Kingston Club Cocktail Recipe

The Kingston Club is a modern classic cocktail that combines Drambuie, Fernet Branca, pineapple juice, lime juice, Angostura bitters, and is topped with soda water to create a refreshing and herbal tropical cocktail.

The drink was created by renowned bartender Jeffery Morgenthaler in 2011 at the since-closed Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon. The recipe first appeared in print in The Bar Book, Morgenthaler’s 2014 book on mixology.

“It was really a sort of experiment to try to make a delicious, light, refreshing, and still complex tropical or tiki style cocktail with herbal liqueurs,” says Morgenthaler. “I have always loved things like Benedictine and Chartreuse and, of course, Drambuie.” 

According to Morgenthaler, this herbal liqueur-based drink became an instant hit at the bar and has since become a minor modern classic that’s beloved for its unique build and singular flavor profile.

“It’s a super weird drink on paper, but there’s really nothing like it when you finally taste it,” Morgenthaler says.

Why the Kingston Club works

The Kingston Club is an oddball compared to other cocktails. Normally, when using a fruit juice as sweet as pineapple juice, bartenders use about two ounces of spirits to balance out some of the sweetness. 

Morgenthaler goes in the opposite direction with this drink and uses the Scotch whisky-based Drambuie as the foundation. Drambuie is sweetened by honey and flavored with a combination of spices and botanicals. The addition of a splash of bitter Fernet Branca adds to this herbal, botanical profile with notes of star anise and mint. Angostura bitters, a traditional ingredient in tropical cocktails, adds additional complexity with warm baking spice notes.

By leaning into liqueurs with strong herbal, spice, and bitter characteristics, Morganthaler expertly balances the pineapple and citrus with a punchy and complex bouquet of botanical notes. With a splash of soda water and an orange twist, the Kingston Club becomes a bright, fresh, and crushable tropical classic.