I was first introduced to this cocktail in Shanghai. Prosaically described as the first choice for ladies who lunch, this small but well proportioned cocktail got it’s name far back in the twenties from a silent movie about a man who rises from peasant to matador. The drink represents the blood of the bull spilled and mixed with the sand of the arena.
It is another in a growing line of scotch cocktails that really work, it adds a meaty undertone to the drink that would fall off the deep end into sweetness were it not there.
The measures mentioned in the Savoy book ask for equal measures, and while I’d love to have another brother for the Negroni and Corpse Reviver, I’m sad to say it doesn’t really do it for me. The Cheery Heering sweetens the mix way too much. The orange juice has to be fresh. Of this I am quite certain.
Blood & Sands
30mls J&B Scotch, 30mls Orange Juice, 15mls Martini Rosso 15mls Cheery Heering. Shake and strain up. Drink with a waspish sense of place and purpose.
You can read about a more considered approach to the drink, and see where I purloined this picture from, over here.
Everyday Drinking 