Gin Cocktail
Stir ∙ 3 min ∙ 31.2% ABV ∙
The Gin Cocktail is a stirred drink of Dutch genever, orange curaçao, sugar syrup and bitters — one of the earliest named cocktails on record. Malty and dense on the palate, with a faint orange glow and bitter spice lifted by a bright lemon-oil snap on the finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Stir all ingredients with ice: Oude genever 60 mlOrange curaçao liqueur 10 mlSugar syrup 5 mlBoker’s bitters 2 dashes
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express a lemon twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Stir over ice until well chilled and diluted — genever's grain body needs the same measured dilution as whiskey.
- Measure the Boker's bitters in dashes, not pours; too heavy a hand turns the drink bitter rather than balanced.
- Pre-chill the coupe before straining so the drink doesn't lose its edge before it's expressed with the lemon twist.
- Express the lemon twist directly over the surface so the citrus oils sit on top rather than getting stirred in.
History
The Gin Cocktail belongs to the oldest documented family of mixed drinks in America, the "cocktail" itself, first defined in print on May 13, 1806 by The Balance and Columbian Repository of Hudson, New York, as a spirit sweetened with sugar and cut with water and bitters. Applied to gin, or more precisely to Dutch genever and Old Tom-style gin, this basic formula became one of the first named cocktails to appear in a bartending manual: Jerry Thomas's 1862 The Bar-Tender's Guide lists a "Gin Cocktail" of gin, gum syrup, and Boker's bitters, alongside a "Fancy Gin Cocktail" variant dressed up with a dash of curaçao and a twist of lemon peel. Some later writers date the recipe as far back as 1824, the same year Angostura bitters was created, though no printed source from that period has been found, and Thomas's 1862 book remains the earliest confirmed record.
Because genever and gin were the base spirits most associated with the early American bar, this cocktail sits close to the root of the "Old Fashioned" style of drink-making, and its Fancy version, built with curaçao and bitters, is considered a direct forerunner of the Martinez and, later, the Martini. Boker's bitters, the brand specified in Thomas's original recipe, fell out of production and was largely forgotten until being revived by a bitters maker in 2009 based on historical formulas, allowing the drink to be recreated close to its 19th-century specification.
FAQ
What is the most famous gin drink?
Modern lists usually point to the Martini or the Negroni as the most famous gin drinks. This recipe is different: it is a Gin Cocktail built on Dutch genever rather than London dry gin, paired with orange curaçao, sugar syrup, and bitters, stirred and served up in a coupe with a lemon twist.
What is a 3-ingredient gin cocktail?
Many gin cocktails run just three ingredients, such as a spirit, a liqueur, and bitters. This build uses four: genever, orange curaçao, sugar syrup, and bitters, stirred and strained into a chilled coupe with an expressed lemon twist.
What can you mix with gin to make a cocktail?
Gin, or in this recipe genever, pairs well with citrus liqueurs like orange curaçao, a touch of sugar syrup for balance, and aromatic bitters. This build stirs all four together and strains them up into a chilled glass, finished with a lemon twist expressed over the top.
What's the easiest gin cocktail to make?
A simple stirred build like this one is among the easiest: combine the genever, orange curaçao, sugar syrup, and bitters with ice, stir until cold, then strain into a chilled coupe and add a lemon twist. No shaking, juicing, or muddling is required.
