Savoy Special No. 1
A herbal and dry gin cocktail ∙ Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 23.5% ABV ∙
The Savoy Special No. 1 is a shaken gin cocktail of London dry gin and dry vermouth, seasoned with a little grenadine and a dash of absinthe.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: London dry gin 60 mlDry vermouth 30 mlGrenadine syrup 5 mlAbsinthe 1 dash
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express a lemon twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- One dash of absinthe is all it takes to season the drink; any more and it buries the gin.
History
The Savoy Special No. 1 first appeared in print in Harry Craddock's The Savoy Cocktail Book, published in 1930 by Constable & Company. Craddock, an English-born bartender long based in the United States who had crossed the Atlantic in 1920 and taken charge of the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London, compiled the book from recipes gathered during his years behind the bar, and this shaken gin, dry vermouth, grenadine, and absinthe combination was one of the roughly 750 drinks he included under the Savoy name.
The recipe carries a tongue-in-cheek footnote about "Peter, ninth Earl of Savoy," the namesake of the hotel and so of the drink, who supposedly brought dozens of wealthy young women to England as wards and married them off to English nobles.
FAQ
What is the original Savoy cocktail book?
The Savoy Cocktail Book, compiled by Harry Craddock of the Savoy Hotel's American Bar in London and first published in 1930; the Savoy Special No. 1 first appeared in it.
