Simon Difford

Excellent cocktail, thank you Simon! How would you describe the difference between your Daiquiri bitters (difficult to get in Germany) and Pechauds?

You can’t compare the two bitters. Very different flavour and even colour. Although very complex, the lead flavours of Daiquiri Bitters are roasted pineapple and mint.

On this recommendation we had to try it. And yes, big and delicious. But we were a bit uncertain about what to do with 0.3ml Angostura, as specified in the recipe. We guesstimated that six drops would be about right. Are you able to offer some precision on this? What measure did you use?

I used a dash (as measured by a DashDart screwed to the top of my Angostura bottle).

My second time making this delicious, generously flavoured sour. And as a consequence, I’ve changed my rating from a mere 5 to a 5+ out of five.

Hi there, hope you guys are well. The adresse is not Café Romand, but LCC, Lausanne Cocktail club, Rue Pepinet 5, 1003 Lausanne.
We have différente time of opening summer and winter.
Autumn and winter is :
Monday : 5pm-3am
Tuesday : 5pm-3am
Wednesday : 5pm-4am
Thursday : 5pm-4am
Friday : 5pm-5am
Saturday : 7pm-5am
Sunday : close

On spring and Summer :
Monday : close
Tuesday : 5pm-2am
Wednesday : 5pm-3am
Thursday : 5pm-4am
Friday : 5pm-5am
Saturday : 7pm-5am
Sunday : close
We sometime finish earlier depending of the crowd.

Thank you. Love what u are doing

Many thanks, Bertrand. I've updated the page accordingly.

We don't understand why our good host decided to drop this recipe from his book. For us it is perhaps one of the most subtly balanced and elegantly complex Daiquiris that we've tried. We used Bounty White and, hoping to give it a bit more presence, eight large basil leaves and Maple Syrup (12.5ml).

Out with the old and in with the new was the theory. However, it will return to our 19th edition.

just starting to explore Calvados so will definitely give this one a go later. It looks slightly light on the Applejack, you'd expect more like 60ml, is that something to do with it being brandy rather than whiskey?

I distinguish between calavdos, which is traditionally 40% alc./vol., and applejack, which is properly 50 alc./vol. (bottled in bond). This recipe is designed for applejack, so if using calvados, you’ll need to increase the volume by 25% to 56ml.

I found two dashes of grapefruit bitters to be too acerbic. Hard to say what one dash would have been, but I suspect maybe better

Agreed. I've reduced to 6 drops of hopped grapefruit bitters.

This Bourbon has apparently changed in character, besides the label and bottle (by the way, if you see this Simon, please keep the original image here for posterity; don't remove it). Now it's super cherry forward, banana candy (surprisingly Jack Daniel's esque!) with caramel, Crème anglaise, cinnamon and a fair dollop of ethanol on the nose, palate and finish.

I've added the new bottle and a note referencing the old bottle and the change.

Can still be found where I am at, surprisingly enough. A long defunct product. Until this year, this was the only accessible all-Tahona Tequila we could get. Great quality but rather subtle, even at 40% ABV.

Indeed, a great tequila. R.I.P.

This glass is incredible. May I ask if it's possible to acquire it? Oh, and this cocktail is just as incredible, of course.

It's a vintage class from my collection acquired from antique shops over the decades.

I substituted 1/4 oz Green Chartreuse and 1/4 oz Italicus for the Yellow Chartreuse. I like the bigger herbal hit with less sweetness and a tad more citrusy than when I followed the OG with YC. There needs to be more cocktails that pair GC and Italicus, it's such a match made in heaven. See “Emerald Dream” on the Liber&Co site.

Thanks, George. I'll be sure to add the Emerald Dream to Difford's Guide.

I revisited my originally simpler recipe to make it more Martini-like in July 2026. The previous recipe:
50ml (1⅔oz) Vodka
45ml (1½oz) Cherry juice
5 (1 barspoon) Sugar syrup

Am I right to assume that "in base of shaker" in step 3. should be "in glass"? I was thinking I could muddle in a shaker and then put in the glass, but I think I would lose too much of the mint.

Many thanks for bringing to my attention, Patrick. As you say, it should be "glass," not "shaker." Now corrected.

It must come from the mexican actor. I've checked the official on-line Spanish dictionary, and all words sounding like that (cantinflear, cantinflada,...) derive from Mario Moreno's stage name, Cantinflas. So, there's not a previous meaning for that word. The cultural impact of Cantinflas in Spanish-speaking countries between 1940 and 1980 was huge.

Many thanks both for the explanation. I've added the origin of the name and a note about Mario Moreno above.

It must come from the mexican actor. I've checked the official on-line Spanish dictionary, and all words sounding like that (cantinflear, cantinflada,...) derive from Mario Moreno's stage name, Cantinflas. So, there's not a previous meaning for that word. The cultural impact of Cantinflas in Spanish-speaking countries between 1940 and 1980 was huge.

Many thanks both for the explanation. I've added the origin of the name and a note about Mario Moreno above.

The “Midnight Cocktail” in the 1925 L’Art du Shaker (and doubtless pre-dating it) has the same ingredients (sans saline), only in a 2:1 ratio… so perhaps not so contemporary!

Great observation, Ian. I'll add the Midnight Cocktail to Difford's Guide and link the two.

So much work..... so little time..... (so many more to try!) To date, the Ultima Palabra is my fave. (Sucker for anything with pineapple)

Good choice! A cracking cocktail.

I want to complaint: this is the meet me half way of a 20th century and a Last Word , so why is not in the list of all Last Word variations!? Sweeter than the first, but thicker than the last one. So much time so little liver. It is ver very sweet, much more in this son than in the parents. To do this today I was strictly in the ingredients listed here. In the tongue there is the cacao, and the chartreuse. Now I am Thankfull since in the task of traying all Last Word variation I was starting to get a little bored, the cacao allows me to get into the next goals...

One I'd missed! I've now added Safe Word to the Last Word variations, bringing the total to 52. What are your top 10?