new era · built
Suffering Bastard recipe
Gin and brandy with lime and bitters, topped with ginger beer.
A Suffering Bastard is 30 ml (28.2 g) Gin, 30 ml (28.2 g) Brandy, 15 ml (15.5 g) Fresh Lime Juice, 100 ml (104 g) Ginger Beer and 1 ml (1 g) Angostura Bitters, built and served in a highball glass. It pours to about 176 ml before ice, at roughly 13.9% ABV. Weighing the ingredients instead of measuring them is what keeps the balance identical from one round to the next.
- Glasshighball glass
- Methodbuilt
- Pour volume176 ml
- Strength (est.)13.9% ABV
- Time4 min
Suffering Bastard ingredients — in millilitres and grams
Grams are what the PourPilot coaster actually targets. They are not the same as the millilitres: a spirit is lighter than water, a syrup is heavier, so 30 ml of one is never 30 g. The right-hand column is the density we use, in grams per millilitre.
| Ingredient | Volume | Weight | g/ml | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gin | 30 ml | 28.2 g | 0.94 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Brandy | 30 ml | 28.2 g | 0.94 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Fresh Lime Juice | 15 ml | 15.5 g | 1.03 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Ginger Beer | 100 ml | 104 g | 1.04 | Top with ginger beer |
| Angostura Bitters | 1 ml | — | 0.98 | 2 dashes |
How to make a Suffering Bastard
- Set your highball glass on the scale (or on the PourPilot coaster) and zero it. Every measurement below is given in millilitres and in grams, so you can use either.
- Fill the highball glass with fresh ice.
- Build Gin, Brandy and Fresh Lime Juice straight into the glass, weighing each pour.
- Top with Ginger Beer and stir once, gently, from the bottom up.
- Finish with 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters.
Suffering Bastard: the questions people actually ask
How strong is a Suffering Bastard?
Roughly 13.9% ABV as poured, before the ice dilutes it — typically another 15–25% water by the time you finish stirring or shaking. Medium strength. About the same as a fortified wine, poured short.
What glass should a Suffering Bastard be served in?
A highball glass. Fill it with fresh ice, not the ice you mixed with.
Can I make a Suffering Bastard without a jigger?
Yes — that is what the gram column is for. Put the glass or tin on a kitchen scale, zero it, and pour to the weight. It is more accurate than a jigger because nothing is left clinging to the inside of the measure. The PourPilot coaster does the same thing without you having to watch a display: it lights up as you approach the target and tells you when to stop.
Why are some ingredients not weighed?
Dashes of bitters and rinses are too small to weigh reliably — a dash is roughly 0.8 ml, well inside the noise of any bar scale. Count them instead. Everything else in this Suffering Bastard is weighed.
If you like the Suffering Bastard
Singapore Sling
Gin, cherry liqueur and a tropical chorus of juice and liqueurs.
Gimlet
Gin and lime, properly balanced. Shaken or stirred.
Last Word
Equal parts gin, Chartreuse, maraschino, lime. Perfectly balanced.
Ramos Gin Fizz
Gin, citrus, cream and egg white whipped to a cloud, topped with soda.
Gin Basil Smash
Gin, lemon and sugar smashed with a fistful of fresh basil.
South Side
A gin sour with mint — a Mojito's uptown cousin, straight up.