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Millionaire

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (23 ratings)

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 12 oz Bourbon whiskey
12 oz Orange Curaçao liqueur
16 oz Raspberry (framboise) sugar syrup
16 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
3 dash La Fée Parisienne absinthe
12 oz Egg white (pasteurised) or 3 dashes Fee Brothers Fee Foam cocktail foamer or Aquafaba (chickpea water) or Vegan egg white replacement
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Garnish: Dust with freshly grated nutmeg & optional small orange wedge on rim

How to make:

SHAKE all ingredients with ice and strain back into shaker. DRY SHAKE with ice and fine strain into chilled glass.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

  • Egg white (pasteurised) - Eggs

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10

Review:

Delicately sweet with whiskey-laced, zesty citrus, rich berry fruit and a hint of aniseed, is smoothed and rounded by egg white.

Your choice of grenadine or raspberry syrup (my preference) will significantly impact the flavour and colour of your Millionaire.

View readers' comments

AKA: Millionaire Royal

History:

There are numerous cocktails that go by the name Millionaire but this cocktail (based on rye whiskey with curaçao, raspberry syrup/grenadine and egg white, usually with orange bitters &/or absinthe &/or lemon juice) first appears in Jacques Straub's 1914 Manual of Mixed Drinks.

Millionaire Cocktail.
1 dash orange bitters.
6 dashes curaçao.
¾ jigger rye whiskey.
2 dashes grenadine syrup.
1 white of egg.
Stir well. Serve in claret glass.

Jacques Straub, 1914

Another version appears in Harry MacElhone's 1923 "Harry" of Ciro's ABC of Mixing Cocktails (second impression)

Millionaire Cocktail.
1 white of a Fresh Egg. 2 dashes of Curaçao (orange), 1 teaspoonful of Grenadine, ⅔ Rye Whisky. Shake well. Strain into cocktail glass.
(Recipe from Ritz Hotel, London.)

Harry MacElhone, 1926

This recipe is adapted from a recipe in David Embury's 1948 The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, where he helpfully says, " In my opinion, it is improved by the addition of a small quantity of lemon juice. Two or three dashes of absinthe for each drink convert this cocktail into the Millionaire Royal."

Nutrition:

One serving of Millionaire contains 190 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.4 standard drinks
  • 23.02% alc./vol. (23.02° proof)
  • 19.8 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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Sean Baron’s Avatar Sean Baron
14th May 2023 at 00:08
Your cocktail in the above picture is a golden yellow, whilst mine has come out pink. Any reasons?
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
14th May 2023 at 08:54
I suspect different raspberry syrups contributing more or less colour.
Mitchell Gumbley’s Avatar Mitchell Gumbley
2nd March 2023 at 12:35
Checked my 1926 copy of "Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails" and the listing reads:-
1 white of a Fresh Egg, 2 dashes of Curaçao (orange), 1 teaspoonful of Grenadine, ⅔ Canadian Club whisky. Shake well. Strain into cocktail glass. (Recipe from Ritz Hotel, London.)
...no lemon juice, raspberry liqueur, nor Absinthe!
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
2nd March 2023 at 19:08
Thanks, Mitchell. I've added the recipe from Harry's ABC above and also an earlier version from Jacques Straub’s 1914 Manual of Mixed Drinks.
19th January 2021 at 04:20
I find the proportions to be a little off, at least for modern tastes...I increased the proportion of everything relative to the egg white (so 2 oz of rye whiskey) and increased the ratio of whiskey:Pierre Ferrand Orange Curacao to 2.5:1, and cut the absinthe to 1-2 dashes...that seemed to balance it out more.