Name: Old Friend
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Gin; 22.5 ml Pink grapefruit juice; 15 ml Red bitter liqueur; 10 ml Elderflower liqueur

Old Friend
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
³⁄₄ oz	Pink grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₂ oz	Strucchi Red Bitter (Campari-style liqueur)
¹⁄₃ oz	Elderflower liqueur

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of grapefruit zest twist.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
EXPRESS grapefruit zest twist over cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

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Review:

Tart, dry and lightly bitter, but with just enough underlying sweetness to stroke the palate and make another sip so very desirable – a complex, bittersweet taste sensation. Brilliant as an aperitif on a hot summer's evening.

Jim's original recipe calls for 7.5ml (¼oz) elderflower liqueur, but in October 2020, due to popular demand (see comments below), I amended the above recipe to have twice the volume of elderflower liqueur. Then, in June 2022, also in the pursuit of balance and pleasing the tastes of as many as possible, I nudged this back to 10ml (1/3oz). Given variations in citrus, I believe this is my final amendment.

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Variant:

Old Acquaintance
High Five
Ruby

History:

Adapted from a recipe created by Jim Meehan in 2012 for the cocktail menu at Chef's Club in Aspen, Colorado.

More cocktails by Jim Meehan

Nutrition:

One serving of Old Friend contains 168 calories

Alcohol content:

1.3 standard drinks
19.31% alc./vol. (19.31° proof)
17.9 grams of pure alcohol

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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 10 of 29 comments for Old Friend.
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Walter Brookbank

30th May at 19:00

Was surprised at how balanced, thought the Campari would be more pronounced. I did a hard shake with a gardenia petal in the tin and garnished with a fresh petal. Added a very nice floral nose to the cocktail. Gardenia petals are edible in low quantities. Very nice indeed! Nice mouth feel too!

John CARR

25th May 2024 at 11:17

Fruity and lightly tangy, with just the right amount of underlying sugar, herbs and bitterness to give it depth. Balance worked well for me, Campari was a lightly fruity undertone rather than dominating as it sometimes does. Very sippable.

John CARR

25th May 2024 at 11:20

I think this season’s (Australian) grapefruits are on the mild side so might need dial back as appropriate on another occasion.

Ian Fenton

24th May 2024 at 12:16

I love bitter, but I felt the red bitter liqueur (Luxardo in my case, which I believe is less bitter than Campari) absolutely dominated the drink. Couldn’t even detect the St Germain, and the Bulldog gin I was using didn’t stand a chance (is there a Pitbull gin?).

Sally Morgan

6th April 2024 at 18:24

Perfectly balanced for me at the current proportions. The bitterness of the grapefruit and Campari balance out the sweeter ingredients.

Yorey C

8th March 2024 at 07:57

Gilbey's ... it's kinda too much grapefruit honestly. not a bad jazz-up for a gin and juice but personally i kinda dont find it to have that legendary balance. kinda tastes like too much elder, ya know. not bad though. nice and dry

Avery Garnett

3rd March 2024 at 20:16

The first few sips...wow, this is bringing meaning to the idea of a drink being dry. But...it definitely improved. Greatly so.

Calvin Grant

5th January 2024 at 04:06

Oh My God My New Best Friend !... Nicely balanced. Each sip invited or practically demanded the next to try to identify the flavor sequence. Beefeater, Combier Liqueur de Sueau, Campari, Ocean Spray White Grapefruit Juice, pink grapefruit zest, perfect.

Yorey C

7th December 2023 at 10:31

Gordon's | Super Grapefruit | tangy, acidic. need to adjust super grapefruit ratios.

Abby Tyree

22nd September 2023 at 20:29

Huh. Tried this with Gunpowder and it was kind of terrible. All my fave ingredients but something was off? Elderflower absolutely overpowered, and as much as I adore Campari I think Aperol may be a better amaro to use. Using Gunpowder is on me, lovely flavor but didn’t match at all. French Gimlet, YES. This? Nope.

Frederic D.

14th June 2023 at 22:54

I made this with Drumshanbo Gunpowder gin and a generous pour of St. Germain, and found it very, very enjoyable. A good mix of gin botanicals, bitter background, and a sweet floral finish. I will definitely revisit this one.