The Commodore Cocktail is elegant & easy. Bourbon, creme de cacao, and lemon juice are shaken with crushed ice and grenadine in this easy 1930s recipe.

Prep Time 5

Total Time 5

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First mentioned in the 1935 Waldorf Astoria Bar Book, the Commodore Cocktail recipe is a simple yet elegant cocktail that Zelda Fitzgerald might have sipped while chatting with friends about F. Scott's newest book. It personified the 1930s and you hardly ever hear someone order it or see it on a bar menu.

One taste and you'll be ready to repeal Prohibition yourself.

Closeup of the commodore cocktail in a martini glass with a red straw.

Table of Contents

🗝️ Key takeaways
🍴 Equipment
Marye's Tip
💭 Things to know
📚 Related recipes
📞 The last word
📖 Recipe
Commodore
💬 Comments

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🗝️ Key takeaways

I love this bourbon-forward, well-balanced cocktail that's both easy to make and beautiful to look at.
This is the perfect sipper for cocktail parties, quiet evenings, and events with a 1920s/1930s theme. I've never done a theme party but I want to SO badly!
Be sure you're using real grenadine and not a corn syrup and red dye potion.

The commodore cocktail has a delicate sweetness from the creme de cacao, but the lemon juice keeps it from being too sweet.

To keep it authentic, you should shake it in a shaker with crushed ice and then double strain into a chilled martini glass or the glass of your choice that's been mounded with crushed ice. That's authentic.

Personally I like to blend it with the ice in the blender until the whole thing is frothy and slushy. Not authentic but super good. Especially on a 105F day!

🤫 Cook's secrets -

Did you know that most of the grenadine you get is not much more than corn syrup with flavoring and red dye added? Real grenadine is made from pomegranate and natural ingredients. Be sure to read the labels!

🍴 Equipment

jigger or measuring spoons
cocktail shaker
strainer
glasses

Marye's Tip

Shaking the ingredients with crushed ice helps develop the oxygen bubbles in the cocktail which gives it more flavor and a touch of fizz.

The commodore cocktail recipe is elegant and so yummy! From RestlessChipotle.com

💭 Things to know

Since there aren't many ingredients in this, you'll want to make sure that you have a high-quality bourbon -- it will make all of the difference.
White creme de cacao works best in this recipe.
I prefer to serve the commodore cocktail in a martini glass but a highball glass works as well.
Try a squeeze of orange and an orange wheel to finish it off. It's very similar to an old fashioned.

📞 The last word

This easy bourbon cocktail makes me think of beautiful women in elegant gowns, draped with jewelry, and chatting in a roomful of calla lilies.

A small orchestra would be playing in the background and couples would move across the dance floor gracefully.

The 1920s were a decade of innocent hedonism if there is such a thing (and if there's not there should be). We think of it as being a time of decadence but compared to our society now it seems very innocent to me.

I get that times change but I must be getting old because I miss the days of my childhood.

I miss the simplicity of playing outside, having three channels to watch, and clipping playing cards to my bike tires with clothespins so that they would make a motor sound when I rode down hills.

Kids don't do those kinds of silly things anymore. We've forced them to become old before their times and I wonder if some of it isn't that we refuse to grow up ourselves.

We've somehow evolved past adulthood and become Peter Pan wannabees playing video games and indulging ourselves in busyness because there are very few real adults left in the world, and we know it.

What was hedonistic, self-indulgent, and shocking in 1927 is now a G-rated movie compared to what is considered normal now.

And I am just as guilty as anyone.

I just don't know how to fix it except to encourage y'all and myself to take back what we can of those simpler times.

Comfort food, family mealtimes, and conversations around the table are baby steps but they are at least baby steps in the right direction.

So, now that you have visited the dank, moody recesses of my mind let's all shake it off and have a cocktail, shall we?

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.

If you love this recipe please comment below and give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

Commodore Cocktail Recipe

4.75 from 4 votes

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The Commodore Cocktail is elegant & easy. Bourbon, creme de cacao, and lemon juice are shaken with crushed ice and grenadine in this easy 1930s recipe.

Course Beverage

Cuisine American - Vintage

Prep Time: 5

Total Time: 5

Servings:

Calories:162

Author:Marye Audet-White

Ingredients

▢ 1-½ ounces bourbon
▢ 1 ounce creme de cacao, white works best
▢ 1 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
▢ 1 teaspoon grenadine
▢ Ice, cracked or crushed
▢ 1 maraschino cherry, for garnish

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a shaker.
Shake vigorously and then double strain into a chilled glass filled with crushed ice.
Garnish with a Maraschino cherry or lemon twist.
You can also put all ingredients into a blender and blend until slushy.

Notes

Make sure you are using real grenadine and not a corn syrup mixture with red coloring added. Real grenadine is made with pomegranate juice.

You'll find more helpful tips and variations in the body of the post.

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.

First published March 20, 2016. Last updated May 23, 2024 for editorial improvements.

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4.75 from 4 votes (3 ratings without comment)

Commodore Cocktail Recipe