December 27, 2019

If you’re up for an experiment with incredible results, then you've come to the right place. Blood and Sand, a cocktail inspired by the 1922 movie of its own name, is a drink of unusual combination yet surprisingly satisfying taste.

To represent its namesake, the drink makes use of Heering cherry liquer-which symbolizes blood- and orange juice-which symbolizes sand.

Did You Know? The Blood and Sand movie that the cocktail was inspired by starred Rudolf Valentino, who played the role of the struggling Spaniard who then became a famous matador. Share this trivia!

With its easy to prepare equal-part recipe, you'll get a taste of this cocktail in no time!

Blood and Sand Cocktail Recipe

Blood and Sand Cocktail Ingredients:

. 75 oz Blood orange juice

. 75 oz Sweet Vermouth

. 75 oz Cherry Heering

. 75 oz Blended Scotch

Blood and Sand Cocktail Preparation:

Pour all of the ingredients into a shaker tin and shake. Double strain the mix into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish it with a blood orange slice and you’re done!

Did You Know? Blood and Sand Cocktail was served during the Oscars After-party last 2015. Share this trivia!

Watch It Here!

Recipe Variations

The original Blood and Sand recipe has ingredients that aren’t usually mixed in cocktails, but they work well together since they are of equal parts. What happens when one is more or less than the other, you ask? Well, we’ve listed the top variations for this drink to suit your taste!

Silver and Sand - take out the blood orange then replace it with lemon, and you got yourself the most popular variation of Blood and Sand in the private cocktail club of the same name.

Blood and Sanguinello - this recipe makes use of blood orange liquer instead of juice, and it has several more ingredients such as Lillet Rouge, pink grapefruit juice, cherries, etc.

Ichor and Glass -named after the ethereal liquid in the veins of Greek gods, this version of the cocktail requires specific brands of the ingredients for a guaranteed refreshing taste.

Know Your Ingredients!

Blood orange juice- definitely not your typical orange juice, since this is specifically made with 100% blood orange. We picked out the best blood orange juice out there for you. Check it out!

Sweet Vermouth-originally from Italy, this wine that is fortified (with brandy) and aromatized (with herbs and spices). Be careful not to confuse it with Dry Vermouth.

Cherry Heering- a 5-year aged liquer made by soaking a blend of spices and Danish cherries into neutral grain spirits.

Blended Scotch- basically, several whiskies in one , and the resulting Scotch whisky may sometimes be mixed with coloring, flavoring, and neutral grain spirits.

Bar Accessories

Shaker-used to hold and mix the drinks. A shaker like this is guaranteed not to spill any drop of your mix. It also comes in handy for cocktails that need shaker with ice!

Strainer-to keep the mix cold without the ice being in the way, you’ll need one of these .

Coupe glass-a glass to hold your finished drink. There are different types of glass suggested to use in making Blood and Sand, but we recommend this coupe glass .

The History

Find out more about our ingredients-and what makes them a peculiar combo!Of course, we can't make this mix a success unless we have the right equipment, and we've listed them down for you!

This drink made its debut in 1930, when Harry Craddock introduced Blood and Sand Cocktail in his work, The Savoy Cocktail Book. Though the original creator of the drink is unknown, as mentioned earlier its making is said to be influenced by the 1922 movie which easily paved the road to the cocktail’s recognition.

The Rise in Fame

Ever since its debut in 1930, Blood and Sand cocktail has slowly made its way up the ranks as people around the world started to take interest in it. Though deemed not as popular as the cocktail classics The Old Fashioned and Negroni, the clean and refreshing drinking experience it delivers remain unmatched. For the past 15 years, the drink’s popularity worldwide has been steadily increasing, and the countries that show the most interest for it are US, UK, and Germany. Specifically, the states with most enthusiasts for this drink are in New York, California and Texas. Austrian chef Wolfgang Puck, long-time chef at the Academy Awards, served this cocktail during the Oscars after party back in 2015, along with Sam Ross’ Penicillin.

The Perfect Pair

Following Puck’s menu-which includes lobster salad, chicken pot pies and more-generally speaking the deal type of food to be enjoyed together with Blood and Sand are savoury dishes. Ever tried pairing this cocktail with a different type of dish? Let us know in the comments!

See What Others Think

BLOOD! AND! SAND!!! (the drink) (no bulls were harmed in the making of this cocktail.) #fb — Novy-San (@novysan) November 14, 2010

IF U TRULY LOVE ME YOU'D BRING ME A COCKTAIL SPECIFICALLY A BLOOD AND SAND TIA — recognize. (@jenihead) September 1, 2015

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Updated: August 31, 2019.