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Spirit-forward · Stirred · Historical · complexity 1/5

Zaza Cocktail

Zaza Cocktail is a dry-gin and Quinquina aperitif with orange bitters.

Served in Cocktail glass. Ice: Ice.

Family

Variants (9)

Louis' Mixed Drinks with Hints for the Care & Serving of Wines by Louis Muckensturm (1906, p.47)

2 liqueur-glassesdry gin — Dry ginbase
2 dashesorange bitters — Orange bittersbase
1 liqueur-glassquinquina — Quinquinamodifier
  1. Fill the mixing glass with ice, stir well, strain into a cocktail glass, and serve.

Ice: Ice

The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them by Hon. Wm Boothby (1908, p.32) — Boothby 1908

0.5 jiggerLondon dry gin — dry English ginbase
0.5 jiggerDubonnet modifier
  1. Chill the Dubonnet and dry English gin well.
  2. Serve in a vermouth or cocktail glass.

Ice: Well chilled

Nose
Quinquina fruit and dry gin botanicals rise together.
Palate
The equal-parts split makes the drink fuller and darker than a Martini, but drier and more structural than a purely wine-led aperitif.
Finish
The finish is herbal, winey, and lightly bitter.
Summary
A major quinquina-and-gin aperitif from the French cafe line.

Boothby notes that this is known as a Zaza in all French cafes. That makes it especially useful as a cross-channel naming checkpoint for the aperitif field.

Jack's Manual by J. A. Grohusko (1908, p.67) — Grohusko 1908

0.5London dry gin — Gordon dry ginbase
0.5Dubonnet — Doubonnetmodifier
ice — iceother
  1. Stir the dry gin and Dubonnet with ice.
  2. Strain and serve.

Ice: Ice

Nose
Dry gin and quinquina rise together cleanly.
Palate
This is a good pre-war control because the Zaza sits squarely in the gin-and-quinquina aperitif line without needing extra liqueur dressing.
Finish
The finish is cool, orange-tinged, and vinous.
Summary
A clean gin-and-Dubonnet aperitif from the quinquina branch.

Jack's Manual by J. A. Grohusko (1910, p.92)

0.5 portiondry gin base
0.5 portionDubonnet modifier
ice — Fill glass with ice.other
  1. Stir the dry gin and Dubonnet with ice.
  2. Strain and serve.

Ice: Ice

Straub's Manual of Mixed Drinks by Jacques Straub (1913, p.54) — Straub 1913

1 jiggerdry gin — Dry Ginbase
1 dashAngostura bitters — Angostura Bittersbitter
1 jiggerDubonnet modifier
  1. Stir.
  2. Serve in a cocktail glass.

This is a valuable immediate pre-war checkpoint for the Zaza line before later simplifications flatten the Dubonnet-and-gin field.

Rawling's Book of Mixed Drinks by Ernest P. Rawling (1914) — Rawling 1914, cocktail section

0.5 measureDubonnet base
0.5 measuredry sherry modifier
1 wholehazel nut other
  1. Stir well with ice, strain, and serve with a hazel nut.

Garnish: Hazel nut

Ice: Ice

Recipes for Mixed Drinks by Hugo R. Ensslin (1917, p.36) — Ensslin 1917

1 jiggerdry gin — Dry Ginbase
1 pieceOrange peel — Orange Peelgarnish
1 jiggerDubonnet modifier
  1. Shake well in a mixing glass with cracked ice.
  2. Strain and serve.

Ice: Cracked ice

This matters because Ensslin gives us a clean late pre-war Zaza checkpoint in the bitter-wine aperitif line.

The orange peel belongs inside the shake here as part of the drink's aromatic profile.

El Bar Americano en España by Pedro Chicote (1927, p.73)

0.5 copitagin — Source omits the repeated unit and uses dash shorthand.base
ice — 4 ó 5 pedacitos de hielobase
0.5 copitaDubonet modifier
# COCKTAILS INOFENSIVOS other
  1. Agítese y sírvase en copa de cocktail, agregándole una guinda.

Garnish: guinda

Ice: Ice

Cocktails by Pedro Chicote (1928, p.232) — Cherry garnish

0.5 copitaDubonnet base
0.5 copitagin base
  1. Build over ice and serve in a cocktail glass with a cherry.

Garnish: Cherry

Ice: 4 to 5 pieces ice

This matters because it gives Chicote a clean late-1920s Zaza checkpoint inside the Madrid hotel-bar layer.

The source presents this as a large-glass build passed into cocktail service.

Related recipes

See also: Real Cocktail, Dubonnet Cocktail