It pours like a pint of stout, dark with a creamy tan head, but underneath sit gin, rum, whisky, brandy and port. The Champagne adds lift, the stout adds roast and bitterness, and the result is heavy, rich and potent.
¾ oz
London dry gine.g. Tanqueray · Gordon's · Beefeater · Bombay Sapphire · Sipsmith
¾ oz
dark rume.g. Gosling's · Myers's · Captain Morgan · Bacardi · Kraken
¾ oz
blended Scotch whiskye.g. Johnnie Walker · Chivas Regal · Famous Grouse · Glenfiddich · Monkey Shoulder
¾ oz
brandye.g. Asbach · Torres · Metaxa · Rémy Martin · Hennessy
¾ oz
ruby porte.g. Sandeman · Graham's · Taylor's · Cockburn's · Dow's
5 oz
stout such as Guinnesse.g. Guinness · Murphy's · Beamish
3 oz
champagnee.g. Moët & Chandon · Veuve Clicquot · Taittinger · Laurent-Perrier · Pommery
Garnish: None · Ice: Served up, no ice
Hangman's Blood
Dark, malty and roasty with dried fruit from the port, a spirity warmth and a fine, creamy fizz. Very strong for its innocent look.
Hangman's Blood owes its fame to literature. The British writer Richard Hughes described it in his 1929 novel A High Wind in Jamaica as a mixture of rum, gin, brandy and porter, noting that it looks innocent while being anything but. Later writers and bartenders picked up the name and expanded the recipe, adding whisky, port and Champagne.
There is no single authoritative recipe and no known bar of origin; the modern version is essentially a very strong cousin of the Black Velvet, which combines stout and Champagne alone. It belongs to the old tradition of fortified beer drinks and flips, where stout or porter was used as a base for spirits.
It was popularised by Richard Hughes' 1929 novel A High Wind in Jamaica, which describes the drink.
Very strong: 100 ml of spirits and port make it one of the heaviest drinks in this lexicon.
Yes. Porter is what Hughes mentions, and it gives a slightly lighter, sweeter drink.
The perfect sound
A heavy, smoky pint in a dimly lit old tavern.
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