Ford Cocktail
The Ford Cocktail is 45ml Old Tom gin and 45ml dry vermouth, with three dashes of Bénédictine and three dashes of orange bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds, strained into a chilled coupe and finished with a twist of orange peel. About 2.8 UK units. The recipe is George Kappeler’s, from Modern American Drinks, published in 1895: half a jigger each of Tom gin and French vermouth, three dashes of each seasoning, and a twisted piece of orange peel. Nothing is recorded about where the name came from. Equal parts makes it a wine-forward drink. The lightly sweetened Old Tom meets the vermouth on level terms, the Bénédictine adds a sweet herbal note, and the orange bitters and peel lift the top. Anyone who finds a modern dry Martini severe should try this first.
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Orange twist expressed and dropped in
Ingredients
45ml
A lightly sweetened gin, and the style Kappeler names. Its sweetness is what lets the vermouth come in at equal measure; a London Dry makes a sharper, thinner drink.
45ml
French, meaning dry, vermouth, as Kappeler specified. At half the drink its freshness decides the result, so keep an opened bottle in the fridge.
3 dashes
A sweet herbal liqueur, used here as seasoning. Three dashes is about 2.5ml, or half a bar spoon; any more and it starts to lead.
3 dashes
Kappeler seasons his Martini of the same year with orange bitters too. Three dashes brighten the vermouth and tie in with the orange peel.
Instructions
Chill a coupe.
Add the Old Tom gin, dry vermouth, Bénédictine and orange bitters to a mixing glass.
Fill with ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Strain into the chilled coupe.
Twist a piece of orange peel over the surface and drop it in.
Expert Tip
Keep the Bénédictine to three dashes. Kappeler wrote it that way, and at that level it rounds the drink without being tasted on its own. Pour a bar spoon or more and the liqueur starts to lead, and the equal-parts balance goes with it. Use fresh vermouth. At 45ml it is half the drink, and a bottle left open on a warm shelf for a month turns flat and oxidised. Keep it in the fridge once opened and buy small bottles. Give it 20 to 30 seconds of stirring in a well-iced mixing glass. A drink this low in sugar and this high in wine needs the cold and the water to pull it together; under-stirred, it tastes thin and sharp.
Behind the Ford Cocktail
Flavour Profile
The Origin
The Ford appears in George Kappeler’s Modern American Drinks, published in 1895. His recipe is three dashes of Bénédictine, three dashes of orange bitters, half a jigger of Tom gin and half a jigger of French vermouth, mixed in a glass half full of fine ice and strained, with a twisted piece of orange peel.
The book does not say where the name came from, and the origin of the name is not recorded anywhere else either.
The Equal-Parts Era
Kappeler’s Martini in the same book is also equal parts, with Italian vermouth. In the 1890s the vermouth in a gin drink was meant to be tasted.
To a drinker used to a modern dry Martini, the Ford is strikingly wine-forward. That is the drink as written rather than a wet Martini, and it is worth tasting before changing.
The Ford beside two equal-parts relatives
Ford (Kappeler, 1895)
- Gin
- Old Tom, half a jigger
- Vermouth
- Dry, half a jigger
- Modifier
- Three dashes Bénédictine
- Bitters
- Three dashes orange
- Peel
- Orange
Martini (Kappeler, 1895)
- Gin
- Old Tom, half a jigger
- Vermouth
- Sweet, half a jigger
- Modifier
- None
- Bitters
- Three dashes orange
- Peel
- Lemon
Martinez (as we pour it)
- Gin
- 45ml London Dry
- Vermouth
- 45ml sweet
- Modifier
- 5ml maraschino
- Bitters
- Two dashes orange
- Peel
- Lemon
| Drink | Gin | Vermouth | Modifier | Bitters | Peel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ford (Kappeler, 1895) | Old Tom, half a jigger | Dry, half a jigger | Three dashes Bénédictine | Three dashes orange | Orange |
| Martini (Kappeler, 1895) | Old Tom, half a jigger | Sweet, half a jigger | None | Three dashes orange | Lemon |
| Martinez (as we pour it) | 45ml London Dry | 45ml sweet | 5ml maraschino | Two dashes orange | Lemon |
Why Old Tom
Old Tom is a gin with a little sweetness, and Kappeler names Tom gin in both his Ford and his Martini.
The Ford has no syrup. With only three dashes of Bénédictine, the gin’s own sweetness is what balances 45ml of dry vermouth. A London Dry leaves the acidity of the vermouth unopposed and the drink turns thin and sharp.
Three Dashes, Not a Bar Spoon
Bénédictine is a sweet herbal liqueur, and Kappeler uses it like bitters. At three dashes it knits the gin to the vermouth without tasting of itself.
Many modern versions raise it to a bar spoon or more. That makes a sweeter, more herbal drink in which the liqueur begins to lead. With no dasher bottle to hand, half a bar spoon is close to three dashes.
How to Serve It
Stirred, up, in a chilled coupe, with orange peel twisted over the top and dropped in. It works as an aperitif before dinner.
It is also a good reason to keep a bottle of Old Tom gin open.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Old Tom GinOld Tom is gin with a little sugar added, usually bottled at about 40% ABV and rounder and softer than London Dry. The name has no legal definition in Great Britain: it is sold as gin, and because it is sweetened it cannot be labelled dry. Four of our recipes ask for it, the Tuxedo, the Turf Club, the Casino and the Ford Cocktail, where its sugar balances vermouth or lemon.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Ford Cocktail?
How strong is a Ford Cocktail?
Is the Ford Cocktail named after Tom Ford?
Why Old Tom gin?
How does it relate to the Martini?
How much Bénédictine goes in a Ford?
Lemon or orange peel?
You Might Also Like
Martinez
A Martinez is 45ml London Dry gin and 45ml sweet vermouth with a bar spoon (5ml) of maraschino and two dashes of orange bitters, stirred with ice for 20 to 30 seconds and poured into a cold coupe under a twist of lemon peel. About 2.7 UK units. The measures follow the IBA. It is usually named as the Martini’s forerunner, and its own origin is unclear. O. H. Byron’s guide of 1884 lists a Martinez as a Manhattan made with gin; Jerry Thomas’s Bar-Tender’s Guide of 1887 gives a full recipe on Old Tom gin, with more vermouth than gin, maraschino and Boker’s bitters. Equal parts on London Dry makes a drier, sharper drink than those early versions. Old Tom gin, a shorter vermouth measure and Angostura make the softer, sweeter variation.
Poet’s Dream
A Poet’s Dream is 45ml of London Dry gin, 22.5ml of dry vermouth, 22.5ml of Bénédictine and two dashes of orange bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe, with a lemon twist expressed and dropped in. About 3.2 UK units. Bénédictine usually goes into a drink by the bar spoon or a 7.5ml pour, as background. Here it matches the vermouth and supplies all of the drink’s sweetness, so its honey, spice and herbs come through clearly. The recipe usually cited is in Albert Stevens Crockett’s Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Days of 1931: a third each of Bénédictine, French vermouth and dry gin, with lemon peel squeezed on top. No author is recorded. Equal thirds is sweet by current taste, so ours doubles the gin against the other two and adds orange bitters.
Tuxedo
A Tuxedo is 30ml of Old Tom gin and 30ml of dry vermouth with 2.5ml of maraschino, 1.25ml of absinthe and three dashes of orange bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled Nick and Nora glass with a lemon twist and a cherry. About 1.9 UK units. Those are the IBA’s measures, with its half and quarter bar spoons written in millilitres. It is a martini of the old equal-parts kind, with three seasonings measured almost in drops. The name is usually traced to Tuxedo Park, the private club community north of New York whose members gave the dinner jacket its American name. Recipes called Tuxedo appear in American bar books by the turn of the twentieth century, and they do not all agree. The Old Tom matters. It is a lightly sweetened gin, and against an equal measure of dry vermouth, with almost no other sugar in the glass, that sweetness keeps the drink from turning sharp.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026