Charlie Chaplin
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 14.9% ABV ∙
The Charlie Chaplin is a shaken sour of equal parts apricot brandy liqueur, sloe gin, and fresh lime juice, served up in a coupe. Stone-fruit sweetness leads, sloe gin's tart berry note follows, and a bright lime finish keeps it from tipping syrupy — a fitting after-dinner sipper.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Apricot brandy liqueur 25 mlSloe gin 25 mlLime juice 25 ml
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Garnish with an apricot wedge on the rim
Tips
- Shake all three equal parts hard with plenty of ice for a full 12-15 seconds; the equal ratio of liqueur, gin and lime juice needs vigorous dilution to avoid a cloying, syrupy result.
- Use freshly squeezed lime juice, not bottled, since the tart acidity balances two sweet liqueurs in equal measure and bottled juice tastes flat here.
- Fine-strain into a chilled coupe to remove ice shards and pulp, keeping the surface glossy since there's no mixer to mask texture.
- Cut the apricot wedge just before garnishing and perch it on the rim so its aroma meets the nose on first sip.
History
The Charlie Chaplin cocktail is generally said to have been created at the Old Waldorf Bar in New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel sometime before 1920, in the years just prior to Prohibition, and named in honor of the silent-film comedian Charlie Chaplin at the height of his early fame. It was set down in print by Albert Stevens Crockett, a bar chronicler who worked the drink into his Waldorf-Astoria cocktail books of the early 1930s, cementing the recipe for later generations. Crockett's original version called for lemon juice alongside the sloe gin and apricot brandy, with lime juice becoming a common substitution in later years. It is not documented whether Chaplin himself ever drank the cocktail bearing his name.
FAQ
What's in a Charlie Chaplin cocktail?
Equal parts apricot brandy liqueur, sloe gin, and fresh lime juice, shaken and strained into a coupe with an apricot wedge garnish. It comes in around 15% ABV and about 146 calories per serving, and is naturally vegan and lactose-free.
Why is it called a Charlie Chaplin cocktail?
It is named after the silent-film actor and comedian Charlie Chaplin, following an old bartending habit of naming drinks after celebrities of the day rather than describing their ingredients.
Is a Charlie Chaplin shaken or stirred?
Shaken. All three ingredients are strong-flavored liquids with no carbonation to protect, so a hard shake aerates and chills the mix while blending the fruit liqueur, sloe gin, and lime into one balanced drink.
What glass is a Charlie Chaplin served in?
A coupe glass, served up with no ice, garnished with an apricot wedge.
What's in a Marilyn Monroe cocktail?
That is a different drink from the Charlie Chaplin and recipes vary by bar, so there is no single fixed answer to give here.
