Suffering Bastard Cocktail Recipe
Gin and brandy lengthened with ginger beer and bitters — built as a hangover cure and still tastes like one.
- Category: New Era Drinks
- Glass: Copper mug
- ABV: 14%
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Gin30 ml (1 oz)
- Brandy30 ml (1 oz)
- Fresh lime juice15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Angostura bitters2 dash
- Ginger beer120 ml (4.1 oz)
How to Make It
- Shake gin, brandy, lime and bitters with ice.
- Strain into a copper mug filled with ice.
- Top with ginger beer.
- Garnish with mint and lime.
Garnish
Mint sprig and lime
What it tastes like
It smells of lemon and lime peel, it is carbonated and it drinks cool and easy.
The technique
Shaking. Anything with juice, syrup, egg white or cream gets shaken: the shaker chills the drink and adds roughly 20% water, and that water is what takes the edge off. Twelve to fifteen seconds, until the tin frosts over. Under-shaking leaves the drink harsh because it never got enough dilution.
Glass and ice
A copper mug. Copper moves heat fast, so the mug chills quicker than the drink inside it and stays ice-cold in the hand — which is why mules are served in one.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Gin
- London dry gin: juniper up front, citrus and coriander behind it. Brand really does show here — Beefeater is sharp, Hendrick's floral, Tanqueray juniper-heavy.
- Brandy
- The general name for fruit-distilled spirits; in cocktails it usually means grape brandy. It stands in for cognac, and cognac stands in for it.
- Fresh lime juice
- Freshly squeezed lime. Bottled lime tastes cooked and flat; one lime gives about 30 ml. If you have none, half lemon and half grapefruit juice comes closest.
- Angostura bitters
- The salt of the cocktail world. Measured in dashes, not millilitres: a few of them cut the sweetness and add spice. One bottle lasts years.
- Ginger beer
- Ginger beer is non-alcoholic despite the name, which comes from an old fermentation tradition. It is far sharper than ginger ale, and ale does not replace it in a mule.
The Story
Mixed by Joe Scialom at the Shepheard's Hotel in Cairo in 1942, for British officers who needed to function the morning after.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Suffering Bastard mixed?
- It is shaken and served in a copper mug.
- How strong is a Suffering Bastard?
- Roughly 14% ABV as served — right around a glass of wine — an aperitif or an early-evening drink.
- Can a Suffering Bastard be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Suffering Bastard hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.