20th Century Cocktail

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (126 ratings)

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 23 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
1 oz White crème de cacao liqueur
1 oz Americano bianco
13 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10
Cocktail of the day:

21st July 2025 is Legal Drinking Age Day

Review:

When, as originally, this cocktail is made with Rutte Celery Gin, then celery notes are very obvious in the final cocktail - perhaps more so than in the gin itself. Whatever gin you favour, this contemporary version of the 20th Century is fabulously expressive of the gin with subtle rich chocolate notes.

View readers' comments

History:

Created in 2016 by Joerg Meyer at Le Lion Bar de Paris, Hamburg, Germany this is a riff on the classic Twentieth Century.

Nutrition:

One serving of 20th Century Cocktail contains 258 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.7 standard drinks
  • 20.25% alc./vol. (20.25° proof)
  • 24.3 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 10 of 18 comments for 20th Century Cocktail.
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
18th January at 14:34
The ingredients are all given space to express themselves, individually and collectively. I loved the harmonious balance of sweet-sour with cacao richness. This is something special.
7th January at 16:09
Fabulous mix of chocolate and citrus. Your choice of crème de cacao is critical. With De Kuyper's white CdC, it has a (milk chocolate) creme egg richness, though without the over-sweetness. With Giffard's CdC: dark choc, spicier, more complex. Very much looking forward to sourcing a bottle of Joerg Meyer's Dutch Cacao to see what else this cocktail can bring.

[20th Century Cocktail]
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
18th January at 14:38
I didn’t have the celery gin, but yes with the Dutch cacao. And with a couple of drops of celery bitters… elixir of the gods!
Wayne Dorothy’s Avatar Wayne Dorothy
3rd November 2024 at 03:13
One of my favorites. I use Cocchi Americano. I really like these ratios.
Calvin Grant’s Avatar Calvin Grant
28th October 2024 at 02:48
Tastes great with lime juice also!
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
8th October 2024 at 13:16
Stunning. Return visit with fresher and better ingredients.

The cacao delightfully enriches and supports the freshness and briskness of the gin, Americano and lemon. A bona fide classic. I’ll definitely be back.
John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
27th September 2024 at 14:22
I used a (literally) heirloom bottle of regular crème de cacao, but more contemporary glass-fellows. Wow! Wonderfully rich, but also subtle. Elegant, as Philip says below. Five stars and will be retrying with fresher cacao when the ancient Marie Brizzard bottle runs out!
22nd April 2024 at 22:00
This drink is exceptional. I could not wrap my head around it so I had to make it to understand it and have been craving it non-stop since.
David Selle’s Avatar David Selle
7th January 2023 at 01:56
I have made this drink with varios white Crème de Cacaos. De Kuper's exceeding hard to find Dutch Cacao is by far the best - and the only version deserving of a "5+" rating. It is transformative in this cocktail when made with Monkey 47 gin. The drink is merely exceptional without these two ingredients.
18th December 2022 at 05:08
Reduce gin to 1 oz
Use dark chocolate vodka 2/3 oz
Use quantities otherwise as shown
John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
6th August 2022 at 04:57
Outstanding. A wonderful vintage after-dinner cocktail that is a must to try. Herbal with a hint of lemon. The cocoa is an undertone flavour, but is essential. Have been waiting to try for ages, but did not have the Americano. Served in a 1930s art deco coupe. Truly an outstanding moment.