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Bitter Elder

1 1⁄2 oz Gin
3⁄4 oz Elderflower liqueur, St. Germain
1⁄2 oz Campari
1⁄2 oz Lemon juice
Instructions

Shake, strain, straight up, cocktail

Notes

Delicious and only slightly bitter.

History

Cocktail resulted from a refinement of an unnamed cocktail using Aperol on Cocktail Chronicles. An anonymous commenter "amateurhour" created the cocktail. A similar comment a month later on ohgo.sh confirms the recipe.

Cocktail summary
Posted by Dan on
Created by
AmateurHour, commenter on Oh Go.sh and Cocktail Chronicales
Year
2008
Is an
authentic recipe
Reference

http://www.cocktailchronicles.com/2007/10/01/this-one-been-done-yet/ http://ohgo.sh/archive/campari-take-four/

Curator
5 stars
User rating
4.5 stars
(134 ratings)
Yields Drink

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From other users
  • Made with Campari/Aperol split. Tastes like ruby red grapefruit juice. — ★★★★★
  • Comments version is better: 2 oz Campari 1 oz gin (ideally overproof & high juniper) 1/2 oz Elderflower liqueur 3/4 oz lemon (or lime)
  • Excellent! Made with .25 Aperol and .25 Campari as per comments. More interesting (to me), but somwhat similar to the Jasmine (RH) that J likes better.
  • Pink. Slightly bitter. Appealing and delicious.
  • Good God, that's good!
  • Grapefruit juice, but not.
  • Subbed Cynar as I was out of Campari. Delicious and the grapefruit flavor on the finish is uncanny and excellent.
  • EGullet calls for .5 campari rather than .75
  • Absolutely delicious. Made with Tanqueray. More Campari isn't bad -- 3/4 oz — ★★★★★
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  • Second Squadron — Gin, Elderflower liqueur, Crème Yvette, Lemon juice, Grapefruit juice, Grapefruit peel
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  • Liberation — Gin, Elderflower liqueur, Crème de Violette, Lemon juice, Lemon peel
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Comments
mikejaz2 commented on 11/21/2014:

Oh, fellas and ladies...this is one hellllllllllluvvva drink! Did it with Bombay, half Aperol half Campari. Awesome color, fantastic flava!

We have a restaurant here in Chicago called Parsons, they specialize in fried chicken and fish, and feature a totally fantastic Frozen Negroni. I'ma ask them if they'd consider putting a batch of these through their frosty machine! It'd be perfect.

mikejaz2 commented on 12/04/2014:

12-04-2014...tried a further experiment, adding 3 drops of Brooklyn Hemispherical's Spicy Charred Pineapple bitters...Good Choice, accentuated the grapefruit notes even further.

Another batch, using Peychaud's, wasn't as successful, yielding a drink that lost the grapefruit and turned into more of a medicinal concoction.

mikejaz2 commented on 12/31/2014:

Sorry, I'm gonna keep touting this drink...it's fantastic.  Made it for several friends, progeny and assorted drink enthusiasts...have received nothing but praise for it's restrained, sophisticated yet readily identifiable flavors.  Always use the charred pineapple bitters now, drink's color always gets mentioned.  A real winnah!

Kindred Cocktails commented on 1/01/2015:

I agree. I just granted the Bitter Elder a 5 star curator review, which makes it an Editors Choice cocktail.

bvankammen commented on 3/09/2015:

I 2nd the comparison to ruby grapefruit. I'm fine with bitter, but this is a funny combo of bitter and acidic. Made with mediocre gin, so maybe botanicals save it. For the record I'm not a grapefruit fan, so maybe it's me, too.

A G commented on 6/28/2020:

Went with equal Campari and Elderflower (3/4 each) to 1 1/2 Sipsmith and 1/2 Lemon Juice so that the Bitter Elder has some bitterness.   Very nice drink!  

Dungeoness commented on 4/03/2021:

Really enjoyed this one. Plymouth Gin. Used Aperol 1 for 1 in place of Campari, as I vastly prefer the former to the latter, and only keep one in house. Will make this one again for sure!

MOJO1229 commented on 11/22/2022:

Used Beefeater gin and split the Campari and Aperol as suggested for the grapefruit taste. Carried it a step further and added 2 drops of Fees Bros grapefruit bitters. Great result. Rate 5. Wish comments would specify the gin used as different gins may change the resulting drink.