Classic cocktail · Guided recipe

Fitzgerald

A Gin Sour with two dashes of Angostura, which sounds like nothing and changes everything. The bitters give the lemon a spiced backbone and stop the gin's botanicals reading as perfume. Dale DeGroff has claimed the drink, from his years behind the bar at the Rainbow Room.

Preparation~2 minEasyStrengthStrongabout 25% ABVMethodShaken8 guided stepsIngredients4Coupe or martini glass

Sour

In the glassGin · Fresh lemon juice · Simple syrup · Angostura bitters

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Make it with guidanceOne clear action at a time, with timers built in.

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What goes in

Ingredients

An empty clear coupe glass with a shallow rounded bowl and slender stem. — Serving glassCoupe glass

Set up before you pour

Use a coupe glass.

The stem keeps your hand away from a cold drink, while the rounded bowl makes an up serve easy to sip.

Standard size: 200 ml6¾ oz
Ice & serve: Chill it first; serve without ice.
If you don’t own one: Use a small martini glass or stemmed dessert glass.

Tools to set out

cocktail shaker
strainer (or a small sieve)
jigger or measuring spoon

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Scale to your coupe or martini glassWe’ll remember this glass size.

Gin60 ml
Fresh lemon juice22 ml
Simple syrup15 ml
Angostura bitters2 dashes

Start making

From bottle to glass

Method

01
Measure into the shaker
Pour 60 ml gin into your shaker
- Gin
02
Measure into the shaker
Add 22 ml fresh lemon juice
- Fresh lemon juice
03
Measure into the shaker
Add 15 ml simple syrup
- Simple syrup
04
Measure into the shaker
Add 2 dashes Angostura
- Angostura bitters
05
Ice the shaker
Fill the shaker with ice
Why it mattersFill it right up — more ice chills faster with less watering down.
06
Seal and shake
Seal and shake hard
Why it mattersCold hands mean it’s working. Shake until the tin frosts over.
07
Strain cleanly
Strain into a chilled glass — no ice
Why it mattersPour through the strainer so the spent shaker ice stays behind.
08
Finish the drink
Finish it — add a lemon slice

Know your drink

About the Fitzgerald

A gin highball, dry Martini and ruby bitter gin cocktail in a botanical bar.

The Rainbow Room years

Dale DeGroff ran the bar at the Rainbow Room in New York through the late eighties and nineties, a stretch generally treated as the start of the American cocktail revival. He has said the Fitzgerald came out of that room, built as a house sour that would survive a busy service. No competing claim has surfaced, which is rare enough to be worth noting.

Most people read the name as a nod to F. Scott Fitzgerald, and nobody involved has offered a more elaborate story than that. What survives is the technique. Add bitters to a sour and it gains structure without gaining sugar, a trick that works just as well on a Whiskey Sour or a Daiquiri.

Common questions

Fitzgerald FAQ

How many dashes of bitters is right?

Two into the shaker, a third if your gin is soft or the lemons are unusually sharp. Past four the clove and cinnamon take over and the citrus stops registering. Dash them in before the ice rather than floating them on the finished drink.

Can I use orange or Peychaud's bitters instead?

You can, and you get a different drink each time. Orange bitters lift the citrus side of the gin and lose the warmth. Peychaud's brings anise and a pink tint, closer in spirit to a Sazerac. Angostura is what makes it read as this drink.

Isn't this just a Gin Sour with bitters?

Structurally yes, and that is exactly the point. Two dashes move the drink from bright to warm without adding volume or sweetness. Make both and taste them side by side once. It's the cheapest available lesson in how much work bitters do.

I only have granulated sugar. Will that dissolve?

Granulated sugar will not dissolve in a cold shaker and you'll find it in the bottom of the glass. Stir equal weights of sugar and hot water for 1:1 syrup and keep it refrigerated for a month. Rich 2:1 syrup means using roughly half as much.

What ingredients are in a Fitzgerald?

A classic Fitzgerald calls for 60 ml (2 oz) Gin, 22 ml (0.75 oz) Fresh lemon juice, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Simple syrup, 2 dashes Angostura Angostura bitters. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

How strong is a Fitzgerald?

A standard Fitzgerald is roughly 25% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it spirit-forward — closer to a Martini than to a beer, so sip it slowly.

Is a Fitzgerald shaken or stirred?

A Fitzgerald is shaken — the rule of thumb is to shake anything with citrus juice. About 13 seconds with plenty of ice chills and dilutes it correctly.

Sharpen the technique