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Princeton

Classic/vintage · Nightcap/sipping · Short and stirred

3.9 21 ratings

Ingredients

2 oz Old Tom gin
1/2 oz Tawny port
1/6 oz Sugar syrup 'rich' (2:1)
3 dash Orange bitters
1/3 oz Chilled water

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 STIR 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.

Flavour profile

24.2% alc./vol. · 1.6 standard drinks · 166 calories

History

Kappeler's 1895 recipe calls for Old Tom gin and orange bitters to be stirred with ice and strained into a glass. The port is then poured down the side of the glass, settling to form a red layer beneath the orange bitters-tinted gin. A spoonful (5ml) of sugar syrup has been added to Kappeler's recipe to slightly sweeten the gin, though this may be omitted if using a sweet Old Tom. A splash of water is also included to provide necessary dilution. The author prefers to abandon the original layering and stir all ingredients together.

Adapted from a recipe in Harry Craddock's influential 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book. PRINCETON COCKTAIL. 2 Dashes Orange Bitters. 1/3 Port Wine. 2/3 Tom Gin. Stir well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon peel on top. However, the Princeton predates The Savoy Cocktail Book by at least 30 years as it first appears in George J. Kappeler's 1900 Modern American Drinks. Princeton Cocktail. A mixing-glass half-full fine ice, three dashes orange bitters, one and a half pony Tom gin. Mix, strain into cocktail-glass; add half a pony port wine carefully and let it settle in bottom of cocktail before serving." In his 1948 The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks David Embury also includes the "Princeton" with "1 part Port, 3 parts Gin, 2 dashes Orange Bitters to each drink" along with the following notation: Authorities differ as to the proper mixing of this drink. Under one version, all the ingredients are stirred together; under another version the gin and bitters are shaken with crushed ice, poured into a cocktail glass, and the port is then poured into the glass and allowed to settle through the gin and bitters. A twist of lemon over the top.

Created by George Kappeler