Paradise Cocktail Recipe

By Timo Torner / Last updated on May 7, 2023

A subtle fruity yet boozy drink based on gin. The Paradise Cocktail is a beautiful option should you plan to serve an aperitif before a delicious meal.
Paradise cocktail

The Paradice Cocktail recipe is one of the lesser-known classic drinks made with gin, orange, and apricot liqueur. What sounds and looks like an invention from the 70s or 80s is, in fact, a drink that's way older, developed by one of the masters of this craft - Harry Craddock.

Quick Facts Paradise Cocktail

  • Method: shaken
  • Flavor profile:  mildly fruity, boozy
  • How to serve it: over ice
  • Best glassware: coupe glass, martini glass
  • Alcohol content: ~ 23% ABV, 21 grams of alcohol per serving

Even though the Paradise Drink is not a classic sweet cocktail, it is also not ideal for people preferring classic dry drinks. Instead, it's an excellent fit for all those who like an easy-to-sip, unpretentious cocktail.

Learn how to make this drink to perfection and how Snoop Dogg is connected to it.

Paradise cocktail

Paradise Recipe

A sweet and fruity cocktail based on Gin and Apricot Brandy.
Prep Time: 3 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Brandy, Gin
Servings: 1
Calories: 184kcal
Cost: $2.20

Equipment

  • 1 Jigger
  • 1 Cocktail Shaker
  • 1 Hawthorne Strainer

Ingredients

  • 1.5 oz Dry Gin
  • 0.75 oz Apricot Brandy
  • 0.75 oz Freshly squeezed orange juice

Instructions

  • Pour all ingredients into your cocktail shaker with plenty of ice.
    1.5 oz Dry Gin, 0.75 oz Apricot Brandy, 0.75 oz Freshly squeezed orange juice
  • Shake for about 20 seconds until the drink is well-chilled.
  • Double-strain into a chilled Martini or coupe glass.

Nutrition

Serving: 3.25ozCalories: 184kcalCarbohydrates: 7.98gSodium: 1.5mgPotassium: 41.75mgSugar: 7gVitamin C: 12.5mgCalcium: 10.5mgIron: 0.1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Ingredients

The recipe for the Paradise Cocktail is one of the easiest among all gin cocktails. To make this fruity cocktail, you need only three ingredients:

  • Apricot Brandy: Most outstanding about this drink is that it seriously highlights the Apricot Brandy. The taste of gin cocktails often depends on the gin you choose, but here, it mainly complements the star of the drink. Pick a quality and not-too-sweet Apricot Brandy or Apricot Brandy liqueur for the Paradise cocktail. I like to use Leroux Apricot-flavored Brandy or the Apricot Brandy liqueur from DeKuyper.
  • Gin: Because you want to make the Apricot Brandy shine, you should go with a classic type of gin and not-too-dominant gin. Most classic dry gins will do the trick. -Go can absolutely go with entry-level ones like a Bombay Sapphire.
  • Orange juice: Via the medium of orange juice, you will bring some freshness to the cocktail. Therefore, you should always use freshly squeezed juice from ripe oranges. There is a massive difference between fresh and bottled juices. Thus, always go with fresh juices for your drinks - especially when it's citrus.

This composition is a brilliant example of how to balance a drink. The aromatic notes from the botanicals and herbs in the gin, the sweetness of Apricot Brandy, and the freshness of hand-squeezed orange juice work surprisingly well together. 

Tips for Mixing

The Paradise Drink is reserved straight up - so, without ice. Consequently, a chilled glass with a stem is ideal for keeping this cocktail cool for as long as possible. - The cool glass maintains a low temperature for longer. Plus, you won't warm up the drink with your hand.

Another thing we strongly recommend: double strain your cocktail. That means you put your Hawthorne strainer tightly over your shaker tin to pour the drink and hold a second - fine mesh - strainer in-between to remove all tiny particles of fruit flesh. 

History of the Paradise Cocktail

Invented by Harry Craddock, one of the most famous bartenders of his time, the Paradise Cocktail truly is a classic. Craddock first published a recipe for this creative recipe in his book: The Savoy Cocktail Book (released in 1930). In this original, he already used Gin, Apricot Brandy, and orange juice in a 2:1:1 ratio. 

Today, you can find various recipes with adjusted ratios. Nonetheless, the original one still works perfectly fine. - The one thing we recommend: add a dash or two of orange cocktail bitters to round off the original formula.

Later, only two years after being published in Craddock's book, the drink was showcased in the movie "One Way Passage" in 1932. In the romance, the main characters, Dan Hardesty and Joan Ames, have kind of a signature move: 

The couple would first share a Paradise cocktail, then break the bowls of their glasses and leave the stems crossed on the bar counter. -A pretty dramatic way to market a cocktail, I think.

More recently, the US rapper Snoop Dogg also helped to spread the word: 

On May 27th, 2018, he set a new world record for the largest gin and juice. He mixed a 500-liter version of a Paradise cocktail consisting of 180 bottles of gin, 154 bottles of Apricot brandy, and 144 liters of orange juice.

More Cocktails with Apricot Brandy

Two cocktails featuring Apricot Brandy that we enjoy from time to time are the Stone Sour and the Angel Face Cocktail:

The Stone Sour is a riff on the classic Whiskey Sour, adding orange juice and apricot liqueur to the recipe.

The Angel Face, like the Paradise Cocktail, is based on gin. It, too, appeared first in Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book and mixes Apricot Brandy with Calvados.

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