Haystack Cocktail

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (125 ratings)
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    Haystack Cocktail

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Haystack Cocktail image

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)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of dried apricot.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. Garnish with dried apricot on rim.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 8/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 8/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Zesty, bittersweet and sweet 'n' sour, this Haystack will make you salivate – a tasty bittersweet & sour aperitivo. John didn't specify a garnish and although a dried apricot doesn't particularly suit the name, it goes well with the drink (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. (19.9° proof)
  • 16.9 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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Howard Griffin’s Avatar Howard Griffin
27th May at 04:51
I used Salers which definitely brought this cocktail down to earth.
0
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Andrew Gelb’s Avatar 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!
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Andrew Gelb’s Avatar 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!
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Charl Engela’s Avatar 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.
1
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Calvin Grant’s Avatar 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.
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Dee Stump’s Avatar 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.
1
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Nathalie O'Flynn’s Avatar 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
2
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Calvin Grant’s Avatar Calvin Grant
23rd November 2021 at 02:44
This cocktail is fantastic! I love Suze.
1
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SOUTH NORTH’s Avatar SOUTH NORTH
1st November 2021 at 14:27
I cut the suze from 30 to 15ml, perfect balanced with all flavours.
1
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Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
8th November 2021 at 18:41
I've just re-tried this cocktail and Suze is a huge part of its DNA and structure. Hence, such a large reduction in volume produces a quite different cocktail that deserves a new name. However, I have reduced Gentian a tad as hopefully will appeal to a wider audience.
4
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jesper Kling’s Avatar jesper Kling
13th August 2021 at 06:06
As a great lover of this cocktail I changed the Bourbon to Rye. Just for the fun of it. And whent from 3 cl to 4,5 cl. Then I cut the Gentian from 3 to 2 cl. It turned out realy lovely with a spicy kick from the Rye and with the Gentian stil present with intesity.
2
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Louis G’s Avatar Louis G
7th July 2021 at 22:38
I don't mind Suze, but I think next time I might cut it in half. Gentian goes well with bourbon though.
1
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