Angel Face
Apricot, apple and gin.
Gin, apricot brandy and calvados in equal parts, shaken and served up. Apricot and apple fruit meet the gin's botanicals in a drink that is smooth yet assertive.
- IBA · The Unforgettables
- After dinner
- Shaken
- Glass
- Cocktail glass
- Method
- Shaken
- Strength
- Strong
- Time
- 2 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Ice
- No ice
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
Gin
30 ml
-
Apricot brandy
30 ml
-
Calvados
30 ml
Proportions
How to make
- Chill a cocktail glass.
- Fill a shaker with ice.
- Pour the gin.
- Pour the apricot brandy.
- Pour the calvados.
- Shake hard.
- Strain into the chilled glass.
- Serve without garnish.
The story
Origins
DocumentedOrigin attested by written sources of the time.
The inventor of the Angel Face is unknown. The earliest known printed recipe is in Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book, published in London in 1930, which calls for equal parts gin, apricot brandy and calvados, shaken and served up. Craddock made it famous, but there is no evidence that he created it. Only theories exist about the name: the most cited links it to Abe "Angel Face" Kaminsky, a Prohibition-era Detroit gangster, but the idea is unsupported. The drink already featured in the first official IBA list of 1961 and remains among the Unforgettables. Today many bartenders prefer to stir it rather than shake it.
Sources (6)
- Wikipedia — List of IBA official cocktails (opens in a new tab) recipe and history
- IBA — Angel Face (opens in a new tab) recipe
- IBA — All cocktails, page 1 (opens in a new tab) recipe
- Difford's Guide — Angel Face (opens in a new tab) history
- Wikipedia — Angel face (cocktail) (opens in a new tab) history
- VinePair — The Story Behind the Angel Face (opens in a new tab) history
Taste profile
- Strong
- 4 out of 5
- Fruity
- 4 out of 5
- Sweet
- 3 out of 5
- Herbal
- 1 out of 5