20th Century

Alessandro Scire Calabrisotto

Few cocktails capture the glamour of the Jazz Age quite like the 20th Century. Named after a luxurious express train and built on an unlikely pairing of gin and chocolate, it is sophisticated, faintly decadent and surprisingly easy to love. If you have never tried gin and creme de cacao together, prepare for a pleasant surprise — this is one of the great forgotten classics, and it deserves a place in your repertoire.

History of the 20th Century

The 20th Century was created in 1937 by C.A. Tuck, a British bartender, and named in honour of the celebrated 20th Century Limited — the glamorous express train that ran between New York City and Chicago from 1902 until 1967. The drink first appeared in print that same year in the Cafe Royal Cocktail Book, compiled by William J. Tarling, then President of the United Kingdom Bartenders' Guild and head bartender at London's storied Cafe Royal.

It is a cocktail of its moment: confident, a little theatrical, and built for an era when train travel itself was a form of luxury. After decades in relative obscurity, the 20th Century enjoyed a revival as bartenders rediscovered the Cafe Royal book and its trove of inventive interwar recipes. Today it is rightly regarded as a modern classic in waiting — admired for the clever way it folds white chocolate notes into a crisp, citrus-led gin sour.

Recipe: How to Make a Classic 20th Century

Ingredients:

  • 45 ml (1.5 oz) gin
  • 20 ml (0.75 oz) Lillet Blanc (or Cocchi Americano)
  • 15 ml (0.5 oz) white creme de cacao
  • 20 ml (0.75 oz) fresh lemon juice

Instructions:

  1. Add the gin, Lillet Blanc, white creme de cacao and fresh lemon juice to a cocktail shaker.
  2. Fill the shaker with plenty of ice.
  3. Shake hard for around 12 to 15 seconds, until thoroughly chilled.
  4. Double-strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass.
  5. Garnish with a lemon twist, expressing the oils over the surface before serving.

Tips for Perfection:

  • Use white creme de cacao, not the dark version — it lends the chocolate note without muddying the colour.
  • The original called for Kina Lillet, which no longer exists; Cocchi Americano is the closest modern substitute, while Lillet Blanc gives a gentler result.
  • Chill your glass thoroughly first — this delicate cocktail is at its best served bracingly cold.

Additional Recommendations

Variations:

  • Cocchi swap — use Cocchi Americano in place of Lillet Blanc for a more bitter, period-accurate edge.
  • 20th Century Express — top with a splash of chilled Champagne for a celebratory, effervescent twist.
  • Citrus variation — replace half the lemon with grapefruit juice for a softer, rounder sour.

Pairings:

  • Dark chocolate truffles, which echo the creme de cacao beautifully.
  • Salty almonds or marcona nuts to offset the cocktail's richness.
  • A wedge of aged hard cheese for a grown-up, contrasting bite.

Presentation:

  • Serve in a classic coupe to nod to the drink's 1930s origins.
  • Finish with a long, elegant lemon twist draped over the rim.

Curiosity: A Fun Fact About the 20th Century

The cocktail takes its name not from the century itself but from a train — the 20th Century Limited, so prestigious that a red carpet was famously rolled out for boarding passengers, giving us the very phrase "red-carpet treatment." Sip one and you are toasting an entire age of glamorous rail travel.

Sources

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