Bronx Cocktail

What do you get when you add orange juice to a Gin Martini? A Bronx Cocktail.

Using both Sweet and Dry Vermouth, this pre-Prohibition cocktail has been around for over 100 years, despite not being as popular as other Gin and Vermouth combinations. If you're making Martinis and have some orange juice around, this is great to try, even if you just put Orange Juice into our cocktail search engine and just discovered this cocktail!

Even though the Bronx Cocktail is a little more obscure these days, it was actually ranked as the number three most popular cocktail after the Manhattan and the Martini in 1934. So it was very popular at one point in time. If that's not a reason to try this drink, we don't know what is.

Total Time 5

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

60 mL Gin
30 mL Sweet Vermouth
30 mL Dry Vermouth
30 mL Orange Juice
Garnish with orange peel (optional)

Instructions

Add Gin, Sweet Vermouth, Dry Vermouth, and Orange Juice to a cocktail shaker and shake with ice until cold.
Double strain into a Coupe glass.
Garnish if desired, enjoy.

Notes

The Bronx Cocktail is basically just a Perfect Martini with the addition of Orange Juice, so if you like "perfect" style drinks, you may like this one.

As with so many famous cocktails from the late 1800's and early 1900's, the origins of this cocktail aren't completely clear. Some say it wasn't even invented in the Bronx, but rather in Philadelphia! Of course some do say it was invented in the Bronx though.

What is know (kind of) is that this recipe has had a few variations over the years, including the addition of Bitters and changes to the ratios of the different spirits. So have fun with this drink, find out how you like it.

Our Review of the Bronx Cocktail

The Bronx Cocktail is basically a very wet Perfect Martini with the addition of Orange Juice. If you like a Perfect Martini, perhaps the Bronx Cocktail is for you. For me, I think think the Bronx Cocktail loses it in the Dry Vermouth. Gin, Sweet Vermouth, and Orange Juice would likely be a lovely combination (I should have tried making one when I tried this cocktail for the a review). But the Dry Vermouth just adds too many herb notes to it that don’t go well with the Orange Juice. Obviously this is a review, and this is just one person’s opinion. Dry Vermouth has its place, of course, but not often with fruit flavours.

The up side to this recipe, though, is that it doesn’t go all out on the Dry Vermouth. The Sweet Vermouth is there to balance things out in the same way “perfect” cocktails do this with the 50/50 mixture of sweet and dry. So, for some, this will work very well for balance, and they may find the Bronx Cocktail one of their favourites.

After all, the Bronx is an old and classic cocktail, so who am I to judge a recipe that was once so popular. To that, I’d say that tastes change, and maybe there’s a reason why the Bronx hasn’t lasted as long as so many other classic cocktails.

All I can say is try the Bronx Cocktail for yourself. If you have more old fashioned tastes, you may like the elements in it that aren’t my favourite. I don’t want to scare people off by giving the Bronx a poor rating. This is a website dedicated to helping people find cocktails to make after all!

So, apologies to lovers of the Bronx Cocktail. This one isn’t for me. I just don’t think the more herbal elements of Dry Vermouth go well with the Orange Juice.

5.5/10

Review by Chas

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