Raise a toast to The Queen with a glass of her favourite tipple: a gin & Dubonnet

Here at Craft Gin Club, we call a gin and Dubonnet The Queen’s cocktail - which is as iconic as the late monarch herself.

Supermarkets like Tesco and Waitrose have reported that bottles of the Queen’s favourite tipple, Dubonnet, have sold out as people stock up on the French aperitif to toast to her incredible reign.

The former royal chef Darren McGrady has previously reported that the British sovereign was a fan of gin - especially a dry martini - but that her favourite tipple of all is this simple, two-ingredient cocktail: the gin and Dubonnet.

So what exactly is Dubonnet? Invented by French chemist Joseph Dubonnet in 1846 - initially for its purported medicinal qualities, but soon adopted as a drink for pleasure - the tasty tipple is also said to have been much favoured by the Queen’s mother.

This ruby-red liquid is, in fact, a type of fortified red wine infused with herbs and spices, including tea, blackcurrant, and (like tonic water) quinine. These ingredients all combine to give the drink a rich, fruity and slightly bitter-sweet flavour.

Dubonnet can be used in many delicious cocktails as a complement to multiple spirits, but the below recipe is (allegedly) how the Queen liked to drink it.

It’s the ultimate tipple to toast to our longest-serving British monarch. Thank you for your service, Queen Elizabeth!