East 8 Hold-up
An East 8 Hold-up is 45ml of vodka, 15ml of an orange-red aperitivo, 20ml of pineapple juice, 15ml of lime juice, 7.5ml of rich syrup and 5ml of passion fruit syrup, shaken and strained over ice into an old-fashioned glass, with pineapple and lime wedges. About 2.0 UK units, counting the vodka at 40% ABV and the aperitivo at 11%. Difford’s Guide prints 1.9. Kevin Armstrong created it in 2010 at Milk & Honey in London, per Difford’s Guide. It is a fruity, bittersweet vodka sour.
Glassware: Rocks Glass
Garnish: Pineapple wedge set on the rim and Lime wedge beside the pineapple
Ingredients
15ml
Difford’s prints Luxardo Aperitivo and calls it Aperol-style. Aperol works; our page for it gives 11% ABV.
Instructions
Chill an old-fashioned glass and fill it with ice.
Squeeze the lime the day you serve it.
Add the vodka, aperitivo, pineapple juice, lime juice and both syrups to a shaker with ice.
Shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
Strain into the ice-filled glass.
Add the pineapple and lime wedges.
Source: Difford's Guide (recipe 3519, measures, method and garnish as printed (45ml vodka, 15ml Luxardo Aperitivo, 20ml pineapple juice, 15ml lime juice, 7.5ml 2:1 cane syrup, 5ml passion fruit syrup, shaken, strained over ice, old-fashioned glass, pineapple and lime wedges); history as printed: Kevin Armstrong, Milk & Honey, London, 2010). Last checked 1 November 2026.
Expert Tip
Measure the passion fruit syrup exactly. At 5ml it is a seasoning, and more turns the drink sweet. Taste your pineapple juice. A sweet one may want less rich syrup. Use fresh ice in the glass, not the ice from the shaker. It keeps the drink cold without watering it.
Behind the East 8 Hold-up
Flavour Profile
A London drink named after a postcode
Difford’s Guide says Kevin Armstrong created the East 8 Hold-up in 2010 at Milk & Honey in London. The name comes from E8, the east London postcode where he lived, and an area Difford’s says had a record for muggings.
Pineapple, passion fruit and a bitter edge
Vodka gives the drink its clean base. Difford’s prints Ketel One. An Aperol-style aperitivo, and Difford’s names Luxardo Aperitivo, adds orange peel and a gentle bitterness, as our Aperol page describes.
Pineapple juice gives body, lime juice gives the sour, and passion fruit syrup gives the tropical note. Difford’s adds 7.5ml of rich syrup to round it out. A commenter on the Difford’s page leaves the plain syrup out and raises the passion fruit instead. We give the printed version.
Difford’s describes it as vodka-based, fruity and bittersweet with pineapple and passion fruit. Because the aperitivo is only 15ml, the bitterness stays in the background.
The East 8 Hold-up beside three fruit-led vodka drinks
East 8 Hold-up
- Vodka
- 45ml
- Fruit
- Pineapple, passion fruit, lime
- Bitter element
- Aperitivo
- Served
- Over ice
Pornstar Martini
- Vodka
- Vanilla vodka
- Fruit
- Passion fruit, lime
- Bitter element
- None
- Served
- Up
Cosmopolitan
- Vodka
- Vodka
- Fruit
- Cranberry, lime
- Bitter element
- None
- Served
- Up
Aperol Spritz
- Vodka
- None
- Fruit
- Orange
- Bitter element
- Aperol and prosecco
- Served
- Long
| Drink | Vodka | Fruit | Bitter element | Served |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East 8 Hold-up | 45ml | Pineapple, passion fruit, lime | Aperitivo | Over ice |
| Pornstar Martini | Vanilla vodka | Passion fruit, lime | None | Up |
| Cosmopolitan | Vodka | Cranberry, lime | None | Up |
| Aperol Spritz | None | Orange | Aperol and prosecco | Long |
The Pornstar Martini shares the passion fruit, and the Aperol Spritz shares the orange-red bitterness.
Make it at home
The Spirit
VodkaVodka is spirit made from a farmed crop, usually grain or potatoes, distilled and refined so that the taste of that crop is deliberately reduced. Under the retained Regulation (EC) 110/2008 its minimum is 37.5% ABV and it may not be given a predominant flavour, which separates it from flavoured vodka and from gin; our recipes count it at 40%. In a mixed drink it adds strength and body while the other ingredients carry the taste.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
Who created the East 8 Hold-up?
Why is it called East 8 Hold-up?
How strong is an East 8 Hold-up?
Can I use Aperol?
What does an East 8 Hold-up taste like?
Can I skip the rich syrup?
What glass should I use?
Can I scale it for a crowd?
Sources.
Correct as of 1 November 2026.
- Difford’s Guide, “East 8 Hold-up” (recipe 3519: 45ml vodka, 15ml aperitivo, 20ml pineapple, 15ml lime, 7.5ml syrup, 5ml passion fruit syrup, shaken, old-fashioned glass over ice, pineapple and lime wedges; 1.9 units; history: Kevin Armstrong, Milk & Honey, London, 2010; named for the E8 postcode).
- NHS, “Calculating alcohol units” (the 14-units-a-week guidance and the units calculation).
You Might Also Like
Pornstar Martini
A Pornstar Martini is 50ml vanilla vodka, 20ml passion fruit liqueur, 50ml passion fruit purée and 10ml vanilla syrup, shaken, double strained and served in a chilled martini glass with half a passion fruit floating on top. A 50ml shot of chilled Champagne is served alongside. About 2.2 UK units in the glass and 2.8 with the Champagne. Douglas Ankrah created it in 2002 at Townhouse, his bar in Knightsbridge, by Difford’s Guide’s account, which says he first called it the Maverick Martini after a Cape Town nightclub; his 2004 book, as Difford’s quotes it, headed the recipe Maverick Martini or Porn Star Martini. In November 2018 the Morning Advertiser reported CGA figures that put it first among UK cocktails by share of serves in managed outlets. Passion fruit does the work. The purée gives sharpness and body, the liqueur sweetness and perfume, and the vanilla rounds both. The Champagne is a separate drink, sipped alongside or after.
Aperol Spritz
An Aperol Spritz is three parts prosecco, two parts Aperol and one part soda: 90ml prosecco, 60ml Aperol and 30ml soda water, poured in that order into a large wine glass packed with ice, with an orange slice to finish. That is the International Bartenders Association’s Spritz, with its splash of soda measured. Aperol is an Italian aperitivo at 11% ABV by its maker’s FAQ, with zesty orange and herbal notes on its product page; Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, names bitter orange, gentian, cinchona bark and Chinese rhubarb among its ingredients. Aperol says Luigi and Silvio Barbieri created it in 1919, and Difford’s Guide places the company in Padua. The spritz habit in the Veneto is older; VinePair traces it to the Veneto under Austrian rule, when the Austrians added a splash of water, a spritz, to the local wine. Pour the prosecco first and the Aperol mixes as it goes in. A glass holds about 1.7 UK units.
Cosmopolitan
A Cosmopolitan is 40ml of citrus vodka, 15ml of Cointreau, 15ml of fresh lime juice and 30ml of cranberry juice, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled coupe, with an orange twist. About 2.2 UK units. The measures are the IBA’s. The Oxford Companion says the Cosmopolitan has a confused and contested history, that most claims lack supporting evidence, and that the recipe served worldwide was most likely formulated in 1988 by Toby Cecchini at the Odeon in New York, with Absolut Citron, Cointreau, fresh lime and cranberry, after a cruder San Francisco drink of the same name that the San Francisco Chronicle called “a Kamikaze with cranberry juice” in 1987. Cecchini told Punch the same year, 1988. Under the colour it is a sour: vodka, orange liqueur and lime, with cranberry for tint and a little extra acid. Made with fresh lime and served very cold, it is tart and dry, a long way from the sweet pink drink of its reputation.
Painkiller
A Painkiller is 60ml of Pusser’s Rum, 120ml of pineapple juice, 30ml of fresh orange juice and 30ml of cream of coconut, given a hard 10 to 12 second shake and strained onto cubed ice in a tiki mug or a big glass, with fresh nutmeg grated on top. About 2.4 UK units. Cream of coconut is coconut and sugar, usually with no dairy, but check the label. The name belongs to Pusser’s. Pusser’s prints the name with the registered symbol on its own Painkiller page, and the Oxford Companion says the company owns the trademark for the Pusser’s Painkiller cocktail. The recipe here is its own: four parts pineapple, one of cream of coconut and one of orange, with Pusser’s to suit. Difford’s Guide says it trademarked the name in the United States and the UK in 2003 and in 2010 forced a New York bar called Painkiller to rename itself PKNY. Pusser’s traces the drink to Daphne Henderson’s Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke, in the British Virgin Islands.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 1 November 2026