Pale and bone-dry, the Coronation splits its base evenly between fino sherry and dry vermouth, then lifts the pairing with a whisper of maraschino and a brace of orange bitters, shaken cold and served up. It drinks delicate and saline, faintly almond-scented from the maraschino, with a cherry waiting in the coupe — an aperitif more contemplative than spirituous.
Garnish: Maraschino Cherry
Stirred · Coupe · Up
add
Combine the fino sherry, dry vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and orange bitters in a shaker.
shake
Add ice and shake well until chilled, per the original Savoy instruction.
strain
Strain into a chilled coupe (cocktail glass).
garnish
Garnish with a cherry.
No inventor is on record for the Coronation; the story most often told says it was mixed to celebrate King Edward VII being crowned in 1902, though nothing documents the claim. The drink was already about before Harry Craddock gathered it into The Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930, with earlier traces tied to the Hoffman House in 1905 and to the old Waldorf-Astoria. Craddock printed it as Coronation No. 1, setting it apart from a wholly unrelated brandy and curaçao drink that shares the name in his pages.