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.