Club Cocktail
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 23.8% ABV ∙
The Club Cocktail is a shaken brandy sour built on Cognac, pisco, maraschino liqueur, pineapple juice, and bitters, served up in a coupe. Rich Cognac warmth meets tart pineapple and a marked cherry-almond sweetness, with a faint spiced edge from the bitters lingering into a bright finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Cognac 50 mlPisco 5 mlMaraschino liqueur 10 mlPineapple juice 25 mlCreole-style bitters 2 dashes
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Garnish with a pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry
Tips
- Shake hard with fresh ice for a full 12-15 seconds; the pineapple juice needs vigorous agitation to aerate and integrate with the cognac base.
- Measure the pisco and maraschino liqueur precisely since each totals only 5-10 ml, and even a small overpour will flatten the cognac's dominance.
- Double strain into the chilled coupe to remove pineapple pulp and ice shards, giving a silky texture befitting the delicate glass.
- Add the Creole-style bitters as the final two dashes before shaking so their spice integrates evenly rather than sitting on top.
History
The Club Cocktail is a brandy-based drink built from cognac, maraschino liqueur, pineapple juice, and bitters, first documented in W.C. Whitfield's 1939 bar guide Just Cocktails. This version adds a small measure of pisco alongside the cognac, a modern twist popularized by a British drinks writer, whose published recipe pairs the two grape brandies with maraschino, pineapple juice, and Creole bitters.
FAQ
What is in a Club Cocktail?
Cognac, pisco, maraschino liqueur, pineapple juice, and a couple of dashes of Creole-style bitters, shaken and fine-strained into a chilled glass. Cognac leads the build, with the pisco adding a subtle grape-brandy note underneath the maraschino's cherry sweetness.
How do you make a Club Cocktail?
Shake Cognac, pisco, maraschino liqueur, pineapple juice, and Creole-style bitters hard with ice, then fine-strain into a coupe glass. It is finished with a pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry.
Is a Club Cocktail shaken or stirred?
Shaken. The pineapple juice needs the aeration and quick chill of a hard shake, which a stir would not deliver, leaving the texture flat.
What glass is a Club Cocktail served in?
A coupe glass, garnished with a pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry.
What does a Club Cocktail taste like?
It leans sweet and fruity rather than bitter, with Cognac's warmth as the backbone, maraschino's cherry-almond note up front, and tart pineapple juice cutting the richness. At roughly 23.8% ABV it drinks lighter than a straight spirit-forward cocktail, with the Creole-style bitters adding a faint spiced edge to the finish rather than a bitter punch.
Is a Club Cocktail suitable for vegans?
Yes, this recipe is vegan, vegetarian, and lactose-free, using only spirits, liqueur, fruit juice, and bitters with no animal-derived ingredients.
