Suffering Bastard
Cairo's wartime ginger cure.
Equal parts cognac and gin with lime and Angostura, shaken and lengthened with spicy ginger beer. Robust yet refreshing, it was born as a hangover remedy.
- IBA · New Era
- Long drink
- Shaken
- Glass
- Collins glass
- Method
- Shaken
- Strength
- Medium
- Time
- 3 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Ice
- Cubes
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
Cognac
30 ml
-
Gin
30 ml
-
Lime juice
15 ml
-
Angostura bitters
2 dashes
-
Ginger beer
top up
Garnish
- Mint sprig
- Orange slice (optional)
Proportions
How to make
- Pour the cognac into the shaker.
- Add the gin.
- Add the lime juice.
- Add two dashes of Angostura.
- Shake well with ice.
- Pour everything, ice included, into a Collins glass.
- Top up with ginger beer.
- Garnish with mint and, optionally, an orange slice.
The story
Origins
ProbableA plausible account, without definitive proof.
The Suffering Bastard is credited to Joe Scialom, a chemist turned bartender at Cairo's Shepheard's Hotel, around 1942. During the Second World War the hotel was a haunt of British officers and correspondents; according to the traditional account Scialom made the drink as a hangover cure for them from whatever ingredients he could find, and it came to accompany Montgomery's troops through the North African campaign. For a while it was politely renamed the Suffering Bar Steward. Scialom also created the Dying Bastard and the Dead Bastard. Shepheard's burned down in 1952; Trader Vic later popularised a very different tiki version.
Taste profile
- Bubbly
- 3 out of 5
- Strong
- 3 out of 5
- Spicy
- 3 out of 5
- Herbal
- 2 out of 5
- Citrus
- 2 out of 5
