Adonis
Sherry and vermouth, lightly elegant.
Dry sherry and sweet vermouth with a touch of orange bitters: a low-alcohol aperitif, aromatic and just off-dry. It is the rounder sibling of the Bamboo, ideal for anyone seeking aroma without much strength.
- Aperitif
- Stirred
- Glass
- Cocktail glass
- Method
- Stirred
- Strength
- Light
- Time
- 3 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Ice
- No ice
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
Dry sherry
60 ml
-
Sweet red vermouth
30 ml
-
Orange bitters
2 dashes
Garnish
- Orange twist
Proportions
How to make
- Chill a cocktail glass.
- Fill a mixing glass with ice.
- Pour the sherry.
- Pour the sweet red vermouth.
- Add the orange bitters.
- Stir until well chilled.
- Strain into the chilled glass.
- Garnish with an orange peel.
The story
Origins
ProbableA plausible account, without definitive proof.
The Adonis is named after Adonis, a burlesque show that opened in 1884 and, once in New York, became the longest-running Broadway musical of its era. A New Haven Register column of July 1885 credits its invention to Joe McKone, head bartender of New York's Hoffman House. The first known mention in the New York Sun dates to March 1887, while the first printed recipe appears in Jacques Straub's 1913 manual, with more vermouth than sherry. It was the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book that reversed the proportions, establishing the sherry-led version drunk today.
Sources (5)
- PUNCH — Adonis (opens in a new tab) recipe and history
- Difford's Guide — Adonis (opens in a new tab) recipe and history
- PUNCH — What's in an Adonis? (fino sherry debate) (opens in a new tab) recipe and history
- Wikipedia — List of IBA official cocktails (opens in a new tab) recipe
- IBA — All cocktails, page 1 (Adonis absent) (opens in a new tab) recipe
Taste profile
- Herbal
- 3 out of 5
- Dry
- 3 out of 5
- Sweet
- 2 out of 5
- Bitter
- 1 out of 5