Skip to content
Spirlix
Log in Sign up
All cocktails Twentieth Century

Log in to see whether your bar can pour this

Twentieth Century

Classic/vintage · Hall of Fame and must know/try · Nightcap/sipping

4.5 178 ratings

Ingredients

1 1/3 oz Gin
2/3 oz White crème de cacao
2/3 oz Americano bianco
2/3 oz Lemon juice
3 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 lemon or orange zest twist.

Method

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

Garnish

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

Flavour profile

18.2% alc./vol. · 1.4 standard drinks · 187 calories

History

This cocktail strikes a balance between spirituous strength, citrus acidity, herbal complexity, bitterness from the aromatised wine, and rich chocolate, justifying its longevity and place in our Cocktail Hall of Fame. Kina Lillet, one of the original ingredients, is no longer available. Its modern-day replacement, Lillet Blanc, lacks the quinine bitterness and associated balancing sugar of the original Kina Lillet. The cocktail's original 2:1:1:1 specifications, published in Billy Tarling's 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book, equate to 40ml (1⅓oz) Gin, 20ml (⅔oz) white crème de cacao, 20ml (⅔oz) Kina Lillet, and 20ml (⅔oz) lemon juice. However, as Kina Lillet is no longer available, an interpretation using Americano Bianco is offered, as well as this version using a blend of aromatised wines: 40ml (1⅓oz) Dry gin 20ml (⅔oz) White crème de cacao 15ml (½oz) Lillet Blanc (or other aromatized wine) 2.5 (1/12) Kina aromatised wine 2.5 (1/12) Gomme syrup 20ml (⅔oz) Lemon juice 3 drop Saline solution (4:1) The choice of white cacao liqueur significantly impacts the finished cocktail, to the extent that Joerg Meyer created Dutch Cacao liqueur specifically with this cocktail in mind. It was also the liqueur used to test both recipes.

The recipe for the Twentieth Century cocktail first appeared in William J. "Billy" Tarling's 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book, suggesting its creation in the 1930s. "C. A. Tuck" is credited with inventing this drink, as noted in Tarling's book. TWENTIETH CENTURY Invented by C. A. Tuck 2/5 Booth's Dry Gin. 1/5 Crème de Cacao. 1/5 Lillet. 1/5 Lemon Juice. Shake According to popular bartending lore, Tuck named his cocktail after the 20th Century Limited express train, which ran between New York City and Chicago from 1902 until 1967. The steam train was renowned as "The Most Famous Train in the World," reaching its peak of fame in 1938 with the introduction of a new, streamlined Art Deco locomotive and passenger cars. However, this occurred a year after the cocktail's publication in Tarling's book. Charles A. Tuck, a distinguished London bartender and Chairman of the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild, had previously worked at the Buttery Bar in the Hyde Park Hotel before the war. In 1950, he moved to the Piccadilly Hotel as head bartender. His book, Cocktails and Mixed Drinks, was published in 1967. This publication includes a recipe for the Twentieth Century, but Tuck does not claim authorship of it or any other recipes within. TWENTIETH CENTURY 2/5 Dry Gin 1/5 Creme de Cacao 1/5 Lillet 1/5 Lemon Juice Shake and strain

Created by C.A. Tuck