Crimson
Gin, lemon, grenadine and egg white, shaken, with a float of port. A Savoy sour that is a Clover Club with a wine finish — pink foam, red ribbon, and better than it sounds.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Add the gin, lemon juice, grenadine and egg white to a shaker.
Dry shake without ice for 10 seconds to build the foam.
Add ice and shake hard for 12 seconds, then double strain into a chilled coupe.
Let the foam settle, then float the port over the back of a spoon so it sits on top.
A thoughtful finish
- Real grenadine (pomegranate and sugar) — the red-dyed syrup makes it sickly.
- Pour the port slowly over a spoon or it sinks straight through.
- Let it stand a minute so the port threads down through the foam.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the egg white; the port needs a foam to sit on.
- Too much grenadine, which drowns the gin.
- Tawny port; ruby is the colour and the fruit.
A few good questions.
What does a Crimson taste like?
A Clover Club with a wine finish — tart, fruity, silky, with the port's plum at the end.
How is it different from a Clover Club?
Lemon instead of raspberry or lime, and a port float. Otherwise the same gin-grenadine-egg sour.
Can I skip the port?
Then it is a pink gin sour. The port is what makes it a Crimson.
Vegan?
Aquafaba foams nearly as well as egg white.
Variations
- Clover Club — Gin, lemon, raspberry and egg white.
- Pink Lady — Gin, grenadine, egg white and applejack.
- New York Sour — Whiskey sour with a red wine float.
- Gin Sour — Gin, lemon, sugar and egg white.
Where it comes from
c. 1930 · London · Savoy Hotel
The Crimson Cocktail is in the Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930: the juice of half a lemon, three dashes of grenadine, the white of an egg and a glass of gin, shaken, strained, and finished with three dashes of port on top. It is a Clover Club by another name — gin, citrus, grenadine, egg white — with lemon where the Clover Club uses lemon or lime, and the port float that gives it its name as the wine bleeds down through the foam. It was forgotten for seventy years and brought back by the Savoy revivalists of the 2000s, and it is worth making for the look alone: white foam, red thread, pink drink.
Sources
- Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book, 1930 (book)
- Difford's Guide, Crimson Cocktail, 2015 (reference)
- Erik Ellestad, Savoy Stomp, 2008 (blog)
Strength. About 1.63 US standard drinks at an estimated 16.5% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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