Black Russian
50 ml Vodka, 20 ml Coffee liqueur
Sex on the Beach
Peach, orange and cranberry - a summer holiday in a tall glass.
Fruity
Easy
3 min
Photo: Sex On The Beach Cocktail @ Clare Hotel 20250123-124727 · All credits
Ingredients
- 40 ml Jigger One small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Vodka
- 20 ml Spoons A tablespoon and a teaspoon. Peach schnapps
- 40 ml Jigger One small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Orange juice
- 40 ml Jigger One small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Cranberry juice
- 1 slice Orange slice (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Build everything over ice in a highball and stir.
- Garnish with half a slice of orange and hand it over.
Method
- Fill a highball glass with ice.
- Pour in the vodka and the peach schnapps.
- Add the orange juice and the cranberry juice.
- Stir gently for a few seconds - you want it cold, not frothy.
- Sit half a slice of orange on the rim, or a wheel inside if you prefer.
Serve it
Sex on the Beach
Bars argue about this one more than almost any other drink. The version most of us have met - vodka, peach schnapps, orange and cranberry - is the American one that spread out of Florida in the 1980s; the older European build leaves out the cranberry and adds a little pineapple. Both are good, neither is wrong, and the one on this page is the one you are most likely to be handed.
Getting it right
It lives or dies on the peach schnapps, which is doing all the personality here: with too little you have a vodka and juice, and with too much you have a dessert. Measure it. Chill the juices first if you can - the drink is mostly juice, and juice at room temperature makes a lukewarm cocktail however much ice you add. Pour it over plenty of ice, stir it briefly, and give it the orange slice: it is a drink that likes being looked at.
Tasting notes
Soft peach and orange up front, cranberry tartness behind, and a long, clean, juicy finish. It is sweet, it is easy, and it is exactly the drink it promises to be.
If you want the same thing without the vodka, the cabin keeps an alcohol-free twin under the name Safe Sex on the Beach, and it is just as good on a hot afternoon.
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