Greenbriar

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (13 ratings)

Serve in a Sour or Martini/Coupette glass

Ingredients:
2 oz Lustau Oloroso Don Nuño Sherry
1 oz Strucchi Dry Vermouth
1 dash Peach bitters
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Sour or Martini/Coupette glass.
  2. Prepare mint sprigs for garnish.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. Garnish with mint sprigs bouquet.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 5/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 7/10

Review:

The style of sherry used classically in this Bamboo-style aperitivo is unknown as it is not recorded. We tried fino and amontillado before deciding that a dry oloroso works best by contributing to the drink with almond and peach notes reminiscent of an amaretto.

View readers' comments

AKA: Greenbrier

History:

This "exhumed classic" was brought to our attention by Jason E. Clapham and originally appeared in Harry McElhone's 1927 Barflies and Cocktails.

Greenbriar Cocktail
1 dash Peach Bitters, 1/3 French Vermouth, 2/3 Sherry, one sprig of Fresh Mint.
Shake well, and strain.

Harry McElhone, 1927

Ten years later this recipe appears verbatim in W. J. Tarling's Café Royal Cocktail Book. Then, in his 1948 The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, David Embury aptly describes this cocktail as a "Sweet Martini with a sprig of mint to each drink."

Jason surmises "this cocktail is named after the famous hotel in West Virginia, which has always had a reputation for cocktails." Built 1913, the Greenbrier [spelt with an 'e' rather than an 'a'], is a luxury resort and National Historic Landmark set in an 11,000-acre estate.

Nutrition:

One serving of Greenbriar contains 101 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 0.9 standard drinks
  • 14.27% alc./vol. (14.27° proof)
  • 12.9 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.

Join the discussion

Showing 3 comments for Greenbriar.
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
24th November 2024 at 14:42
This failed to come together for me; will have to consider the ingredients: Lustau Oloroso, Dolin dry, peach bitters per spec and mint sprig didn't sit together happily this evening... hmm..
2nd April 2024 at 18:50
New favourite of mine. A sophisticated, gentle aperitivo - nice and simple. My 30 year old matusalem olorosso was a bit sweet so I upped the noilly prat by a couple of centilitres.
G. M. Genovese’s Avatar G. M. Genovese
26th January 2022 at 23:39
I tried subbing Peachtree Schnapps and Bittermens Elemakule Tiki bitters for the peach bitters, but the Oloroso and La Quintinye dry overpowered them. Not impressed, as the Oloroso and vermouth herbality dominated. ISO: peach bitters. (26 Jan 2022 6:39p)