Rabo de Galo
Brazil's bittersweet classic.
Cachaça meets sweet vermouth and Cynar in a drink that is dry, herbal and gently bitter. It is Brazil's answer to the Manhattan, born in working-class bars and now rediscovered by cocktail bars.
- IBA · Contemporary Classics
- Aperitif
- Built
- Glass
- Rocks glass
- Method
- Built
- Strength
- Strong
- Time
- 2 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Ice
- Cubes
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
Cachaça
60 ml
-
Sweet red vermouth
20 ml
-
Cynar
15 ml
-
Angostura bitters (optional)
2 drops
Garnish
- Orange twist
Proportions
How to make
- Pour the cachaça into a rocks glass.
- Add the sweet red vermouth.
- Add the Cynar.
- If you like, add two drops of Angostura.
- Add ice.
- Stir briefly.
- Garnish with an orange twist.
The story
Origins
ProbableA plausible account, without definitive proof.
The Rabo de Galo has no known inventor. Sources link it to the 1950s, when Italian producer Cinzano opened a plant in São Paulo and, to sell vermouth in a country that did not drink it neat, promoted mixing it with cachaça. The name means 'rooster's tail', a literal translation of the English word cocktail. At first it was served as a shot in pés-sujos, cheap neighbourhood bars, with proportions changing from place to place. Over time, especially in São Paulo, Cynar became a common addition, and the move into cocktail bars brought it into a tumbler over ice.
Sources (4)
Taste profile
- Strong
- 4 out of 5
- Bitter
- 3 out of 5
- Herbal
- 3 out of 5
- Sweet
- 2 out of 5
