Foghorn Mixed Drink

By
Colleen Graham
Photo of Colleen Graham
Colleen Graham
Freelance writer and cocktail book author Colleen Graham is a seasoned mixologist who loves sharing her knowledge of spirits and passion for preparing drinks.
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Updated on 02/20/24
Tested by
Tom Macy
Photo of Tom Macy
Tested by Tom Macy
Tom wears many cocktail hats. He is a professional bartender, bar owner, recipe creator, and drink writer, though he prefers the title "obsessive cocktail nerd."
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Prep: 3 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 3 mins
Serving: 1 serving
Yield: 1 cocktail

The foghorn is one of the great classic cocktails that New York City's Waldorf Astoria hotel made famous. It's a very simple mixed drink that brings gin and ginger beer together. Fans of the vodka-based Moscow mule will find it familiar, though the switch to gin gives it a fascinating taste. Classically served in an old-fashioned glass, the foghorn can also be made as a highball drink by adding more ginger beer to fill.

Traditionally made with Old Tom gin, modern interpretations of the foghorn have resorted to a London dry gin like Beefeater. Old Tom is a sweeter gin that pairs wonderfully with a spicy ginger beer. While the sweeter style was difficult to find outside of the United Kingdom for a number of years, brands like Aviation, Gin Lane, and Hayman's have revived the classic style and increased its availability. Just as with the gin and tonic, it's hard to find a gin that doesn't work in the foghorn, so go ahead and pour whatever you have available. Each brand will give a new experience, and you'll likely find that some pair better with certain ginger beers.

The foghorn is sometimes made with ginger ale; lime juice is the only thing that differentiates that choice from a gin buck. If that substitution is based on a dislike for spicy ginger beers, there are milder options, as the ginger beer market has expanded significantly in recent years. With the resurgence of both the original gin and the variety of ginger beers, it's an excellent time to revisit this classic and mix it up in its original form.

Foghorn cocktail garnished with lime

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What You'll Need to Make This Foghorn Mixed Drink Recipe
A Great Old Fashioned Glass
A Cocktail Jigger
A Nifty Citrus Juicer

"You could also call this a gin mule. I definitely like Old Tom gin here, it’s a tad sweeter, a bit milder and it blends really well with ginger beer. Gin and ginger are a wonderful pairing. In place of lime juice you can squeeze in a couple of wedges of lime to make life easier." —Tom Macy

Foghorn mixed drink with a lime garnish
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for foghorn cocktail recipe gathered

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  2. Pour the gin and lime juice into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass.

    Gin and lime juice in an old-fashioned glass with ice

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  3. Stir well.

    Foghorn cocktail with stirrer

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  4. Top with ginger beer or ginger ale. Stir gently.

    Foghorn cocktail topped with ginger beer or ginger ale

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  5. Garnish with a lime wedge. Serve and enjoy.

    Foghorn cocktail garnished with lime garnish and a stir stick

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What Exactly Is Ginger Beer?

For starters, it's not a beer. This nonalcoholic beverage was indeed similar to a beer when it originated in England in the late 1800s. Like a fizzy cider, it was alcoholic, thus the name. But the beverage has transformed into a lightly sparkly sweet drink, powerfully flavored with ginger.


This carbonated and yeast-fermented drink is great on its own, but best when mixed with liquors like gin, vodka, tequila, or rum. From these combinations, many variations on the mule cocktail have been born, all delightful thanks to the powerful punch of the ginger beer.

Other Gin Cocktails With Soda

There are a few other gin highballs that combine gin and soda that you will also want to try:

  • The gin-gin mule is a modern cocktail created by Audrey Saunders. For this one, you'll muddle a lime wedge with mint and syrup, add gin, then top it with ginger beer.
  • The leapfrog cocktail is the same as the foghorn but uses lemon instead of lime juice.
  • The gin rickey skips the ginger beverages completely and opts for club soda instead.
  • To make a dragonfly, or Prohibition cocktail, skip the lime juice and use champagne instead of the soda.

How Strong Is the Foghorn?

Like most gin and soda drinks, the foghorn is relatively mild when compared to other cocktails. With an 80-proof gin and served as a lowball, this drink has an alcohol content around 14 percent ABV (28 proof). If it's served tall and you double the soda, it becomes a tame 9 percent ABV (18 proof). 

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
214 Calories
0g Fat
24g Carbs
1g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1
Amount per serving
Calories 214
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 11mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 24g 9%
Dietary Fiber 2g 7%
Total Sugars 17g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 24mg 121%
Calcium 28mg 2%
Iron 1mg 4%
Potassium 89mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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