Name: Haystack Cocktail
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Bourbon whiskey; 25 ml Gentian liqueur; 15 ml Apricot liqueur; 15 ml Lemon juice

Haystack Cocktail
Jump to

Glass:

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 oz	Bourbon whiskey
⁵⁄₆ oz	Gentian liqueur (e.g. Suze, Salers etc)
¹⁄₂ oz	Luxardo Apricot Albicocca Liqueur
¹⁄₂ oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
Prepare garnish of dried apricot.

How to make:

SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish:

Garnish with dried apricot on rim.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

A zesty, bittersweet and sweet 'n' sour aperitivo to make you salivate. John didn't specify a garnish, and although a dried apricot doesn't particularly suit the name, it goes well with the cocktail (which, incidentally, we prefer served on the rocks).

View readers' comments

History:

Created in 2017 by John Barraclough, London, England, who describes his drink as "a yellow version of Sam Ross's Paper Plane" that has "the perfume of a hayfield in late summer."

Nutrition:

One serving of Haystack Cocktail contains 152 calories

Alcohol content:

1.2 standard drinks
19.9% alc./vol. (39.79° proof)
16.9 grams of pure alcohol

More Aperitivo/aperitif cocktails
More Bittersweet (e.g. Negroni) cocktails

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.

Join the discussion

Showing 10 of 16 comments for Haystack Cocktail.
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment

Jacques Gaudin

28th September at 00:22

This one requires precision. Whilst the haystack effect is definitely there, it's a bit of a niche flavour. Not a crowd pleaser but I personally liked it for its uniqueness.

Loz Horner

2nd August at 16:14

God yes. Dial down the suze and dial up the apricot brandy. It’s astringent. But good.

John CARR

29th July at 15:25

Yes, I did stir and serve on a Rock. Found this one tricky to balance, ended up adding a touch more apricot liqueur (what a sacrifice) and bourbon to roughly 40ml. No apricot garnish to hand so used a Cara orange wheel (kind of half way to a blood Orange) and was very happy. Ultimately inspired by Last Word but nothing like it. The Suze takes it vaguely in the direction of a white negroni - a white boulevardier?!? Very delicious either way.

John CARR

2nd August at 15:50

Retried: shook and served on a Rock. Delicious and highly moreish. Could easily sink a couple in a row. Keep ‘em wanting more.

Florian Ruf

26th June at 16:42

Tried this cocktail stirred (I know ...) and found the Suze a bit too dominant. Next time I will try to balance it better in relations to bourbon. Simon's idea to serve it on the rocks might be perfect.

John CARR

29th July at 15:26

Yeah I bumped up both bourbon and apricot.

Howard Griffin

27th May at 04:51

I used Salers which definitely brought this cocktail down to earth.

Andrew Gelb

12th January 2024 at 02:54

Excellent and complex, we really like it. I use a full 1 measure of the Suze. Cheers!

Andrew Gelb

24th April at 19:59

And now, with a little passage of time, I think the slightly less than 1 part Suze works better. Once again, Simon proves correct!

Charl Engela

23rd August 2023 at 23:01

Really nice drink. I was tired after a long drive so I made this on the rocks in a 2:1:1:1 ratio (bourbon being 2) direct in the glass with big ice and stirred. Lovely. Quite sour in this ratio but both apricot and gentian are noticeable in the mix. A keeper.

Calvin Grant

26th October 2022 at 01:02

Tastes great with Salers. Think I'll bump it back up to 30ml next time. Also try a dusting of nutmeg.

Calvin Grant

23rd July at 00:35

Out of bourbon, only 18ml of JD; made up the difference with Laird's bottled in bond apple brandy. Not bad! (Salers 16%)

1 reply

Dee Stump

26th May 2022 at 03:24

I was 5ml's short on lemon juice and thought to add 5ml's of bottled yuzu. The Suze and Yuzu gave a flavor honestly identical to eating a raw habanero. Herbal, fruity, and floral. A beautiful accident I must say.

Nathalie O'Flynn

25th April 2022 at 15:41

Made this today but should have read the comments first. I found it too bitter but perhaps could try this again and reduce the Suze. Perhaps add a bit of sugar syrup

See discussion in the Forum