Florida Cocktail, a Lemon, Orange and Bitters Mocktail from 1922
Reader ratingsLemon and orange juice shaken with a few dashes of bitters and only as much syrup as you want: the sharp Florida Cocktail from the alcohol-free chapter of a 1922 London bar book.
- Recipe makes
- 1 small drink, about 3 1/2 fl oz
- Prep
- Total
Florida Cocktail, cloudy lemon and orange, in a stemmed wine glass beside half a lemon.
The story behind the recipe
The Florida Cocktail is a sharp citrus aperitif with no spirits in it: the juice of a lemon and half an orange shaken on ice with three dashes of Angostura bitters, and one or two dashes of gum syrup only “if required sweet.” Robert Vermeire printed it in 1922 in Cocktails: How to Mix Them, a London bar book, under the heading “Non-Alcoholic Cocktails.”
Sour by default
Most soft drinks of the time were sweet. This one is not unless you ask for it, and the bitters do the job a spirit does in a cocktail, giving the citrus an edge and a little color. Vermeire doesn’t say why it is called Florida. It shares its page with the Jersey Cocktail, made with non-alcoholic cider, and the whole chapter is told in What Did Bartenders Mix for Non-Drinkers in the 1920s?
Read more about this recipe
The bitters
Angostura bitters are about 45% alcohol, so Vermeire’s three dashes give the drink about 1% alcohol. For a glass with none, leave them out or use bitters labeled 0.0%.
Florida Cocktail. Fill the shaker half full of broken ice and add: The juice of a lemon. The juice of half an orange. 3 dashes of Angostura Bitters. 1 or 2 dashes of Gum Syrup, if required sweet. Shake well and strain into a small wine-glass.
Recipe makes: 1 small drink, about 3 1/2 fl oz
Ingredients
For 1 small drink, about 3 1/2 fl oz. Quantities are shown as written.
Quantities as written here, for 1 small drink, about 3 1/2 fl oz.
- Fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)1 1/2 fl oz
- Fresh orange juice (about half an orange)1 1/4 fl oz
- Angostura bitters (optional)3 dashes
- Simple syrup (optional)1/2 tsp
- Ice cubes1 cup
Measurement notes
Ingredients as written here
- 1 1/2 fl oz fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- 1 1/4 fl oz fresh orange juice (about half an orange)
- 3 dashes Angostura bitters (optional)
- 1/2 tsp simple syrup (optional)
- 1 cup ice cubes
Equipment
Cocktail shaker and strainer
Citrus juicer
Small stemmed wine glass, about 5 fl oz
Instructions
Half fill a cocktail shaker with the ice cubes and add the fresh lemon juice, fresh orange juice and the Angostura bitters, if using.
Add the simple syrup only if you want the drink a little sweet.
Close the shaker and shake well for about 10 seconds.
Strain into a small stemmed wine glass and serve at once.
Nutrition
30calories per serving
- Recipe makes
- 1 small drink, about 3 1/2 fl oz
Estimated from USDA FoodData Central values for lemon and orange juice and a little simple syrup, for one drink.
Recipe notes
When adjusting quantities
This is one drink. Shake no more than two at a time.
Notes
Quantities mentioned in these notes don’t change when you adjust the batch.
Made as Vermeire printed it, with 3 dashes of Angostura bitters, the drink has about 1% alcohol: low, but not alcohol-free. Bitters sold as 0.0% keep the taste close with no alcohol. A dash of gum syrup is read as about 1/4 tsp, so his “1 or 2 dashes” is up to 1/2 tsp of simple syrup.
Scaling changes the ingredients only; glassware, ice and timings need their own judgment. To adapt this recipe further, try the recipe tool at TuneMyRecipe (opens in a new tab), our sister site.
Sources and attribution
Robert Vermeire, Cocktails: How to Mix Them (London: Herbert Jenkins, 1922; eleventh printing), p. 51, “Florida Cocktail”
See the original pages (scan at Internet Archive) (opens in a new tab)
Recipe details
- Drink
- Alcohol-freeMocktail
- Drink family
- Sodas & Soft Drinks
- Region
- British
- Era
- Jazz Age
- Source decade
- 1920s
- Base
- Fruit & juice
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Occasion
- Dry January