Skip to content
Spirlix
All cocktails Poet's Dream

Log in to see whether your bar can pour this

Poet's Dream

Aperitivo/aperitif · Classic/vintage · Hall of Fame and must know/try

4.5 728 ratings

Ingredients

1 oz Gin
3/4 oz Bénédictine D.O.M.
1 oz Dry vermouth

How to make

Serve in a coupe glass

Prepare

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

Method

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

Garnish

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

Flavour profile

25.5% alc./vol. · 1.5 standard drinks · 175 calories

History

Honeyed and herbal with an assertive dry gin backbone. The original equal-parts formula can be a little overly rich, so the liqueur is cut back to between 20ml (2/3oz) and 25ml (5/6oz), depending on the time of night. More liqueur is added later in the evening. The recipe above is middle-of-the-road.

Albert Stevens Crockett's 1931 book, Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Days, first published this Prohibition-era cocktail. The original recipe listed is: POET'S DREAM One-third Benedictine One-third French Vermuth One-third dry Gin Lemon Peel, squeezed on top This preparation was carried forward in later works, such as the 1949 version of Esquire's Handbook for Hosts, which presented it as: POET'S DREAM 1/3 Benedictine 1/3 French vermouth 1/3 Gin Lemon peel squeezed on top