Forum

27th June 2025 at 13:27
Do you know when rum was introduced to this cocktail? I see in Stan Jones' Complete Bar Guide, under "East India Cocktail" (page 274), that Jamaican rum is listed as an optional ingredient. More recently, PDT's Cocktail Books also adds aged rum to their East India, but I haven't found anything before 1977.
2nd November 2025 at 12:45
Jim Meehan’s recipe is essentially the same as the East India No. 3 published in Victor Bergeron’s 1972 ‘Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide, Revised.’
5th January 2025 at 22:00
I’m not usually partial to mixing rum with whiskeys or cognac, and unfortunately this did not prove to be one of the exceptions. Made it to use up homemade pineapple syrup after having the excellent East India No. 2.
However I found the Baker version of the East India House to be very good - thank you for the translation!
3rd February 2024 at 08:08
I made this yesterday, it was an absolute delight. My husband and I both voted 5 as we were trying to bring it up to 4 but to no avail. I rely on some other discerning drinks to bring it up a bit :)
9th February 2024 at 18:12
I've maintained the ratios while reducing all ingredients by 1/3 and moving to a Nick & Nora glass. Still punchy and very tasty, but now 65ml (a little over 1oz) of 40% booze.
13th January 2024 at 03:33
I'd put the boozy scale at a 9. One of the stronger drinks I've tried here.
13th January 2024 at 07:42
Agreed! I've increased to 9 and will look at changing the recipe. Perhaps moving to a Nick & Nora as presently 3oz / 90ml of 40% alc./vol. booze.
19th August 2022 at 00:22
I'm not a huge fan for cognac but I nonetheless appreciate the layers of flavor in this drink and will be adding it to my home bar's regular rotation of cocktails.
8th May 2021 at 02:06
I gave this a 5+ star rating. I really like rum and cognac drinks and this is superb. It has the faint taste of a tiki drink, but much dryer. There is also an aftertaste of toffee which makes it perfect for after dinner.
13th August 2020 at 08:17
Thanks a bunch for the quick remedial action on my hasty vote! Now I at least know to consider matters a bit more carefully before submitting my future cocktail votes.

However, I still have to work out how to account for, say, not being a cognac cocktail fan when deciding on a fair vote. After all, it’s no fault of the recipe if you happen not to like some particular ingredient in general.
13th August 2020 at 12:25
That’s a quandary! Ultimately, this rating is dependent on personal taste but with enough votes hopefully ratings on each drink end up as being a fair representation of how successful a recipe is.
12th August 2020 at 18:30
I rated this 3, then changed my mind and attempted to rerate it to 3.5, but was unable to. I’m not a big fan of cognac cocktails so far, but if you are, this recipe probably rates at least a 4 or possibly even 4.5.
13th August 2020 at 06:29
I've just rated it 5+ to balance your 3.5 to display a safe 4/5. It's frustrating that you can't amend ratings and perhaps something we should change. Thanks for sharing your views on this cocktail.