The Colonial Cooler
A bubbly, sweet and bitter cocktail ∙ Stir ∙ 3 min ∙ 18.5% ABV ∙
The Colonial Cooler is a long drink of gin and rosso vermouth stirred with a little orange liqueur and Amer Picon, then topped with soda in a highball.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Stir the first 5 ingredients with ice: London dry gin 45 mlRosso vermouth 45 mlCognac orange liqueur (e.g., Grand Marnier) 5 mlAmer Picon 5 mlAngostura aromatic bitters 1 dash (opt.)
- Strain into the ice-filled glass
- Top with Soda water
- Garnish with mint sprigs and a pineapple wedge
Tips
- Stir the gin, vermouth, orange liqueur, Amer Picon and the bitters, if using, with ice; add the soda in the glass so it keeps its fizz.
History
The Colonial Cooler traces to Charles H. Baker Jr.'s The Gentleman's Companion, Volume II (1939), in which the well-traveled writer recounts drinking the cooler at the Sandakan Club in British North Borneo (now Sabah, East Malaysia) during the mid-1920s. Baker, sailing on a round-the-world steamer, described making an unplanned landing near Sandakan after his shore boats had engine trouble, and being served the drink at the club through the courtesy of an American who had brought a mint root with him to the outpost. His recipe combined gin and Italian vermouth with dashes of Angostura bitters and Amer Picon plus a touch of orange curaçao, topped with soda and garnished with mint and pineapple.
The name reflects the drink's setting in a British colonial club. It has since been carried into modern reference guides largely unchanged from Baker's original account, with some contemporary versions substituting Grand Marnier or Cointreau for the curaçao. This Colonial Cooler recipe uses a cognac-based orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier in place of the curaçao, with a single optional dash of Angostura.
