Name: Sloppy Joe
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Light white rum; 30 ml Dry vermouth; 10 ml Orange Curaçao; 7.5 ml Grenadine syrup; 5 ml Sugar syrup (2:1); 20 ml Lime juice

Sloppy Joe
Jump to

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 oz	Light white rum (charcoal-filtered 1-4 years old)
1 oz	Strucchi Dry Vermouth
¹⁄₃ oz	Orange Curaçao liqueur
¹⁄₄ oz	Monin Grenadine Syrup
¹⁄₆ oz	Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
²⁄₃ oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of lime wedge.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish with lime wedge.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Dry vermouth - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Cocktail of the day:

18th March 2025 is National Sloppy Joe Day

Review:

A well-balanced combination of sweet and sour.

View readers' comments

History:

One of two vintage cocktails that variously appear under the names of Sloppy Joe or Sloppy Joe's. They either originate from or are named after Sloppy Joe's, a famous bar in Havana, Cuba during the 1930s. Ernest Hemingway was a regular and Sloppy Joe's inspired the fictitious Freddy's Bar in his novel To Have and Have Not.
Adapted from a recipe in Stanley M. Jones' 1977 Jones' Complete Barguide.

SLOPPY JOE'S COCKTAIL
Cocktail Glass Shake
1 oz lime juice
¼ oz grenadine
¼ orange curacao
¾ oz rum
¾ oz dry vermouth

Variation

¾ oz pineapple juice
¾ oz brandy
¾ oz port
1 dash grenadine
1 dash orange curacao

Shake vigorously with ice cubes. Strain into double old-fashioned glass with ice-con around straw.
Stanley M. Jones, 1977

Nutrition:

One serving of Sloppy Joe contains 170 calories

Alcohol content:

1.1 standard drinks
15.35% alc./vol. (15.35° proof)
15.7 grams of pure alcohol

More Aperitivo/aperitif cocktails
More Citrusy 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.

Join the discussion

Showing 4 comments for Sloppy Joe.
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment

Chris Brislawn

10th June at 02:07

Grenadine *and* sugar syrup make for too many inert ingredients so I replaced them with 1/3 oz pomegranate liqueur. A "sweet & sour," fruity daiquiri variation (along the lines of the Pomegranate Daiquiri) whose vermouth adds a subtle touch of herbal complexity.

Tuber Magnatum

16th March 2024 at 22:46

A very tasty drink and aptly described as sweet and sour. I think next time though I will use same volume grenadine (used home made) and cut the simple syrup in half to up the sour and decrease the sweet.

Miguel Perales

18th March 2023 at 21:38

Don't know if the ingredients showing now are the revised ones (mine still shows 1/4 oz/7.5 ml grenadine syrup) but this is very close to being nicely balanced (still a just a touch on the sweet side for me). I really like the flavors though. I will just have to find the right balance for me.

Simon Difford

19th March 2023 at 10:02

Yes, Miguel. The recipe above with 1/4oz / 7.5ml grenadine is my preferred one. However, very dependent on your grenadine and is amazing if homemade syrup with 2 parts fresh pressed pomegranate juice to 1 part caster sugar is used.