Bitter, aromatic, juniper, dried cherry, lemon
Pheasant, crown roast, holiday ham—serve this gemlike cocktail with a royal lunch.
While the classic recipe for the Dubonnet, or Zaza Cocktail as it is also called, is equal parts gin and Dubonnet Rouge, the Queen Mother had the right idea with her 2:1 ratio, sporting a lemon wheel under an ice cube. She popularized the drink during WWI by drinking it every day at lunch, and her daughter continued the tradition. This garnet cocktail looks regal and has enough body to conquer a rich lunch while still being refreshing—a versatile daily sipper if there ever was one. Simply smashing.
2 ounces (60 ml) Dubonnet Rouge
1 ounce (30 ml) gin (Beefeater, or the Queen’s choice, Gordon’s)
Lemon wheel
Drop a lemon wheel into a rocks glass and top it with a single hefty square of ice. Combine Dubonnet and gin in a mixing glass. Stir with ice, then strain into the prepared glass.
THE WONDERS OF DUBONNET
To each nation its particular poison—or in this case, medicine. While the Brits discovered they enjoyed taking their antimalarial quinine with gin (righto, Gin and Tonics!), the French settled on a wine cure (but of course). Dubonnet got its start as a way for the French Foreign Legion to fend off disease in North Africa—and curiously, it became a cause célèbre in England, too, when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth raised its profile to an upper-class drink. She drank her Dubonnet Cocktail (page 66) every single day, and after you try it you may follow suit. Once you experience its pleasantly bitter, food-friendly charms, we’re certain you’ll be sipping it often.
Dubonnet is deep burgundy in color, and has a raisin-y aroma with flavors of blackberry, cassis, and quinine. Try it in the Dubonnet Cocktail (page 66), the Napoleon (page 68), the Salomé (page 69), and the Deshler (page 68). The first three of these four drinks combine gin and Dubonnet to great effect, making a royal Dubonnet party a cinch to throw. These are marvelous cocktails to introduce friends to around the holidays. Stock your bar with bottles of Dubonnet, gin, orange curaçao, and dry vermouth—and you can make the first three cocktails on the list. Add whiskey and Peychaud’s bitters, and you can make the Deshler, too.