The Charlie Chaplin cocktail is a vintage cocktail featuring sloe gin, apricot brandy and lime juice. It’s fruity, sweet & sour and it’s extremely easy to make.
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The Charlie Chaplin cocktail is a recent discovery to me. It’s a vintage cocktail featuring sloe gin and apricot brandy. For anybody who enjoys their libations on the shorter side with bags of interesting flavour, I highly recommend it.
This forgotten classic cocktail has plenty of old-fashioned charm. It’s not too sweet and there are bitter nuances woven into it.
I’ve used Mixologist’s Garden freeze-dried lime slices to ensure it’s suitably dressed to impress with minimal effort on my part.
What is the Charlie Chaplin cocktail?
The Charlie Chaplin cocktail was created just before the beginning of the Prohibition era (1920-23) in New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel bar. It pays tribute to the ultimate comedic star of the silent films of this period, Charlie Chaplin.
Made from sloe gin, apricot brandy and lime juice, this vintage cocktail manages to impart fruity, sweet, sour and bittersweet notes to the lucky drinker.
The classic proportions in this somewhat forgotten classic cocktail are equal measures of all three ingredients. But can we play around with the Charlie Chaplin cocktail? Of course we can!
- Fancy a little extra bitterness – increase the volume of sloe gin and play down the apricot brandy.
- Ease up on the citrus to reduce the sour notes.
- Increase the sweetness by including a little simple syrup.
Why you’ll love this drink
- Hollywood glamour – the name says it all and will transport you back in time to a glamourous bygone era.
- Easy to make – it’s just three ingredients shaken together with ice. Simple.
- Taste – there’s plenty going on here.
- Unusual – it’s one of the few vintage cocktails around featuring sloe gin.
- Not too strong – as far as short cocktails go, with the absence of 40% ABV spirits in this drink, it’s not as potent as you might expect it to be.
- Suitable for Christmas – this sloe gin and apricot brandy cocktail imparts inherently wintery, warming flavours.
For more recipes featuring Mixologist’s Garden freeze-dried lime slices take a look at my Mexican Mule and Southern cider recipes.
Ingredients notes
Sloe gin – this is easy to pick up in larger supermarkets or online and should cost in the region of £20 for a quality bottle, perhaps slightly more for premium brands.
Apricot Brandy – sometimes harder to find in stores but very easy to find online. Expect to pay around £12 for an entry-level bottle.
Lime juice – you can get ahead of the game and store a bottle of pre-squeezed lime juice in the fridge ready to access whenever you fancy this libation.
Garnish – the classic garnish for this vintage cocktail is lime slices. Take the mess out of this by using Mixologist’s Garden natural freeze-dried lime slices to style your drink.
Equipment notes
Ideally, use a cocktail shaker to make this sloe gin and apricot brandy cocktail. If you do not have one then a sturdy screw top jar will suffice.
Step by step instructions
Full instructions and measurements are given in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Step 1. Half fill a cocktail shaker with ice and pour in the sloe gin, apricot brandy and lime juice.
Step 2. Secure the lid and shake vigorously for 30-45 seconds then strain into a small glass, garnish and serve.
Top Tip: shake your cocktail for a little longer than usual to ensure that this apricot brandy cocktail is sufficiently diluted. I recommend a minimum of 30 seconds but 45 seconds is preferable.
Garnishing ideas
Fruit is the order of the day for this forgotten classic cocktail and I recommend using Mixologists Garden freeze-dried fruits to create quick & simple garnishes for your drink:
- Try slitting a lime slice and wedging it onto the side of your glass.
- Alternatively, cut a few lime slices into pieces and thread them onto a cocktail pick.
- The raspberries in the range would be a great alternative to lime.
Expert Tips
- Use plenty of ice when making this drink to chill it and dilute the alcohol properly.
- Chill the serving glass for 15 minutes before pouring the drink to ensure that your cocktail is satisfyingly ice-cold at the point of serving.
- Strain the lime juice through a fine-meshed sieve to remove all traces of pulp.
Variations
- Swap the citrus fruit – opt for orange, lemon or grapefruit juice to add a slightly different twist to your drink.
- Switch the brandy – use cherry brandy or amaretto to ring the changes.
- Replace the sloe gin – opt for damson gin liqueur or for a very different take on this vintage cocktail add in bittersweet depth using Italian bitters such as Campari or Averna.
Frequently asked questions
This is a short drink and should be served in small, stemmed glassware. Nick and Nora cocktail glasses are perfect.
Yes and no! You can batch-prepare the ingredients and store them in a jug or bottle ready to pour. I would, however, refrain from shaking the ingredients with ice to ensure that the drink is served deliciously ice cold.
As much as I dislike a negative answer, in this case, it would be extremely difficult to replicate the flavours in this sloe gin and apricot brandy cocktail without the headline ingredients. Sorry.
What to serve with this vintage cocktail
- Lighted salted bar snacks – think along the line of nuts or crisps.
- Chunks of venison steak.
- Blackberry sorbet.
- Mince pies – perfect for Christmas parties.
More forgotten classic cocktails to try
Have you made the recipe for this sloe gin and apricot brandy cocktail? Please give the recipe a rating or leave a comment – I love to hear how you get along with my creations.
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📖 Recipe
The Charlie Chaplin Cocktail
Equipment
- 1 Cocktail shaker
- 1 Strainer such as a hawthorne or a small sieve
Ingredients
- 30 ml Sloe gin
- 30 ml Apricot brandy
- 30 ml Lime juice
- 2 Freeze-dried lime slices to garnish
Instructions
- Put the sloe gin, apricot brandy and lime juice into a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice.30 ml Sloe gin, 30 ml Lime juice, 30 ml Apricot brandy
- Secure the lid and shake briskly for 30-45 seconds.
- Strain into a small cocktail glass and garnish (I used (paid link) Mixologists Garden lime slices).2 Freeze-dried lime slices
Notes
- Use plenty of ice when making this drink to chill it and dilute the alcohol properly.
- Chill the serving glass for 15 minutes before pouring the drink to ensure that your cocktail is satisfyingly ice-cold at the point of serving.
- Strain the lime juice through a fine-meshed sieve to remove all traces of pulp.
Jane Coupland
This is such a lovely and easy recipe to make. I had fun testing it out, photographing it and giving you the full write up so I hope you enjoy it too.