above accordingly.