Flamingo cocktail
Celebrate summer with the colorful Flamingo cocktail!
The Flamingo cocktail dates back to at least the mid-1960s, appearing in the 1966 paperback edition of The Diner’s Club Drink Book. The book lists a copyright of 1961 for the original hardcover edition.
There are several variations of this cocktail using either rum or vodka (or both!), but this appears to be the oldest version. One wonders if this concoction might have originated at The Flamingo Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, which opened in December 1946, but no such credit has been claimed. The drink could just as easily have been created in Miami, the Caribbean, or elsewhere. As with so many cocktails we may never know its origins.
What you’ll need: Gin, Apricot-flavored Brandy, Grenadine and lime juice
In a shaker over cracked ice, pour in 2 1/2 ounces of gin, 1 ounce each of apricot-flavored brandy and lime juice (fresh if possible). Add in a tablespoon of grenadine. Shake and then strain into your cocktail glass of choice.
How I like it: I doubled the proportions from the original recipes to suit today’s larger size cocktail glasses and added an extra teaspoon of grenadine for a deeper pink. Some may find substituting vodka for gin to be more appealing and a better match for the drink’s citrus flavor, but I recommend sticking with gin.
Enjoy the summer and drink responsibly!
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