Winter

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (99 ratings)

Photographed in a Basic Bar Selection Martini Contemporary

Ingredients:
2 oz Jamaican aged blended rum with funk
34 oz Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
12 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
16 oz Ginger liqueur
16 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram liqueur
2 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of skewered crystallised ginger.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. Garnish with skewered crystallised ginger.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 8/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 7/10
Cocktail of the day:

21st December 2025 is The shortest or Longest day

Review:

This vintage cocktail was recommended to us by Jason E. Clapham who aptly describes it as "a Jamaican daiquiri with Christmas spices."

View readers' comments

Variant:

Winter Cocktail cognac-based

History:

The Winter Cocktail appears in Albert Stevens Crockett's 1935 Old Waldorf Astoria Bar Book.

WINTER
Two-thirds glass Jamaica Rum
Juice of one Lime or Lemon
Sugar to taste
Teaspoon of Ginger Brandy and Pimento Liqueur
Two dashes Angostura Bitters

Albert Stevens Crockett, 1935

Nutrition:

One serving of Winter contains 208 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.4 standard drinks
  • 18.02% alc./vol. (18.02° proof)
  • 19.5 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

Showing 10 of 11 comments for Winter.
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment
Frederic D.’s Avatar Frederic D.
15th February at 00:47
Made with 1 Oz of Smith and Cross and 1 Oz Briland Afrohead. I really enjoyed this drink. It is still recognizable as being in the daiquiri space, but the allspice and ginger conspire to make it more complex and yes, wintery, especially towards the end of the swallow. A great rum drink for a cold February night.
Ben S’ Avatar Ben S
21st December 2024 at 00:51
I just muddled a couple of coins of ginger in the shaker tin in lieu of ginger liqueur and mixed it all with up with Plantreray Xaymaca - great daiquiri riff!
Guilherme Dias’ Avatar Guilherme Dias
10th November 2024 at 13:19
I made this with Smith & Cross and wouldn't recommend it. Unfortunately, it was too funky, resulting in an unbalanced cocktail. Will try it with another rum next time.
Chris Brislawn’s Avatar Chris Brislawn
23rd December 2024 at 05:28
I got a good but manageable funk using a split base with equal parts Smith & Cross and Appleton Estate Reserve. I also increased the dram to 1/4 oz and used ginger syrup since I didn't have ginger liqueur.
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
10th November 2024 at 17:31
Smith & Cross has a high alc./vol. for 60ml. I used Myer's Original Rum.
Andrew Wenz’s Avatar Andrew Wenz
30th June 2024 at 10:55
Made this with a homemade allspice dram, and didn’t have a Jamaican rum, so used Venezuelan Diplomatico rum. Still excellent, but probably more salsa than funk.
20th July 2023 at 13:04
This is a very good cocktail, second only to Firecracker in its use of Pimento Dram.
3rd March 2022 at 19:20
Superb. A new favorite.
Tim Miller’s Avatar Tim Miller
1st February 2022 at 21:36
I have made this as written and by substituting Flor de Caña rum and 1:1 simple syrup. The alterations are simply delicious.
Loraine Herring’s Avatar Loraine Herring
8th January 2022 at 18:56
I had to omit the pimento so i cant say if the cocktail benefits from it however it was lovely the way it was
I used a mount Gat rum
John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
22nd December 2021 at 01:26
Liking rum and ginger, this is outstanding. Has all the flavours of winter. Considering using this a base for a more red coloured drink for Christmas using either grenadine in place of the some or all the sugar syrup.
27th January 2022 at 00:11
John, I tried the grenadine version side by side with the regular sugar syrup thanks to your comment. Definitely liked the grenadine version more.
Florian Ruf’s Avatar Florian Ruf
10th December 2021 at 23:23
According to my ingredients, I had to play a little bit with the relations. Especially I used Bitter Truth Falernum instead of Pimento dram, as it is heavy on allspice. The result was really delicious winterly cocktail!