Skip to content
Spirlix
Log in Sign up
All cocktails Psychopathia Sexualis

Log in to see whether your bar can pour this

Psychopathia Sexualis

Aperitivo/aperitif · Classic/vintage · Savoury (e.g. Bloody Mary)

4.5 83 ratings

Ingredients

3/4 oz Old Tom gin
3/4 oz Palo cortado sherry
3/4 oz Dry vermouth
3/4 oz Rosso/sweet vermouth
1 dash Orange bitters
2 drop Saline solution 4:1

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 STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

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

Flavour profile

18.6% alc./vol. · 1.2 standard drinks · 136 calories

History

A previous recipe used equal parts with London dry gin. In November 2025, it was discovered that old tom gin produced a superior cocktail. The choice of sherry also impacts the drink, with a period of deliberation between amontillado and oloroso before settling on palo cortado. However, any of these three sherry styles, when paired with either old tom or dry gin, creates a delicious cocktail.

Adapted from Crosby Gaige's 1941 Cocktail Guide And Ladies' Companion, the book instructs, "Shake well with cracked ice and strain into cocktail glass." Gaige did not specify a type of sherry, only noting "¼ part Sherry." The drink is named for Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing's 1886 book Psychopathia Sexualis (Psychopathy of Sex). This German book, considered controversial, "deals with the psychology of deviant sexual behaviour" and is recognized as the first to employ the terms sadism and masochism.

Also known as Psycho Sex Cocktail · Created by Crosby Gaige