Coronation – Recipe from the ‘Old Waldorf Bar Guide’

One-third Italian Vermuth 

One-third French Vermuth 

One-third Apple-jack 

One dash Apricot Liqueur

There were a couple of big coronations in the UK around the turn, and after 1900, the first was Edward the 7th, husband of and successor to Queen Victoria, his reign didn’t last long, and I suspect his wasn’t the type of coronation to name drinks after. Of more interest was his son, George 5th who succeeded him in 1910 in an era when marrying your second cousin was the done thing.

However, in that there’s not much British about the ingredients in all honesty it could be named after literally dozens of European coronations during this period so, moving on!

I have a horrible feeling I overdid the apricot in this as it ended up tasting a little to ‘Southern Comfort’ for me. I like apricot, and didn’t have one of those childhood nightmarish hangover relationships with southern comfort, it was however the first bottle of ‘spirits’ I purchased, at a time when I should’ve been at somewhere doing homework and my enduring memory of it was how unpleasant the flavour, and I didn’t even come close to finishing the bottle before leaving it on the side of a road somewhere and wandering off. Whenever I taste it, or something similar I’m reminded of this moment, and not in a good way. This drink has sparked that memory.