Ideal

Difford's Guide
Discerning Drinkers (24 ratings)

Serve in

Coupe glass

Garnish:

Serve with almonds on the side

How to make:

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

5/6 fl oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
5/6 fl oz Strucchi Dry Vermouth
5/6 fl oz Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
1/6 fl oz Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
1/4 fl oz Pink grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
Loading...
Buy direct from
the_whisky_exchange store logo
£ -.--

Makes a minimum of ... cocktails
Just £ -.-- per cocktail*

* This list may not include all required ingredients.
Price per cocktail is an estimate based on the cost of making one cocktail with the available ingredients shown above and does not include any postage charges.
Buy direct from Difford’s Guide
Difford's Easy Jigger
£8.72 £8.72 exc VAT

Review:

On the dry, tart side of bittersweet with hints of freshening zesty grapefruit and dry gin botanicals which cut through heavier vermouth notes. The maraschino is subtle but key.

History:

The first known appearance of this classic cocktail is in Hugo R. Ensslin's 1917 Recipes for Mixed Drinks (2nd Edition) (It may have also appeared in his 1916 first edition.)

IDEAL COCKTAIL
1/3 Italian vermouth
2/3 Dry Gin
3 dashes Maraschino
Juice of a small piece of grapefruit
Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain and serve.

Hugo R. Ensslin, 1917

Like so many other cocktails in Ensslin's book, it also features in Harry Craddock's influential 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book, and then the next year in Cuba's
Sloppy Joe's Bar 1931-32 Season menu/manual
.

IDEAL COCKTAIL.
3 Dashes Maraschino.
1/3 Italian Vermouth.
2/3 Dry Gin.
1 Teaspoon Grapefruit Juice.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Serve small nut in glass.

Harry Craddock, 1930

IDEAL
1 Teaspoon of sugar.
1 Part of Grapefruit juice.
2 Parts of Gin.
1 Part of Noilly Prat Vermouth.
Shake with ice, and serve in a tall glass.".

Sloppy Joe's, 1932

However, our recipe is adapted from the recipe in the 1937 Bar Florida Cocktails menu (later renamed Floridita), Havana, Cuba.

IDEAL
¼ Grapefruit
1 Teaspoon Maraschino
1/3 Martini Rosso Vermouth
1/3 Noilly Prat Vermouth
1/3 Gordon Gin
Cracked Ice.
Shake very well and strain into cocktail glass. Serve with a few almonds.

Bar La Florida Cocktails, 1937

Nutrition:

127 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.2 standard drinks
  • 18.8% alc./vol. (37.6° proof)
  • 16.5 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


... comment(s) for Ideal

You must log in to your account to make a comment.

Report comment

You must be logged in to upvote or downvote a comment

Click here to login
Buy direct from
the_whisky_exchange store logo
£ -.--

Makes a minimum of ... cocktails
Just £ -.-- per cocktail*

* This list may not include all required ingredients.
Price per cocktail is an estimate based on the cost of making one cocktail with the available ingredients shown above and does not include any postage charges.
Buy direct from Difford’s Guide
Difford's Easy Jigger
£8.72 £8.72 exc VAT
Welcome to Difford's Guide

All editorial and photography on this website is copyright protected

© Odd Firm of Sin 2024