Pale gold, bone-dry and quietly complex. Gin and aromatized wine meet in equal parts, orange bitters sharpen the edges, and a couple of dashes of almond liqueur leave a soft, marzipan echo on the finish.
1½ oz
London dry gine.g. Tanqueray · Gordon's · Beefeater · Bombay Sapphire · Sipsmith
1½ oz
Lillet Blanc Cocchi Americano is closer to the old Kina LilletBuy on Amazon →
2 dash
orange bitterse.g. Angostura · Regans' Orange Bitters · Fee Brothers · The Bitter Truth
2 dash
crème de noyaux almond-flavored liqueur; amaretto as a substitutee.g. Tempus Fugit · Bols · Hiram Walker
Garnish: Orange twist · Ice: Served up, no ice
Old Etonian
Dry and aromatic with juniper, citrus peel and quinine bitterness, and a light almond note at the end. Medium-bodied and fairly strong.
The Old Etonian takes its name from Eton College and its former pupils, who are known as Old Etonians. It was a London drink of the 1920s, and the recipe appears in cocktail books of the interwar period, including Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930. No firm record names its creator.
The original called for Kina Lillet, a quinine-laced French aperitif wine that was reformulated in the 1980s and is now sold as Lillet Blanc, with less bitterness. Many bartenders today prefer Cocchi Americano, whose bitter quinine edge is closer to the old style. Crème de noyaux, a liqueur flavored with apricot or peach kernels, gives the drink its faint almond note. Structurally, the Old Etonian is a close cousin of the Martini, just softer and more aromatic.
An older quinine-flavored French aperitif wine. Today's Lillet Blanc is its milder successor, and Cocchi Americano is often used to mimic the original.
It is named after former pupils of Eton College, who are called Old Etonians.
It is better stirred. The drink contains no juice, so shaking only clouds it.
The perfect sound
A well bred English afternoon with a rebellious streak.
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