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Monkey Gland

Classic/vintage · Cocktails Made Easy · Hall of Fame and must know/try

3.8 105 ratings

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Ingredients

2 oz Gin
2/3 oz Orange juice
1/6 oz Grenadine syrup
1/12 oz Sugar syrup 'rich' (2:1)
3 dash Absinthe

How to make

Serve in a coupe glass

Prepare

  1. 1 Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
  2. 2 Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.

Method

  1. 3 SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  2. 4 FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

  1. 5 EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

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Flavour profile

21.1% alc./vol. · 1.4 standard drinks · 169 calories

History

A touch of sugar and more absinthe have been added to make this old-school cocktail pop. Caution is advised; nothing about this drink is designed to enhance virility.

Harry MacElhone is credited with creating the Monkey Gland cocktail in the late 1920s at his establishment, Harry's New York Bar in Paris, France. The drink's name is derived from the experiments of Dr Serge Voronoff, who believed that testosterone was key to a long and healthy life and transplanted monkey testicles onto elderly Frenchmen. The "Monkey's Gland Cocktail" is found in MacElhone's 1922 Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails. The 1923 edition of the book specifies the recipe as "1 dash Absinthe, 1 teaspoonful of Grenadine, ½ Orange Juice, ½ Gordon Gin. Shake well, and strain into a cocktail glass. (Invented by the Author and deriving its name from Voronoff's experiments in rejuvenation.)."

Created by Harry MacElhone