Fourth Degree
4.2 12 ratings
Ingredients
How to make
Serve in a coupe glass
Prepare
- 1 Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
- 2 Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.
Method
- 3 STIR all ingredients with ice.
- 4 FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish
- 5 EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.
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Flavour profile
20.2% alc./vol. · 1.3 standard drinks · 158 calories
History
A bland dry vermouth will not suffice for this cocktail. Use generous dry vermouth, less rosso, and a judicious dash of absinthe for a delicious Perfect Martini variation.
The drink now known as the Fourth Degree Cocktail was first documented in Jacques Straub's 1914 book, Drink, under the moniker "Feather Cocktail." This initial version was based on blanche absinthe and did not include gin. The recipe provided was: Fourth Degree Cocktail. Feather Cocktail. 1/3 jigger French vermouth. 1/3 jigger Italian vermouth. 1/3 jigger white absinthe. Shake well. Later, in Harry McElhone's 1922 publication, Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails, two variations were presented. One featured gin with dashes of vermouth but excluded rosso (sweet) vermouth. The other was the Fourth Degree cocktail as it is recognized today. McElhone included the drink again in his 1923 book, Harry of Ciro's ABC of Mixing Cocktails, but this time, only the second version was listed. The recipe in this instance was: Fourth Degree Cocktail. 1/3 Gin, 1/3 French Vermouth, 1/3 Italian Vermouth, 4 dashes of Absinthe.
Created by Harry MacElhone