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Blackthorn No. 4

Name: Blackthorn No. 4
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Gin; 30 ml Red quinquina e.g. Dubonnet, Byrrh; 15 ml Kirschwasser; 1 dash Orange bitters

Difford’s Guide

Discerning Drinkers (14)

Measurements in:

Serves:

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Ingredients
1 1/2 fl oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
1 fl oz	Dubonnet, Byrrh etc. rouge light quinquina
1/2 fl oz	Kirschwasser (cherry) eau-de-vie
1 dash	Orange Bitters by Angostura

How to make

Glassware

Serve in a Coupe glass

Prepare

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.

Method

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

Garnish

EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Blackthorn No. 4 contains 152 calories

Alcohol content:

1.7 standard drinks
25.74% alc./vol. (51.47° proof)
23.3 grams of pure alcohol

History

This, one of the numerous versions of the Blackthorn cocktail, first appears in the 1930 Swallows edition of William "Cocktail Bill" Boothby's World Drinks and How To Prepare Them.

BLACKTHORN
Sloe Gin . . . . . . . . . ⅓
It. Vermouth . . . . . ⅓
Fr. Vermouth . . . . ⅓
Orange bitters . . . . 1 dash
bitters . . . . . . . . . . . 2 drops
Stir well with ice, strain into chilled glass, twist lemon peel over and serve.

BLACKTHORN, NO. 2
Sloe Gin . . . . . . . . . ⅓
Bitters . . . . . . . . . . . 2 drops
It. Vermouth . . . . . ⅓
Sweet-Sour . . . . . . 1 spoon
Orange bitters . . . . 2 dashes
Stir well with ice, strain into chilled glass and serve.

BLACKTHORN, NO. 3
Whiskey . . . . . . . . . ½ jigger
Fr. Vermouth . . . . . ½ jigger
Absinthe . . . . . . . . . 1 spoon
Bitters . . . . . . . . . . 3 drops
Stir well with ice, strain into chilled glass and serve.

BLACKTHORN, NO. 4
Gin . . . . . . . . . . . . . ½ jigger
Dubonnet . . . . . . . . ¼ jigger
Kirschwasser . . . . . ¼ jigger
Stir well with ice, strain into chilled glass and serve.
William Boothby, World Drinks and How To Prepare Them, 1930

Review

This drink benefits from a long, chilling and diluting stir. The result is Martini in style, fruity yet dry.

Variations/similar cocktails

There are numerous blackthorn recipes, but they fall into two camps: one based on Irish whisky with vermouth and absinthe and the other with gin/sloe gin and vermouth. The numbering of the various Blackthorn variations starts in the 1930 Swallows edition of Boothby's World's Drinks And How To Mix Them and continues in his posthumously published 1934 edition, where he adds the Blackthorn No. 5.
Blackthorn No. 1 - sloe gin, rosso vermouth, dry vermouth, aromatic bitters, orange bitters.
Blackthorn No. 2 - sloe gin, rosso vermouth, sugar syrup, lemon juice, aromatic bitters, orange bitters.
Blackthorn No. 3 (AKA Blackthorn Irish) - Irish whiskey, dry vermouth, absinthe, Bokers bitters.
Blackthorn No. 4 - gin, Dubonnet, kirshwasser, orange bitters.
Blackthorn No. 5 - gin, sloe gin, dry vermouth, lemon juice, sugar syrup, aromatic bitters.
Blackthorn (English) - gin, sloe gin, rosso vermouth, dry vermouth, orange bitters, aromatic bitters.

Gallery

Comments & Discussion

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John CARR Premium Member 1y

Very pleasant. I only had the rather mediocre Weis Kirschwasser, but can see this angling for an extra hall a star with a nice one. Good call on the extra Dubonnet compared to Boothby.

J. E. Clapham of Clapham Cocktails 2y

An underrated classic, called Blackthorn No. 4 in The World's Drinks And How To Mix Them (1934). I prefer with 30ml Dubonnet and a dash of Orange Bitters. Fantastic.