Name: Bitter Jean
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 60 ml Speyside single malt; 10 ml Peated malt whisky; 15 ml Crème de cassis; 22.5 ml Vermouth alla vaniglia; 8 dash Aromatic bitters

Bitter Jean
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
2 oz	Speyside single malt Scotch whisky
¹⁄₃ oz	Torabhaig Peated Single Malt Whisky
¹⁄₂ oz	Joseph Cartron Double Crème de Cassis de Bourgogne
³⁄₄ oz	Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth
8 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of Two Luxardo Maraschino Cherries on stick.
STIR all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Vermouth rosso alla vaniglia (e.g. Antica Formula) - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Scotch malt whisky, and particularly peated malt, balance and work brilliantly with rich crème de cassis and full-bodied vermouth, helped by a generous dose of aromatic bitters.

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History:

Adapted from a recipe discovered in 2017 at Soho House in London, England.

Nutrition:

One serving of Bitter Jean contains 235 calories

Alcohol content:

2 standard drinks
25.96% alc./vol. (25.96° proof)
28.6 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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Showing 10 of 11 comments for Bitter Jean.
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Peter McCarthy

22nd June at 22:53

I made this with Speyburn 10, Laphroaig 10, DeKuyper (US) Creme de Cassis, & Carpano Antica. Given the high alcohol content, I opted to make it "on the rocks". Surprisingly not as boozy as I expected given the high alcohol content. Laphroaig 10 was well balanced; not too smokey imho. Angostura didn't seem too strong. Overall, a nice option if you're looking for a scotch-based whisky-forward drink with something atypical in the ingredients.

John CARR

27th September 2023 at 11:54

Linked from the Angostura bitters page under the heading ‘Trinidad fizz’. Assume there’s a typo or name swap happened somewhere?

Simon Difford

27th September 2023 at 13:19

Many thanks for letting me know, John. That link is now fixed.

Jeremy Harrold

7th September 2023 at 23:50

8 Dashes of Angostura was a step too far for me - 4 was just right.
A superb drink with a perfect balance of the two Whiskies and red fruit brought together with the bitters… Classy!

T H

27th April 2023 at 19:58

Lovely drink. Used just peaty whisky but same proportions for the rest and it was delicious. Strong but nice balance of bitter, peat & sweet.

Jakub Piechowicz

27th April 2023 at 12:37

Definitely not light and easy cocktail. It has seriousness and gravity. In My case craigellachie 13 (50ml),octomore 13.2, giffard cassis noir de bourgogne, punt e mes and 3 generous dashes of angostura.

Kristina Angelova

17th March 2023 at 19:47

I made this with Laphroaig and ordinary sweet vermouth (Martini), halved the bitters to 4 dashes and it was absolutely amazing. New favourite. You do need to like the Smokey whiskey to appreciate this cocktail though. Even with 10mil this was dominating the drink.

Don Durgle

9th August 2022 at 00:44

Flavors are pleasant enough, but possesses a notable astringency that's a real turn-off for me. Probably a result of the heavy dose of angostura bitters, which in turn may be a necessary counterbalance to the cassis.

Dee Stump

19th May 2022 at 05:56

The only Speyside I have is Aberlour A'bunadh, so I scaled back from 60ml to 45ml. I used Ardbeg Uigeadial, La Copa vermouth, a pretty dry cassis, and Jerry Thomas bitters as I so prefer them to Angostura. It's a drink where all the players are heavy hitters, but they support each other well. The finish is honestly never ending.

Alex Hayes

17th April 2022 at 01:11

I made this with a shitty blended scotch (Mash Cut), no peated scotch, and Dolin sweet and I swear to god the aftertaste was Kielbasa. I probably won't make this again unless I have much higher quality ingredients.