The Lucien Gaudin Cocktail
A very important tool for any cocktailian bartender, is a well-stocked library of mixology books, both old and new. It can often be fascinating to just randomly grab one of the books off of your shelf and casually thumb through the recipes trying to find something that you were heretofore unfamiliar with.
A while back, I was browsing through the “Jones Complete Barguide” (by Stan Jones) a hefty volume of around 4,000 recipes published back in the 70’s. It unfortunately is very light on any details whatsoever regarding the recipes it contains, so its value as a true research tool is severely hampered. As you might expect, out of 4,000 cocktails there are a lot of them which really should never see the light of day, but once in a while you run into something that shows a little promise.
The Lucien Gaudin is one such cocktail that is both delightful, and easily made using ingredients that most bars should commonly stock.
Lucien Gaudin
- 1 ounce gin
- 1/2 ounce Cointreau
- 1/2 ounce Campari
- 1/2 ounce dry vermouth
Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass
Exactly when and where this drink first appeared is a total mystery to me, but the fact that Lucien Gaudin is a slightly unusual name makes it possible to at least dive in a little further about who this person might have been, and thus at least form a timeframe as to when this drink might have appeared.
It turns out that Lucien Gaudin was a famous French fencer, with a career spanning from 1904 to 1929. He won the World Title in 1905, but it wasn’t until 1920 that he first competed in the Olympics, where he assisted his team in winning the silver medal in the Foil. He competed again in the 1924 Olympics, where his team won the gold medal for both the Foil and the Epee. Then at the 1928 Olympics he again helped his Team with the silver for the foil, but more importantly he individually one the gold medal for both the Foil and the Epee. Only two other fencers have ever won gold in two separate weapons. So it is most likely that the cocktail was invented sometime during the later half of the 1920’s, if not in 1928 itself to celebrate this amazing feat.
Myself, I am a big fan of Campari, and so am always on the lookout for a new drink that might utilize this product. I find that the Lucien Gaudin turns out to be a wonderful drink, and with the Campari well nestled within the other ingredients, it also provides a great way to introduce people to the rather adventurous tastes that it provides.
