A bright, gin-forward apéritif built on apricot brandy and fresh orange juice, the Paradise balances stone-fruit sweetness against a citrus snap for an easy, all-day elegance. Shaken cold and served straight up, it slips between a sour and a fruit cocktail, with the gin keeping the apricot honest and an optional splash of lemon sharpening the finish.
Shaken · Coupe · Up
add
Add the gin, apricot brandy, orange juice, and (if using) a splash of lemon juice to a shaker.
shake
Shake thoroughly with ice until well chilled.
strain
Strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass.
Harry of Ciro's ABC of Mixing Cocktails, a 1922 manual by Harry MacElhone, holds the oldest printed recipe for the drink; MacElhone was the bartender who ran Harry's New York Bar in Paris. Eight years later Harry Craddock included it in The Savoy Cocktail Book, and his version became the one treated as canonical. The IBA now lists the Paradise among its Unforgettables as a pre-dinner drink, though its official spec drops the dash of lemon juice the interwar recipes called for.