Name: Alfonso (Special)
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 25 ml Gin; 25 ml Grand Marnier; 15 ml Dry vermouth; 7.5 ml Rosso/sweet vermouth; 2 dash Aromatic bitters; 10 ml Chilled water

Alfonso (Special)
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
⁵⁄₆ oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
⁵⁄₆ oz	Grand Marnier or other cognac orange liqueur
¹⁄₂ oz	Strucchi Dry Vermouth
¹⁄₄ oz	Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
2 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters
¹⁄₃ oz	Chilled water omit if using wet ice

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

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

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Dry vermouth, Rosso/rouge/sweet vermouth (di Torino) - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Dry yet slightly sweet with hints of orange, gin and warm spice.

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History:

A vintage cocktail of unknown origin that features in Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book, William "Cocktail Bill" Boothby's posthumously published 1934 World's Drinks And How To Mix Them; and Victor J. Bergeron's 1972 Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide Revised.

ALFONSO (SPECIAL) COCKTAIL.
1 Dash Angostura Bitters.
4 Dashes Italian Vermouth.
¼ Dry Gin.
¼ French Vermouth.
½ Grand Marnier.
Shake well and strain into chilled cocktail.
Harry Craddock, 1930

ALFONSO
Grand Marnier . . . . . ½ jigger
Gin . . > > >. . . . . . . . ¼ jigger
Fr. Vermouth . . . . . . ¼ jigger
Bitters . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 drops
Shake well with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass and serve.
William Boothby, 1934

ALFONSO COCKTAIL
½ ounce gin
1 ounce Grand Marnier liqueur
½ ounce French vermouth
4 dashes Italian vermouth
1 dash Angostura bitters
Shake with ice cubes. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Victor Bergeron, 1972

Martini cocktail history and its evolution

Nutrition:

One serving of Alfonso (Special) contains 148 calories

Alcohol content:

1.4 standard drinks
23.19% alc./vol. (23.19° proof)
19.3 grams of pure alcohol

More Classic/vintage cocktails
More Martini-style 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.

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Showing 3 comments for Alfonso (Special).
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James Pratt

8th April 2022 at 22:17

This dates back further than Victor Bergeron: it’s in The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) (as the Alfonso (Special) Cocktail) and also in the 1934 edition of Boothby’s World Drinks And How To Mix Them (it’s not in the 1930 edition).

Simon Difford

9th April 2022 at 19:29

Thanks James. I've amended the origin as per your notes and I'll look into this more along with the Alice Mince cocktail ASAP.

John Hinojos

28th January 2022 at 01:00

This is a wonderful martini. The flavours go extremely well together. It is well balanced and perfect as an aperitif. Very much different from the tiki drinks he created.

Andy Parnell-Hopkinson

10th December 2021 at 18:35

Would never have expected such a delicately balanced gin drink from such a foul-mouth.

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