The Rose Cocktail Recipe

Posted in Gin on March 6, 2014

When asking for a Rose cocktail, you might have to tell the bartender exactly what you have in mind. There are several different drinks which are popular under this name. In time, numerous recipes for this cocktail were invented. Some of them were long forgotten and other remained popular. Even those who are in use today have a lot of variations. Otherwise said, if you know what you want, you can try making your own cocktail at home. If not, you can expect to be served with different drinks if you ask for Rose in different bars.

Numerous cocktails with this name had a brandy base. However, the Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book states that the Rose is a gin based drink which also contains Grand Marnier and which should be stirred, not shook. The French version of the Rose is nowadays one of the most popular ones. It is gin based, but it also contains cherry brandy. The English version on the other hand can be found in numerous books and it contains apricot brandy instead of cherry one.

Why don’t you take a look at both recipes and put in practice the one that you like most?

French Rose Recipe

You need the following ingredients:

• 1 ½ oz. of gin.
• ½ oz. of dry vermouth.
• ½ oz. of cherry brandy or Kirsch.

The cocktail is very easy to make because nowadays most bartenders agree on using a shaker for it. All the ingredients have to be shaken together and then strained into a chilled cocktail glass.

English Rose Recipe

The method of preparing the cocktail is the same, but the ingredients are different.

You need:

• 1 oz. of gin.
• ½ oz. of dry vermouth.
• ½ oz. of apricot brandy.
• 1 tsp. of grenadine syrup.
• ½ tsp. of lemon juice.

Put all the ingredients into a shaker, shake them well and then strain the drink into a cocktail glass. For some extra elegance, you can sugar rim the glass. You simply have to rub the rim with a lemon slice and to dip it into powdered sugar.

 

The IBA recognizes this cocktail and considers it a contemporary classic, but the recipe that it presents also includes strawberry syrup.