Charlie Chaplin

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Cocktail History

The Charlie Chaplin is a vintage cocktail that was created in the early 1900s at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, New York. The recipe, which is named after the comedic actor from the early film era, is made with an equal-parts mixture of three common pre-Prohibition ingredients: sloe gin, apricot brandy, and lime.

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Cocktail Ingredients

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Sloe Gin: This is a liqueur made with sloes, sugar, and alcohol. I used Plymouth Sloe Gin.

Apricot Liqueur: This is a liqueur made with apricots, spices, sugar, and brandy. I used Phillips Apricot Brandy.

Lime Juice: This is the liquid juice of a lime. I used freshly squeezed lime juice.

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Bartending Tools

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:

Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. I used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.

Boston Shaker: This is used to shake ingredients. I used the Boston shaker from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.

Hawthorne Strainer: This is used to strain out ice and solid ingredients after the cocktail is shaken. I used the A Bar Above Hawthorne Strainer.

Paring Knife: This is used to cut ingredients. I used the OXO Good Grips 3.5 Inch Paring Knife.

Juicer: This is used to juice citrus. I used the ALEEHAI Manual Fruit Juicer.

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Tasting Notes

This cocktail has the following flavor profile:

• Appearance: Vibrant red-ish pink color

• Aroma: Sloe fruit and citrus

• Taste: Candy-sweet taste of fruit and sloe gin

• Finish: Tangy lime

Kendall’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Kendall’s Take: "My only experiences with sloe gin thus far were in two other vintage cocktails and one tiki. I remember the latter being a lot more palatable than the other two, but that one was created for modern drinkers, to be fair. Given that the Charlie Chaplin leans on a similar template used by the vintage recipes, I wasn't sure I'd like it all that much. Coupled with my past experience with these being too dry, I went in thinking it wouldn't be a favorite, but it turns out the recipe is surprisingly sweet. In fact, it almost has a candy apple quality to it that would make it pretty popular with American drinkers. I don't know that I'd have it again, but it was better than I thought it'd be."

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Recipe

This cocktail recipe was adapted from Steve The Bartender's Cocktail Guide by Steve Roennfeldt.