Garnish:
Lemon zest twist
How to make:
STIR all ingredients with ice and strain into chilled glass.
| 1 1/2 fl oz | Hayman's Sloe Gin |
| 1 1/2 fl oz | Strucchi Rosso Vermouth |
| 1/12 fl oz | Sugar syrup 'rich' (2 sugar to 1 water, 65.0°Brix) |
| 1/12 fl oz | Lemon juice (freshly squeezed) |
| 1 dash | Angostura Aromatic Bitters |
| 2 dash | Orange Bitters by Angostura |
Review:
This low-alcohol digestif is a mashup of William Boothby's and Harry Craddock's 1930 Blackthorn No. 2 recipes with a leaning towards Boothby's. It's jammy with delicate herbal undertones.
Variant:
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.
History:
The recipe for what's now known as the Blackthorn No. 1 appeared in William "Cocktail Bill" Boothby's 1908 World's Drinks And How To Mix Them. This is repeated in the 1930 Swallows edition of Boothby's book, along with three numbered variations, this being number two.
BLACKTHORN, NO. 2
William Boothby, The World's Drinks And How To Mix Them, 1930
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.
That same year, Harry Craddock also includes a Blackthorn No. 2 in his The Savoy Cocktail Book.
BLACKTHORN COCKTAIL (No. 2).
Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book, 1930
Dash Orange Bitters.
1/3 Italian Vermouth.
2/3 Sloe Gin
Stir well and strain into cocktail glass.
Nutrition:
178 calories
Alcohol content:
- 1.2 standard drinks
- 16.97% alc./vol. (33.94° proof)
- 16.3 grams of pure alcohol
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