Have you heard of the opal? The opal cocktail arose in the liveliness of the roaring twenties in London, England. A booze-forward, gin-based cocktail, it's fruity with a light hint of floral. The floral notes come from the addition of a touch of orange blossom water. For gin lovers, this is a delightful and fresh drink.

Overhead shot of opal cocktail with peach-coloured flowers.

For other delicious and fruity cocktails, check out my drink recipes category. I know you will find something you will love there, such as the naked and famous cocktail - one of my personal favourites.

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Ingredients
Instructions
Variations
Equipment
History
📖 Recipe

Ingredients

Tanqueray London Dry Gin
Cointreau
Freshly squeezed orange juice
Simple syrup
Orange blossom water

See the recipe card below for quantities.

Instructions

To make the opal cocktail, add the gin, cointreau, orange juice, simple syrup, and orange blossom water into your cocktail shaker. If you can, use freshly squeezed orange juice. Be careful not to go too heavy on the orange blossom water. It can easily go from, 'Oh, what a lovely hint of floral' to 'I am drinking a floral hand soap'.

Add a few ice cubes to your shaker and shake vigorously for about twenty seconds. Fine strain into a coupe glass. Optionally, you can garnish this drink with an orange zest twist to add even more to the aromatics.

Opal cocktail in a coupe glass surrounded by peach-coloured flowers.

Variations

You can substitute the Tanqueray London Dry Gin in this cocktail with your favourite gin to make it more to your own taste.

To make a variation of this cocktail called the 'red opal,' replace the orange juice in this recipe with blood orange juice, and the Cointreau with a blood orange liqueur.

Equipment

To make the opal cocktail, you will need a cocktail shaker and a fine strainer or sieve. I love this cocktail bar set, I use it myself and I find that it has everything I need for making various drinks. You will also need a coupe glass to serve this cocktail in.

Up close image of orange-coloured drink in a glass garnished with a flower.

History

The opal cocktail is believed to have been created in London, England, in the 1920s, the era known as 'the Roaring Twenties.' It is featured in Harry Craddock's famous book, The Savoy Cocktail Book, which was published in 1930. This book serves as a record of recipes for the most popular cocktails served at the Savoy at the time, at the hotel's famous lobby bar. It gives a fascinating insight into the past. Know anyone who enjoys some history along with cocktails?

The Savoy Cocktail Book

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There's something simply enjoyable about sipping a cocktail that comes with a long history. Who knows who may have had the exact same cocktail a hundred years ago.