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

The Betsy Ross is cocktail number 15 on the Swank Cocktail Guide.
Betsy Ross cocktail history
Elizabeth Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole (1752-1836), better known as Betsy Ross, may or may not have created the first American flag (historians typically go with the latter) .
Regardless of the historical accuracy of the flag story, people liked it, and the “Betsy Ross” name was used in a variety of products, including a china pattern, cigars, bread, and fruit cocktail.





So, it should come as no surprise that along the way, a cocktail was named after the famed upholsteress.
While the origin of the Betsy Ross cocktail appears to be unknown, the recipe began to be included in bar guides by 1940 and, by 1944, was being used in newspaper advertisements.

Betsy Ross cocktail recipe

1 jigger Brandy, 1 jigger Port, 2 dashes Angostura Bitters, 1 dash Curacao. Stir well with ice and strain into large Cocktail glass.
Betsy Ross cocktail review
Our ratings (1-5 🍸) Rating scale
Greg: 🍸🍸🍸
Kim: 🍸🍸🍸
A rather intense cocktail, while drinkable, we both agreed we’d rather have just had the port on it’s own. It also needs some sort of food as an accompaniment; nuts worked for us.
Next up….Cocktail #16, Between the Sheets