Hanky Panky
A Hanky Panky is 45ml of London Dry gin, 45ml of sweet vermouth and 7.5ml of Fernet-Branca, stirred with ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe, with an orange twist expressed over the top and dropped in. About 2.8 UK units. The measures are the IBA’s. Ada Coleman made it at the American Bar of the Savoy, where she was head bartender until she retired in 1926. She told The People in 1925 that she spent hours experimenting for the actor Charles Hawtrey, who had asked for something with a bit of punch in it. He drained the glass and called it the real hanky-panky, and the name stuck. Harry Craddock, who followed her, put it in The Savoy Cocktail Book. Equal gin and sweet vermouth make a sweet Martini. The Fernet-Branca, a bitter Italian amaro, adds menthol and dark herbs, cools the finish and keeps the vermouth from tasting syrupy.
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Orange twist expressed and dropped in
Ingredients
45ml
A London Dry at 40% ABV, as the IBA specifies. The juniper gives the sweet vermouth and the amaro something firm to sit on.
45ml
Half the drink, at around 16% ABV. Keep it in the fridge once opened and use it within a month. Like all wine, it contains sulphites.
7.5ml
A bitter Italian amaro at 39% ABV, heavy with menthol and roots. At 7.5ml it seasons the drink rather than leading it, so measure it.
Instructions
Chill a coupe.
Add the gin, sweet vermouth and Fernet-Branca to a mixing glass.
Fill with cubed ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Strain into the chilled coupe.
Express an orange twist over the surface and drop it in.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA specification; method ours). Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Measure the Fernet-Branca: 7.5ml, a barspoon and a half. At 10ml the amaro starts to take over; at 5ml or less it fades, and what is left is a sweet Martini with an odd finish. The vermouth is half the drink, so it has to be fresh. Keep the bottle in the fridge once opened and use it within a month; old vermouth tastes flat and sour, and nothing else in the glass can hide it. Express the orange twist over the surface before you drop it in. The oil links the vermouth’s sweetness to the amaro’s menthol, and a twist dropped in unexpressed does almost nothing.
Behind the Hanky Panky
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
Ada Coleman began bartending at Claridge’s, through the D’Oyly Carte family, and moved to the American Bar at the Savoy, where she became head bartender. Her retirement was announced at the end of 1925, when the bar closed for renovation, and Harry Craddock took over.
Her customers included Mark Twain, Charlie Chaplin, Marlene Dietrich and the Prince of Wales. She is often called the Savoy’s only woman head bartender, but another woman, Ruth Burgess, tended the same bar from 1902.
In 1925 Coleman told The People how the Hanky Panky began. The actor Charles Hawtrey, tired and overworked, asked her for something with a bit of punch in it. She spent hours experimenting, served him the result on his next visit, and he drained the glass and named it.
The Fernet Dose
Seven and a half millilitres is enough to thread menthol and bitter roots under the vermouth and give the finish somewhere cool to land, without taking the drink over.
The useful range is narrow. Push it to 10ml and the drink darkens into an amaro drink; drop to 5ml and the Fernet-Branca all but disappears. Measure it rather than pouring free-hand.
Vermouth and Gin
At equal parts the vermouth carries half the drink, so freshness matters more here than in a dry Martini. The gin stays London Dry, a firm frame for the sweetness and the amaro.
The IBA and Ours
The IBA’s Hanky Panky and ours
Gin
- IBA
- 45ml London Dry
- Ours
- 45ml London Dry
Sweet vermouth
- IBA
- 45ml
- Ours
- 45ml
Fernet
- IBA
- 7.5ml
- Ours
- 7.5ml Fernet-Branca
Method
- IBA
- Stirred with ice
- Ours
- Stirred 20 to 30 seconds
Glass
- IBA
- Chilled cocktail glass
- Ours
- Chilled coupe
Garnish
- IBA
- Orange zest
- Ours
- Orange twist, expressed and dropped in
UK units
- IBA
- About 2.8
- Ours
- About 2.8
| Element | IBA | Ours |
|---|---|---|
| Gin | 45ml London Dry | 45ml London Dry |
| Sweet vermouth | 45ml | 45ml |
| Fernet | 7.5ml | 7.5ml Fernet-Branca |
| Method | Stirred with ice | Stirred 20 to 30 seconds |
| Glass | Chilled cocktail glass | Chilled coupe |
| Garnish | Orange zest | Orange twist, expressed and dropped in |
| UK units | About 2.8 | About 2.8 |
How to Serve It
Stirred cold, strained into a chilled coupe, with the orange twist expressed over the surface and dropped in. It works after dinner, where the bitter finish does its best work.
For gin and sweet vermouth with maraschino, make a Martinez; for gin and sweet vermouth with Campari, a Negroni.
Make it at home
The Spirit
GinGin is a spirit flavoured with juniper berries. GB law requires juniper to lead the taste and sets a 37.5% ABV floor; the usual bottle is 40%. The law grades it by how the flavour gets in, from plain gin through distilled gin to London gin, and it carries the Martini, the Negroni and the Gin and Tonic.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in a Hanky Panky?
Who was Ada Coleman?
Why is it called the Hanky Panky?
What does the Fernet-Branca do?
Can I use another amaro?
Should a Hanky Panky be shaken or stirred?
How strong is a Hanky Panky?
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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.
Negroni
A Negroni is 30ml each of gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, stirred with ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained over fresh ice in a rocks glass, with an orange peel expressed over the top. About 2.4 UK units. The measures are the IBA’s; the IBA builds the drink in the glass and garnishes it with half an orange slice. The usual story puts it in Florence in 1919, at the Caffè Casoni, where the bartender Fosco Scarselli is said to have replaced the soda in Count Camillo Negroni’s Americano with gin. No record from the time backs it. Equal parts of the three first appear in a French bar book of 1929, and the name Negroni reaches print for a cocktail in 1947. Each third has a job. Gin gives strength and juniper, Campari bitterness and orange, and the vermouth body and sugar. With no juice or soda in the glass, a tired vermouth shows at once.
Manhattan
A Manhattan is 50ml of rye whiskey, 20ml of sweet vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe, with a cocktail cherry. Those are the IBA’s measures, five parts whiskey to two of vermouth. About 2.3 UK units. The most repeated origin story puts it at New York’s Manhattan Club in the 1870s, at a banquet given by Lady Randolph Churchill; she was in France at the time, so the story is unlikely. What is established is that the drink was in print by 1884, in guides by O.H. Byron and Charlie Paul. 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. Keep it in the fridge and replace it within about four weeks.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026