Skip to content

The Adonis, Swank Cocktail #1

🏠 » Cocktails » Swank Cocktail Guide: 80 cocktails in 80 days

The Adonis Cocktail

The Adonis is cocktail number one on the Swank Cocktail Guide.

Adonis cocktail history

A mixture of dry sherry, sweet vermouth, and orange bitters, the Adonis cocktail was reportedly created in celebration of the Broadway musical, Adonis, reaching its 500th performance on 7 January 1886.

"A Great Day for Dixey," newspaper article, The New York Times (New York, New York), 8 Jan 1886, p. 1, col. 5.
“A Great Day for Dixey,” newspaper article, The New York Times (New York, New York), 8 Jan 1886, p. 1, col. 5. (Click image to open full article)

The Adonis cocktail was included in Bottoms Up, Ryan’s Guide to Pleasant Drinking in 1900, page 22, and also appeared in 1913 in Straub’s Manual of Mixed Drinks on page 9.

Jacques Straub, Straub's Manual of Mixed Drinks (Chicago, Illinois : 1913), p. 9, Cocktails, Adonis Cocktail.
Jacques Straub, Straub’s Manual of Mixed Drinks (Chicago, Illinois : 1913), p. 9, Cocktails, Adonis Cocktail.
Henry E. Dixey in the stage production Adonis, 1884
Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library, “Henry E. Dixey in the stage production Adonis, 1884,” New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Adonis cocktail recipe

Cocktail #1: Adonis
Cocktail #1: Adonis

Swank Cocktail Guide recipe: 2/3 Dry Sherry, 1/2 Sweet Vermouth, 1 dash Orange Bitters. Stir with ice and strain into glass.

Ingredients used:

  • Savory and James Fino Dry Sherry
  • Gallo Sweet Vermouth
  • Angostura Orange Bitters

Adonis cocktail review

Our ratings (1-5 🍸) Rating scale

Greg: 🍸🍸
Kim: 🍸🍸🍸

The Adonis tastes a bit like Tawny Port. We both like Tawny Port but, as a cocktail hour/pre-dinner beverage, were a bit take or leave it with this one. We averaged 2.5 cocktails with the 🍸 rating.

Next up… Cocktail #2, The Affinity.

Swank Cocktail Guide: 80 cocktails in 80 days

Back to top

Press and guest articles

1890 New Bedford Photo Album featured in South Coast Today | Standard-Times
MyHeritage Guest Article by Kimberli Faulkner Hull
MyHeritage Guest Article by Kimberli Faulkner Hull

Cocktails

Collection projects