Vodka, stirred
Tipsy Coachman
Barline 1h,Q,1,Rl
The code is the shorthand off my printed menu; the Key tab decodes every letter.
- 1 1/2 oz Vodka
- 3/4 oz Bénédictine
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
Stir with ice until cold, then strain.
Rocks, iced, lemon twist.
Taste
An ounce and a half of vodka, three-quarters of Bénédictine, one dash of Angostura. Honey and herbs, vodka as the thinner so the liqueur is a third of the drink. Stirred, rocks with ice, lemon twist. It sits, herbal and sweet, with bark at the end.
History
The formula is the Gypsy Queen: vodka, Bénédictine, and bitters. David Wondrich found the earliest printing in a 1938 booklet from New York's Russian Tea Room, one of the first American vodka cocktails. David Embury reprints it in 1948 as Gypsy or Gypsy Queen and prefers a drier ratio than the original one-to-two. A drink called Tipsy Coachman does not appear under that name in those books; the phrase is older, from Oliver Goldsmith, and later a legal doctrine. This menu keeps the ounce and a half of vodka, three-quarters of Bénédictine, and a dash of Angostura, over ice with a lemon twist.
Same shape, other bottles
The Fancy family, with the bottle that changed.
- Monte Carlorye for vodka
- Cock 'n' Bull Specialbourbon and cognac for vodka
- Fancy Cocktailbourbon and orange liqueur for vodka and Bénédictine
- Alaskagin and Chartreuse for vodka and Bénédictine
- Casinogin and maraschino liqueur for vodka and Bénédictine
- El Caminomezcal and rye for vodka
This is one drink on my home bar's menu. Tick the bottles you own and the menu lists which of all 185 drinks they pour, or read the index of every drink.