Blackthorn
This Blackthorn is the sloe gin version: 50ml of sloe gin, 25ml of sweet vermouth and two dashes of orange bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled Nick & Nora glass, with a lemon twist. About 1.8 UK units. Two different drinks carry the name, one built on Irish whiskey and the other on sloe gin, and the blackthorn is the bush that bears sloes. The Oxford Companion quotes Robert Vermeire in 1922 calling the Blackthorn a very old cocktail made in two different ways, and the books disagree on the vermouth and the bitters. Sloe gin is a liqueur rather than a gin: sloes steeped in gin and sweetened, at about 26% ABV. That makes this a Manhattan-shaped drink at well under a Manhattan’s strength, with plum and almond where rye would bring spice.
Glassware: Nick & Nora Glass
Garnish: Lemon twist
Ingredients
50ml
Sloes steeped in gin and sweetened, at our working figure of 26% ABV. It is the main flavour here, so taste it first: sweetness varies widely between bottles.
25ml
Italian-style sweet vermouth at our working 16% ABV, which we keep in the fridge once open. It doubles the dark fruit and adds wine body; a drier sloe gin takes a barspoon more.
2 dashes
Orange, not aromatic. The clove and cinnamon in Angostura would crowd the plum; orange peel lifts it and keeps the drink from tasting like a dessert.
Instructions
Chill a Nick & Nora glass.
Add the sloe gin, sweet vermouth and orange bitters to a mixing glass.
Fill with cubed ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Strain into the chilled glass.
Express a lemon twist over the surface and drop it in.
Our version
The sloe gin Blackthorn as we make it: 50ml sloe gin, 25ml sweet vermouth and two dashes of orange bitters, stirred. Old books print the Blackthorn several ways, on Irish whiskey or sloe gin, with dry or sweet vermouth, absinthe and aromatic bitters; ours keeps sloe gin and sweet vermouth and leaves out the absinthe.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Taste the sloe gin first. Brands range from syrupy to fairly dry, and with only vermouth and bitters beside it, the bottle sets the balance. A sweet one wants the 25ml of vermouth and no more; a drier one takes an extra barspoon. We keep the vermouth in the fridge and finish it within a month or so. Oxidised vermouth tastes stale and flat, and in a drink this short there is nothing to hide it. Stir, never shake. 20 to 30 seconds over cubed ice gives the cold and the dilution, and the drink stays clear and silky.
Behind the Blackthorn
Flavour Profile
Two Drinks, One Name
The blackthorn is the hedgerow shrub that bears sloes, small, hard, sour plums that are barely edible raw. Both cocktails called Blackthorn take their name from it.
Difford’s Guide dates the whiskey Black Thorn to Harry Johnson’s 1900 Bartender’s Manual: absinthe, bitters, French vermouth and Irish whiskey. By 1922 Robert Vermeire, the Oxford Companion says, described the Blackthorn as “a very old cocktail, which is made in two different ways”, and the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book prints a Black Thorn of Irish whisky, French vermouth, absinthe and Angostura. The Companion attributes the whiskey version to Johnson and credits the sloe gin version to “Cocktail Bill” Boothby, who in 1908 gave the honours for it to William Smith, bartender at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu. Boothby’s 1908 The World’s Drinks and How to Mix Them, in the Internet Archive scan, prints a Blackthorn Cocktail “a la Wm. Smith, Esq., Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Honolulu”: equal parts French vermouth, Italian vermouth and sloe gin, with orange bitters and a drop or two of Angostura. The books disagree on the details.
Why Sloe Gin Works Here
In a Manhattan, rye’s spice pulls against sweet vermouth, and bitters join the two. Swap in sloe gin and that pull has to come from somewhere else.
It comes from the fruit. Sloes are tart and astringent, and steeping draws a bitter almond note from the stones. That bitterness does the job rye’s spice would do, and the orange bitters lift the plum on top of it.
Sloe Gin Is a Liqueur
Sloe gin is gin in which sloes have been steeped, then sweetened. Annex II of Regulation (EC) 110/2008, as retained in Great Britain, defines it as a liqueur produced by maceration of sloes in gin, with a minimum strength of 25%, and it cannot replace gin in a recipe written for gin. We take it at 26% ABV.
Sweetness varies far more than strength. Commercial bottles run from syrupy to fairly dry, and a home batch depends on the fruit, the sugar and the time it sat. Stirred with only vermouth and bitters, the bottle is most of what you taste, so adjust the vermouth to it.
Stirring a Gentler Drink
At about 1.8 UK units, the Blackthorn is closer to a strong aperitif than to a Manhattan. Stir it for 20 to 30 seconds over cubed ice and stop there. There is less alcohol to carry extra water, and a longer stir thins the fruit.
Strain it into a chilled Nick & Nora. The small bowl stays cold, and lemon oil expressed over the surface lifts the almond and keeps the plum from tasting jammy.
Three Ways With One Bottle
Our Blackthorn, Sloe Gin Fizz and Charlie Chaplin
Sloe gin
- Blackthorn
- 50ml
- Sloe Gin Fizz
- 45ml
- Charlie Chaplin
- 30ml
Partner
- Blackthorn
- 25ml sweet vermouth
- Sloe Gin Fizz
- 15ml London Dry gin
- Charlie Chaplin
- 30ml apricot brandy
Citrus
- Blackthorn
- Lemon twist only
- Sloe Gin Fizz
- 30ml lemon
- Charlie Chaplin
- 30ml lime
Method
- Blackthorn
- Stirred
- Sloe Gin Fizz
- Shaken, topped with soda
- Charlie Chaplin
- Shaken
Glass
- Blackthorn
- Nick & Nora
- Sloe Gin Fizz
- Highball
- Charlie Chaplin
- Coupe
UK units
- Blackthorn
- About 1.8
- Sloe Gin Fizz
- About 1.8
- Charlie Chaplin
- About 1.5
| Element | Blackthorn | Sloe Gin Fizz | Charlie Chaplin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sloe gin | 50ml | 45ml | 30ml |
| Partner | 25ml sweet vermouth | 15ml London Dry gin | 30ml apricot brandy |
| Citrus | Lemon twist only | 30ml lemon | 30ml lime |
| Method | Stirred | Shaken, topped with soda | Shaken |
| Glass | Nick & Nora | Highball | Coupe |
| UK units | About 1.8 | About 1.8 | About 1.5 |
When to Drink It
Sloes are picked in autumn, often after the first frost, and a home batch is usually ready by winter. The drink suits the same months: cold, up and dark-fruited, after dinner or as a gentle second drink.
For the same bottle shaken with apricot and lime, make a Charlie Chaplin; for it long with lemon and soda, a Sloe Gin Fizz.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Sloe GinDespite its name, sloe gin is a fruit liqueur: sloes, the small sour fruit of the blackthorn tree, macerated in gin and sweetened, then bottled at 25% ABV or more, usually 25 to 30%. Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 defines it in its own right and allows only natural flavourings in it. It brings plum, tartness and a deep red colour to the Sloe Gin Fizz and to long drinks with tonic.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in a Blackthorn cocktail?
Is the Blackthorn made with Irish whiskey or sloe gin?
Is sloe gin a gin?
Which sloe gin should I use?
Why stir rather than shake?
How strong is a Blackthorn?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails (Spirits & Distilling), “The Blackthorn Cocktail” (secondary source (Eric Felten): Vermeire, Cocktails: How to Mix Them (1922): “the Blackthorn is a very old cocktail, which is made in two different ways”; the whisky version attributed to Harry Johnson (equal parts Irish whisky and dry vermouth, 3 dashes each absinthe and Angostura); the sloe gin version credited to Cocktail Bill Boothby, who in 1908 gave the honours to William Smith of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Honolulu; Trader Vic 1947 has five Blackthorns).
- Difford’s Guide, “Blackthorn No. 3” (secondary source: the whiskey-based Black Thorn first appears in Harry Johnson’s 1900 Bartender’s Manual (3 or 4 dashes absinthe, 3 or 4 dashes bitters, 1/2 wine glass French vermouth, 1/2 wine glass Irish whiskey)).
- Harry Craddock (1930), Internet Archive, “The Savoy Cocktail Book” (primary source: Black Thorn Cocktail, 3 dashes Angostura, 3 dashes absinthe, Irish whisky, French vermouth).
- legislation.gov.uk, “Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, Annex II (retained)” (point 37: sloe gin is a liqueur produced by maceration of sloes in gin, with a minimum alcoholic strength of 25 %).
- William T. Boothby (1908), Internet Archive, “The World’s Drinks and How to Mix Them” (primary source, read 19 Oct in the Vintage Cocktail Books collection: 33 BLACKTHORN COCKTAIL. A LA WM. SMITH, ESQ., ROYAL HAWAIIAN HOTEL, HONOLULU, T. H. a jiggerful of equal parts of French vermouth, Italian vermouth and Sloe gin, a flavor of Orange bitters and a drop or two of Angostura bitters; stir, strain, squeeze a piece of lemon peel over the top).
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Manhattan
The IBA specifies 50ml of rye whiskey, 20ml of sweet vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters, strained into a chilled glass with a cocktail cherry; we stir it over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and serve it in a coupe. That is five parts whiskey to two of vermouth. About 2.3 UK units. The Oxford Companion says the most commonly told story puts it at New York’s Manhattan Club on 29 December 1874, at a testimonial dinner for Samuel J. Tilden, later retold with Jennie Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill, as host or inspiration, and calls that story simply not true: she had given birth to Winston Churchill in Oxfordshire less than a month earlier. The Companion names O. H. Byron’s Modern Bartenders’ Guide among the bar books that printed the drink in 1884, and we read Byron’s and Charlie Paul’s books of that year in the Internet Archive scans. With so little in the glass, the vermouth decides it. Twenty millilitres is over a quarter of the drink, and a bottle opened months ago tastes flat and sour against the rye. We keep it in the fridge and replace it within about four weeks.
Sloe Gin Fizz
A Sloe Gin Fizz is 45ml of sloe gin, 15ml of London Dry gin, 30ml of fresh lemon juice and 10ml of sugar syrup, shaken hard, strained into a chilled small highball with no ice and topped with 60ml of cold soda water, with a lemon wheel. About 1.8 UK units. Add 15ml of egg white for a foam; it is raw egg. Sloe gin is a liqueur, not a gin: sloes steeped in gin with sugar, at 25% ABV or more under Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, and sweet. That is why the drink carries 15ml of dry gin as well, for backbone, and why the syrup should be tasted against the bottle you have. It is built the same way as our Gin Fizz: shaken, served short with no ice and drunk while the soda is lively. PUNCH puts sloe gin’s close link with this drink at the start of the twentieth century.
Charlie Chaplin
A Charlie Chaplin is 30ml each of sloe gin, apricot brandy and fresh lime juice, shaken hard with ice for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled coupe with a lime wheel. About 1.5 UK units, because both of its spirits are liqueurs at around a quarter alcohol. It comes from the bar of the old Waldorf-Astoria in New York, which Difford’s Guide dates to before 1920. Albert Stevens Crockett’s Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931) says Chaplin “had a cocktail named in his honor when he began to make the screen public laugh”. TCM dates the start of Chaplin’s film career at Keystone Studios to 1914. Sloe and apricot are both stone fruit with a faint bitter kernel note, so the two liqueurs agree with each other. The lime, a full third of the glass, keeps them from reading as cordial. In equal parts there is nowhere to hide a poor bottle, so buy liqueurs made from real fruit.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026