Oriental Cocktail.
1/2 Rye Whisky. (1 1/2 oz Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey)
1/4 Italian Vermouth. (3/4 oz Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth)
1/4 White Curacao. (3/4 oz Bols Dry Orange Curacao)
The Juice of 1/2 Lime.
Shake (I stirred) well and strain into cocktail glass.
In August, 1924, an American Engineer nearly died of fever in the Philippines, and only the extraordinary devotion of Dr. B– saved his life.
As an act of gratitude the Engineer gave Dr. B– the recipe of this Cocktail.
To me, the Oriental Cocktail is a very modern tasting cocktail. Compared to many vintage cocktails, it has a fairly large portion of both sweet and sour, making it quite rich in flavor. If it didn’t have pesky Sweet Vermouth, it could go on just about any modern cocktail menu and be quite the crowd pleaser.
Personally, I find it a bit rich, but am never quite sure where to go with that. More Vermouth and less curacao and lime? 2 oz booze, 1/2 oz of everthing else? Certainly can think of worse ways to spend an evening than tweaking the proportions of the Oriental.
In any case, as enjoyable as the Oriental Cocktail is, I’m pretty sure Dr. B– got the better end of this deal!
This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.
Mate what I love about this style of cocktail, is that you can subistute almost any spirit into the combintaion and come up with a winner! Keep up the great work
Hayds
Erik this is one of my favorite cocktails! In the top 5, I think. But these proportions are a little different than what I’m used to…
What proportions do you use, DJ?
I’ve made a small variation on this with 2 oz. rye, 1/2 oz. vermouth, 1/2 tsp. Rose’s Lime Juice and 1/4 tsp. Agnostura Orange Bitters which I happen to like.