Dot (1937 recipe)
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 23% ABV ∙
The Dot is a shaken spirit-forward cocktail of gin, fino sherry, triple sec and apricot brandy liqueur, finished with an orange twist.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: London dry gin 40 mlFino sherry 20 mlTriple sec 10 mlApricot brandy liqueur 10 ml
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express an orange twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Shake hard but briefly, about 10 seconds: there is no juice to aerate, so a long shake only adds water and flattens the fino’s saline edge.
- Chill the fino sherry itself beforehand since it’s the most delicate component and warm sherry will taste flat once shaken with the gin and liqueurs.
History
The Dot is credited to a bartender named G. Matthews and was first published in William J. Tarling’s Café Royal Cocktail Book of 1937, a recipe collection compiled by Tarling, then head bartender at London’s Café Royal, and issued by the United Kingdom Bartenders’ Guild. The book gives it as half dry gin, a quarter dry sherry and an eighth each of dry white curaçao and apricot syrup, shaken.
The book gathered original recipes from Guild members and contemporary London bartenders of the interwar period, and the Dot survives today mainly through that single period source rather than through wider independent documentation.
FAQ
What is in a Dot cocktail?
London dry gin, fino sherry, triple sec and apricot brandy liqueur, shaken with ice and fine strained into a chilled glass. The 1937 book calls for dry white curaçao and apricot syrup: triple sec is a clear, dry orange liqueur of the same family, and apricot brandy liqueur stands in for the syrup, which makes the drink a little stronger than the original.
Is a Dot cocktail shaken or stirred?
Shaken: the 1937 book simply says “Shake”. There is no juice in it, so many modern versions stir it instead, but shaking chills it faster. Fine strain it to keep ice shards out of the glass.
What glass is a Dot cocktail served in?
A coupe glass, served up with an orange twist and no ice in the glass.
Is a Dot cocktail strong?
It is moderately strong, about 23% ABV in the glass: the gin is cut with lower-strength sherry, two liqueurs and the melt from shaking.
