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St. Agrestis · Cocktail library

18th Century

A shaken, arrack-led coupe drink with white crème de cacao, sweet vermouth and lime.

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The 18th Century is a shaken drink served up in a coupe. Batavia Arrack van Oosten takes the largest measure, with equal smaller measures of white crème de cacao, Carpano Antica sweet vermouth and lime juice. Both published versions share that 2:1:1:1 shape. The choice between them comes down to finish: Difford's Guide pre-chills the glass, fine strains and floats a lime wheel, ideally dehydrated. Cocktail Virgin uses a plain strain, lists no garnish and names Marie Brizard rather than Giffard for the crème de cacao.

Recipe 1 · Difford's Guide

Difford's Guide: fine-strained, lime wheel

Contains alcohol

Ingredients

Original recipe quantities.

See the proportions

Share of the measured liquid, before ice. Unmeasured additions and non-volume ingredients are excluded.

Giffard White Crème de Cacao Liqueur
33%
Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth
33%
Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
33%

Method as published

  1. Chill a coupe glass in advance.
  2. Prepare a lime wheel for the garnish; a dehydrated wheel is preferred.
  3. Shake the arrack, Giffard white crème de cacao, Carpano Antica Formula and fresh lime juice with ice.
  4. Fine strain into the chilled coupe.
  5. Float the lime wheel on the surface.

Garnish Lime wheel, ideally dehydrated, floated on the surface

Recipe source: Difford's Guide ↗

Recipe 2 · cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com

Cocktail Virgin: ounce measures

Contains alcohol

Ingredients

Original recipe quantities.

See the proportions

Share of the measured liquid, before ice. Unmeasured additions and non-volume ingredients are excluded.

Carpano Antica (Cocchi Sweet Vermouth)
50%
Lime Juice
50%

Method as published

  1. Shake the arrack, Marie Brizard white crème de cacao, sweet vermouth and lime juice with ice.
  2. Strain into a cocktail coupe.
  • The source writes the vermouth as Carpano Antica followed by Cocchi Sweet Vermouth in parentheses. It does not say whether Cocchi is an alternative or the bottle actually used.
  • The source lists no garnish and does not call for fine straining or a pre-chilled glass.

Recipe source: cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com ↗

Matching ratios, not matching pours

The two cards agree on proportion but not on exact volume. Difford's 22.5 ml is slightly more than 3/4 US fl oz (about 22.2 ml), and its 45 ml is slightly more than 1 1/2 US fl oz (about 44.4 ml). Converting one card into the other's units therefore gives close rather than identical amounts, a difference of under 1 ml per ingredient in a single drink.