Hanky Panky
Ada Coleman ran the American Bar at the Savoy from 1903 to 1926, the first and for nearly a century the only woman to hold the post, and mixed for Mark Twain, the Prince of Wales and anyone else London considered worth knowing. The Hanky Panky was built for the actor Charles Hawtrey, who arrived exhausted and asked for something with a point to it. Coleman’s answer, by her own account after much experimenting, made Hawtrey declare it the real hanky-panky, and the name never left. The structure is a sweet martini with a twist of genius: equal parts gin and sweet vermouth, seasoned with a barspoon and a half of Fernet Branca. That small dose of Milan’s great bitter amaro runs through the drink like a dark thread, menthol and roots under the vermouth’s plush, and makes the Hanky Panky the first great amaro-accented cocktail, decades ahead of the fashion. It drinks like velvet with a conscience: rounded and warming at the front, bitter and cooling at the finish, with the orange twist bridging the two. One of the very few pre-war cocktails that needs no modernising at all.
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Orange Twist expressed and dropped in
Ingredients
45ml
The frame: a firm London Dry for the vermouth and fernet to argue across, exactly as Coleman poured it.
45ml
Half the drink, so its freshness is not negotiable: refrigerated, and younger than a month open, or the plushness the Hanky Panky depends on has already left.
7.5ml
The barspoon and a half that made history: menthol and bitter roots threaded under the sweetness, doing bitters’ work at ten times the volume. Measure it with intent.
Instructions
Add the gin, sweet vermouth and Fernet Branca to a mixing glass with ice.
Stir for 20 to 25 seconds.
Strain into a chilled coupe.
Express the orange twist over the surface and drop it in.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA specification; method ours). Last checked 13 August 2026.
Expert Tip
The fernet is a seasoning, not a spirit. Measure the barspoon and a half honestly, then adjust by drops on the next round if you want more shadow. Seven and a half millilitres is the tuning peg: push to ten and the drink darkens noticeably, drop below five and it disappears, leaving a merely sweet martini. Vermouth carries half the glass at this ratio, so its freshness is not negotiable. Refrigerated, and younger than a month open, or the plushness the drink depends on has already gone. Express the orange twist properly over the surface before it drops in. The oils bridge the vermouth's sweetness and the fernet's menthol, which makes the garnish structural rather than decorative, and a twist dropped in unexpressed does none of that work.
Flavour Profile
The Origin
Ada Coleman took over the American Bar at the Savoy in 1903 and ran it until 1926. She was the first woman to hold the post and, for very nearly a century afterwards, the only one, in a trade that had almost no room for women at the top of it.
Her reputation was built on judgement rather than novelty. She mixed for Mark Twain, the Prince of Wales and most of the rest of London worth knowing, and she was known for building drinks to the person in front of her rather than to a list.
The Hanky Panky came out of exactly that habit. The actor Charles Hawtrey arrived exhausted and asked for something with a point to it, and after what she described as a good deal of experimenting she handed him this. He tasted it, called it the real hanky-panky, and the name stuck to the glass.
The Fernet Dose
Seven and a half millilitres is the tuning peg. Present without dominating, it threads menthol and bitter roots underneath the vermouth's plush and gives the finish somewhere cool to land.
The fernet-curious can push to ten and watch the drink darken; below five it disappears altogether and what remains is a sweet martini with an odd aftertaste. It is worth calibrating deliberately rather than pouring free-hand, because the range between too little and too much is only about five millilitres wide.
Fernet Branca is the bottle the drink was built on, and its menthol is the signature. Another fernet-style amaro keeps the drink recognisable; a softer amaro produces something gentler and considerably less interesting.
Vermouth and Gin
Vermouth carries half the drink at this ratio, so freshness is not negotiable: refrigerated, and younger than a month open, or the plushness the Hanky Panky depends on has already left. The gin stays classic London Dry, a firm frame for the vermouth and fernet to argue across.
How to Serve It
Stirred cold, strained into a chilled coupe, and the orange twist expressed properly over the surface before it drops: the oils bridge the vermouth’s sweetness and the fernet’s menthol, and the garnish is structural. Serve it after dinner where the bitter finish does its best work, and raise the first one to Coley.
The First Amaro Cocktail
Bitter Italian liqueurs are everywhere on modern menus, and it is easy to forget how recent that is. For most of the twentieth century amaro was something you drank after dinner in Italy, not something a bartender reached for mid-build.
Coleman got there in about 1910, which is roughly eighty years early. What she worked out is that fernet does at seven millilitres what bitters do at two dashes: it seasons, it cools the finish, and it stops a sweet drink cloying, but with far more flavour attached, so it changes the character of the glass rather than merely sharpening it.
Everything from the Toronto to the modern amaro-heavy canon is working the same idea. This one got there first.
The Spirit
GinA flavour requirement rather than a method. The law asks only that juniper be the predominant taste and that the spirit reach 37.5%, which leaves everything else on the botanical bill to the distiller and permits a gin that was never redistilled at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Ada Coleman?
Head bartender of the Savoy’s American Bar from 1903 to 1926 and one of the most celebrated bartenders of any era. The Hanky Panky, created for actor Charles Hawtrey, is her signature and one of the few pre-war cocktails credited to a woman at the top of the trade.
What does the Fernet Branca actually do?
A barspoon and a half threads menthol and bitter roots underneath the sweet vermouth, giving the drink a dark, cooling finish that a plain sweet martini lacks. It is the same job bitters do elsewhere, played louder.
Can I use another amaro?
Another fernet-style amaro keeps the drink recognisable, while softer amari produce a gentler and considerably less distinctive result. The menthol bite of Branca is the signature the drink was named for, and swapping it out gives you a good drink that is no longer really a Hanky Panky.
Master the Techniques
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Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits
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