Cocktail recipe
Black Rose
Bourbon and Cognac, shaded crimson with grenadine and Creole bitters.
Ingredients
- 30 ml (1 oz) bourbon whiskey
- 30 ml (1 oz) Cognac
- 5 ml (1 tsp) grenadine
- 3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
- 1 dash aromatic bitters
- Garnish: 1 lemon twist
Preparation
Stir bourbon, Cognac, grenadine and both bitters with hard ice until perfectly chilled. Fine-strain into a cold rocks glass without ice. Express a lemon twist over the surface; the peel should sharpen the dark fruit and oak aromas.
Glassware
Chilled rocks glass, served without ice
History
Unlike several classic cocktails in this batch, the Black Rose has no reliably established inventor, place or early printed origin in the references reviewed. The documented modern recipe combines bourbon, Cognac, grenadine, Peychaud's bitters and aromatic bitters. Its flavour architecture resembles the Sazerac family, but that similarity alone is not proof of a New Orleans birthplace or historical descent. Several unrelated drinks have used the name 'Black Rose'; these should not be collapsed into one supposed original.
Mixology View
This is a compelling modern-style stirred drink, but its historical entry must be restrained. We will not invent a creator to make the story sound grander.