Marguerite

Difford's Guide
Discerning Drinkers (14 ratings)

Serve in a

Nick & Nora glass

Read about cocktail measures and measuring.

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Nick & Nora glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange (or lemon) zest twist.
  3. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Allergens:


Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:


Review:

An equal parts (Fifty-Fifty) Dry Martini with a hint of orange due to the use of orange curaçao, orange bitters and an orange zest twist.

History:

Not to be confused with the much later, tequila-based Margarita, the Marguerite is a gin-based forerunner to the modern-day Dry Martini.

The earliest known Marguerite Cocktail recipe appears in the 1898 book Cocktails... How To Make Them where it tellingly precedes recipes for "Martini Cocktail – No. 1" and "Martini Cocktail – No. 2".

Marguerite Cocktail.
Bitters
Plymouth Gin
French Vermouth
HALF a mixing-glass full of fine ice, three dashes of orange bitters, one-half jigger of Plymouth gin, one-half jigger of French Vermouth. Mix, strain into cocktail-glass. Place an olive in the bottom of glass and serve.

How To Make Them, 1898

The Marguerite then notably appears with anisette added to the recipe in Harry Johnson's 1900 New and Improved Bartenders' Manual.

MARGUERITE COCKTAIL
(Use a large bar glass)
Fill glass 3/4 full of fine-shaved ice;
2 or 3 dashes of orange bitters;
2 or 3 dashes of anisette;
1/2 wine glass of French vermouth;
1/2 wine glass of Plymouth gin;
Stir up well with a spoon, strain into a cocktail glass, putting in a cherry, squeeze piece of lemon peel on top and serve.

Harry Johnson, 1900

Then, in his 1903 Bartenders Encyclopedia, Tim Daly omits the anisette in his recipe for the Marguerite.

MARGUERITE COCKTAIL
Use a mixing glass.
Half fill with fine ice.
2 dashes of orange bitters.
1 dash of orange curacoa.
½ wine glass of French vermouth.
½ wine glass of Plymouth gin.
Stir well with spoon, strain into a cocktail glass, twist a piece of lemon peel on top, and serve.

Tim Daly, 1903

The Marguerite, then turns drier and by the 1904 Stuart's Fancy Drinks, in a section headed "New And Up-To-Date Drinks" it becomes 2/3 Plymouth gin [a dry gin] to 1/3 French [dry] vermouth with a dash of orange bitters. Basically a modern-day 2:1 Dry Martini.

Nutrition:

One serving of Marguerite contains 146 calories.

Alcohol content:

  • 1.5 standard drinks
  • 23.41% alc./vol. (46.82° proof)
  • 21.5 grams of pure alcohol
Difford's Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

Join the Discussion


... comment(s) for Marguerite

You must log in to your account to make a comment.

Report comment

You must be logged in to upvote or downvote a comment

Click here to login
Welcome to Difford's Guide

All editorial and photography on this website is copyright protected

© Odd Firm of Sin 2025