Lucien Gaudin
Stir ∙ 3 min ∙ 26.8% ABV ∙
The Lucien Gaudin stirs gin with smaller, equal measures of triple sec, a red bitter such as Campari, and dry vermouth, finished with an orange twist.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Stir all ingredients with ice: London dry gin 40 mlTriple sec 20 mlRed bitter 20 mlDry vermouth 20 ml
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express an orange twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Keep the triple sec and red bitter to 20 ml each; both are strong flavors, and a heavier pour buries the 40 ml of gin.
- Stir for about 30 seconds, until very cold and slightly diluted, so the four ingredients come together before you strain.
History
The Lucien Gaudin cocktail first appeared in print in Cocktails de Paris Présentes, a 1929 Paris cocktail book by the entertainer Georges Gabriel Thenon, who wrote under the pen name Rip. The book credits the drink to a bartender known only as Charlie of Le Cheval Pie, a Parisian restaurant operating in the late 1920s, and records that the cocktail won the Honorary Cup at the Professional Bartenders Championship in Paris on February 2, 1929.
It was named for Lucien Gaudin, a champion French fencer who won gold and silver medals across the 1920, 1924, and 1928 Olympics and is thought to have been a regular at Le Cheval Pie. The drink built on the gin, red bitter liqueur, and vermouth template later known as the Negroni, but swapped in dry vermouth for sweet and added orange liqueur, giving it a drier, more citrus-forward profile.
The cocktail's earliest known English-language listing came nearly two decades later, in Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide, published in the late 1940s. It then remained a relatively obscure entry in cocktail manuals for much of the twentieth century before modern bartenders and writers revisiting Negroni-family drinks rediscovered it.
FAQ
What is in a Lucien Gaudin cocktail?
40 ml London dry gin with 20 ml each of triple sec, a red bitter such as Campari, and dry vermouth. It is close to a Negroni, but drier and more citrusy: dry vermouth instead of sweet, plus orange liqueur.
