Bennett Cocktail

Serve in a

Garnish:

Float dehydrated lime wheel

How to make:

SHAKE all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled glass.

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.)

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 178 calories.

Alcohol content:

• 1.4 standard drinks
• 20.64% alc./vol. (41.28° proof)
• 20.3 grams of pure alcohol