Flying Dutchman
A herbal and balanced gin cocktail ∙ Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 22.9% ABV ∙
The Flying Dutchman is a shaken genever sour with Bénédictine, an herbal liqueur such as Yellow Chartreuse, and fresh lemon juice, served up in a coupe.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Oude genever 45 mlBénédictine D.O.M. liqueur 20 mlHerbal liqueur (e.g., Yellow Chartreuse) 20 mlLemon juice 20 ml
- Strain into the chilled glass
- Garnish with a lemon slice
Tips
- Squeeze the lemon fresh; its 20 ml is the only thing keeping two sweet liqueurs in check.
History
This version of the Flying Dutchman, built from genever, Bénédictine, yellow Chartreuse and lemon juice, is credited to bar manager Brian MacGregor, who created it around 2012 at Jardinière in San Francisco. It is essentially a genever-based reworking of the Monte Cassino, the rye whiskey, Bénédictine and yellow Chartreuse sour that bartender Damon Dyer had introduced two years earlier, with the genever standing in for rye to lean into the "Dutchman" name.
The name itself had already been used for an unrelated cocktail decades earlier. Cointreau's own history dates an earlier Flying Dutchman, a Dry Martini variation, to 1948, while other accounts trace a Dutch-published recipe to 1950, in a rare cocktail book called Internationale Cocktailgids. Its author, Willem Slagter, is sometimes credited as that drink's creator, though no documentary proof of that claim has been found.
FAQ
What is in a Flying Dutchman?
45 ml oude genever, 20 ml Bénédictine D.O.M., 20 ml of an herbal liqueur such as Yellow Chartreuse and 20 ml fresh lemon juice. It finishes at about 23% ABV.
Is a Flying Dutchman shaken or stirred?
Shaken, because of the lemon juice. A hard shake chills and aerates it and mixes the two sweet liqueurs evenly into the genever.
