Angel Face
An Angel Face is 30ml each of gin, apricot brandy and calvados, shaken hard with ice for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled coupe, with no garnish. About 3.1 UK units. The measures match the IBA’s. Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930 prints it, and the scan gives no story with it. We have found no source for who made it or where the name came from. There is no citrus, no bitters and no syrup, so the three bottles have to balance one another. The juniper of the gin dries the apricot, the calvados brings dry apple between them, and the apricot sweetens the join. It tastes gentler than it is: two of the three are full-strength spirits, and the third is a liqueur at our working figure of 24%.
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: None
Ingredients
30ml
A London Dry at 40% ABV, with clear juniper. It dries the apricot; a soft contemporary gin leaves the drink sweet.
30ml
A fruit liqueur, at our working 24% ABV, that tastes of ripe apricot and a little kernel bitterness. It is the only sweetener in the glass, so a bottle tasting of boiled sweets sinks the drink.
30ml
Normandy apple brandy at 40% ABV: dry apple with a little oak, and more depth than generic apple brandy. It gives the gin something to land on.
Instructions
Chill a coupe in the freezer.
Add the gin, apricot brandy and calvados to a shaker.
Fill with cubed ice and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
Double strain into the chilled coupe.
Serve without garnish.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA specification; method ours). Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Buy the apricot brandy with care. The name covers fruit liqueurs that taste of ripe apricot and a little kernel, and cheap ones that taste of boiled sweets. At a third of the drink, that difference is the drink. Shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strain. Three strong ingredients and no juice need the chill and the water, and a hard shake gives both, with a faint texture besides. Use calvados rather than a generic apple brandy. Its dry, slightly rustic apple is what gives the juniper something to land on.
Behind the Angel Face
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
The Savoy Cocktail Book, which Harry Craddock compiled in London in 1930, prints the Angel Face as equal thirds of dry gin, apricot brandy and Calvados, shaken, without a story, and we have found no source that supplies one.
The IBA now lists it among its official cocktails, at 30ml of each.
Three Bottles, No Juice
Most drinks this strong lean on citrus or bitters for balance. The Angel Face uses its own three parts: juniper against apricot, apple between them, and the liqueur sweetening the seam.
With nothing added from outside, each bottle can be tasted in the glass, and a weak one shows within a sip.
The Bottles Themselves
Apricot brandy is the bottle most likely to let it down. The good ones are fruit liqueurs made from macerated apricots; the poor ones are thin and sugary, and they turn the drink into a boiled sweet.
Calvados is the other choice. Normandy apple brandy is drier and more rustic than generic apple brandy, and it is what gives the gin something to land on.
Why It Is Shaken
Drinks made only of spirits and liqueurs are usually stirred. The IBA shakes this one.
A hard shake chills and dilutes faster than a stir, and it gives the drink a faint texture. With three strong bottles and no juice, that extra water is what makes the first sip easy.
The IBA and Ours
The Angel Face: the IBA’s measures beside ours
Gin
- IBA
- 30ml
- Ours
- 30ml London Dry
Apricot brandy
- IBA
- 30ml
- Ours
- 30ml
Calvados
- IBA
- 30ml
- Ours
- 30ml
Method
- IBA
- Shaken, strained
- Ours
- Shaken hard 10 to 12 seconds, double strained
Glass
- IBA
- Chilled cocktail glass
- Ours
- Chilled coupe
Garnish
- IBA
- None
- Ours
- None
| Element | IBA | Ours |
|---|---|---|
| Gin | 30ml | 30ml London Dry |
| Apricot brandy | 30ml | 30ml |
| Calvados | 30ml | 30ml |
| Method | Shaken, strained | Shaken hard 10 to 12 seconds, double strained |
| Glass | Chilled cocktail glass | Chilled coupe |
| Garnish | None | None |
How to Serve It
Up, in a chilled coupe, without garnish, and one at a time. At about 3.1 units it is stronger than a Last Word, though it tastes softer.
For another equal-parts drink, make a Last Word; for apricot brandy with gin and orange juice, a Paradise.
Make it at home
The Spirit
GinGin is a spirit flavoured with juniper berries. Under the retained Regulation (EC) 110/2008, juniper must lead the taste, the floor is 37.5% ABV, and the route the flavour takes sets the grade: plain gin, distilled gin or London gin. Our recipes count it at 40%, and it carries the Martini, the Negroni and the Gin and Tonic.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in an Angel Face?
Where does the Angel Face come from?
Why does it work without citrus?
Which apricot brandy should I buy?
Why is an all-spirit drink shaken?
How strong is an Angel Face?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- Harry Craddock (1930), Internet Archive, “The Savoy Cocktail Book” (primary source: ANGEL FACE COCKTAIL. 1/3 Dry Gin, 1/3 Apricot Brandy, 1/3 Calvados. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. (No story is given.)).
- IBA, “Angel Face” (official specification: 30 ml gin, 30 ml apricot brandy, 30 ml Calvados; shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass; no garnish).
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Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026