Name: East India No.2
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 50 ml Cognac (brandy); 10 ml Orange Curaçao; 10 ml Pineapple juice; 5 ml Pineapple syrup; 2 dash Aromatic bitters

East India No.2
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Serve in a Nick & Nora glass

Ingredients:
1 ²⁄₃ oz	Rémy Martin V.S.O.P. cognac
¹⁄₃ oz	Orange Curaçao liqueur
¹⁄₃ oz	Pineapple juice
¹⁄₆ oz	Monin Pineapple Syrup
2 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Nick & Nora glass.
Prepare garnish of pineapple wedge.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish with pineapple wedge on rim.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

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Cocktail of the day:

31st December 2025 is New Year's Eve

Review:

The bitters are crucial in balancing this after-dinner brandy and pineapple cocktail.

View readers' comments

Variant:

East India House

History:

An East India (No. 2) classically has pineapple syrup or pineapple juice, while an East India No. 1 instead calls for raspberry syrup. Pineapple syrup is first recorded in an East India in Robert Vermeire's 1922 Cocktails: How to Mix Them and is repeated in Frank Meier's 1936 The-Artistry of Mixing Drinks and it's Meier, who worked at Ritz Bar, Paris from 1921 to 1947, who is said to have introduced pineapple to this cocktail.

In his 1923 Harry of Ciros ABC-of-mixing-cocktails, Harry MacElhone also uses pineapple syrup in his East India, which, like the above, is otherwise pretty much the same as Harry Johnson's 1882 East India No. 1 - indeed, MacElhone credits the recipe to Johnson.

Harry Craddock's influential 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book stipulates pineapple juice in place of pineapple syrup, and this is repeated in other cocktail books which follow, including William James "Billy" Tarling's 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book. I've honoured all the above by using both pineapple juice and syrup in my version of an East India.

More cocktails by Frank Meier

Nutrition:

One serving of East India No.2 contains 164 calories

Alcohol content:

1.3 standard drinks
23.61% alc./vol. (23.61° proof)
17.8 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 comments for East India No.2.
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Ruth Harvey

29th April at 18:59

After trying this recipe, it was my inspiration to make a different cocktail! I halved the cognac and added dark rum. I added creme de Pêche instead of pineapple sugar syrup and doubled the pineapple juice. Both drinks were great.

Daniel-Pascal Zorn

22nd April at 19:55

Nice drink. I added 0,5 cl pineapple shrub and two drops saline solution to balance it out. Now it’s even nicer.

Jonathan Stephens

21st February at 19:30

Very nice. Didn’t have pineapple syrup so used syrup from stem ginger. Works well

John CARR

12th February 2024 at 10:36

The simplicity belies the potency of flavour. A small drink with a big kick! Didn’t have pineapple syrup but could have muddled a piece of mango in the shaker, following others’ lead. Next time!

Chris Brislawn

31st December 2023 at 03:42

Simon’s amounts are rather small (2.5 oz total) so I kept his 5:1:1 proportions while increasing amounts to 2.5 oz cognac, 0.5 oz orange liqueur, 0.5 oz pineapple juice and 3 dashes Angostura. No pineapple syrup so, following Morgan and Hinojos, I used 1 tsp mango puree, figuring it was closer in flavor to pineapple than passion fruit. No fresh pineapple so garnished with candied ginger on cocktail swords, which works quite well with the tropical flavors. Makes for a great, offbeat tiki drink.

Chris Dimal

10th May 2023 at 10:29

Remade it, this time with a proper pineapple syrup plus pineapple juice and with Cognac. It is much more interesting, but 5 stars? Hmmm....

John Hinojos

4th May 2023 at 03:47

This is a perfect after-dinner cocktail. As I did not have pineapple syrup, took a hint from Sally Morgan and used Passion Fruit syrup. It was outstanding. You can still taste the cognac, but with a tropical/exotic flavour. Delightful.

Chris Dimal

5th December 2022 at 12:59

I did not use a homemade pineapple syrup (just muddled a chunk of pineapple with some sugar and added a little bit of sugar syrup). Was good, with a nice pineapple hum, but not great. I did use a French Grape Brandy. Maybe a real Cognac may make it 5 stars.

Sally Morgan

25th March 2022 at 20:22

As Mr Difford suggests you can ring the changes with different fruit syrups (and bitters). We thought it was delicious with passionfruit syrup instead of pineapple.

John Hinojos

4th May 2023 at 03:48

Thanks for the tip. Used passion fruit syrup also. It was great.

Alexander Timofeyev

19th March 2021 at 16:34

Just made this with what I had on hand - aged brandy, Grand Marnier, and basic simple syrup - and it's delicious. Possibly the tastiest cocktail with pineapple juice that I've had. Definitely making this again!

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