Kaiser Cocktail recipe
Rating
Can you make this?
Add the ingredients you have at home to your My Bar and we'll show you what cocktails you can make. Start off by adding the ingredients you have for this cocktail using the plus icons.
Kaiser sits firmly in the savoury, brunch-friendly highball family: a spirit-led, tomato-and-spice drink built for slow sipping. With akvavit as the base, it nods to the Bloody Mary/Caesar tradition, but takes a distinctly Nordic-leaning turn thanks to that caraway-and-dill character. It’s less about sweet or fruity notes and more about a bold, seasoned profile that feels at home alongside salty snacks and hearty food.
You’ll find akvavit’s herbal spice cutting through the rich, briny body of Clamato, giving the drink a clean, savoury backbone. A dash of Worcestershire deepens the umami and adds a rounded, tangy edge, while Tabasco brings a sharp, vinegary heat that lifts the whole mix. Pepper adds a dry bite, and salt tightens the flavours, making the clam-tomato base taste fuller and more vivid.
Serve it when you want something assertive and restorative—think late mornings, casual get-togethers, or as a pre-dinner opener for people who prefer savoury over sweet. If you like your drinks spicy, salty, and unapologetically bold, this one lands immediately.
Microbadges
Can you make this?
Add the ingredients you have at home to your My Bar and we'll show you what cocktails you can make. Start off by adding the ingredients you have for this cocktail using the plus icons.
Lowball / rocks glass
Ingredients
Cocktail Colin says:
Akvavit’s caraway-and-dill snap leads into briny, tomato-rich Clamato, while pepper, Tabasco, and Worcestershire stack heat and umami over a firm salt edge. It works because the herbal akvavit lifts the savory base and the hot sauces sharpen the Clamato’s sweetness; ideal for brunch drinkers who want a spirit-forward, salty, spicy sipper.
Method
How to make a Kaiser
- Akvavit 45ml, Clamato 180ml, Pepper Dash, Tabasco Sauce Dash, Worcestershire sauce Dash, Salt Dash
-
- Mositen the rim of the glass and then roll in celery salt, then add dash of celery salt and black pepper to the bottom of the glass
-
- Add Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces, then aquavit
-
- Add ice and stir to combine ingredients, then fill glass with Clamato
-
- Garnish as desired with olives and a celery stick, and serve
Power tips
Elevate the Kaiser with these master mixologist tips
Upgrade to premium
And receive world class tips on how to raise your cocktails to the next level.
Find out more- Upgrade to premium to receive power tips from top bartenders around the world. Raise you mixology game.
- Read the tweaks that take this simple cocktail to the next level of greatness. Become the next best mixologist which people all talk about.
Your private tasting notes
Featured in
FAQ's
What can replace Akvavit in the Kaiser cocktail if it's not available?
If Akvavit is unavailable, a good substitute for the Kaiser cocktail would be a quality gin, especially one with a pronounced botanical profile to mimic the caraway and dill flavors typically found in Akvavit. Vodka can also be used for a more neutral flavor.
Is there a specific technique for adding the dashes of sauces and spices in the Kaiser cocktail?
For the Kaiser cocktail, it's best to add the dashes of pepper, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and salt directly into the glass over the ice before adding the Clamato and Akvavit. This allows the spices and sauces to integrate more evenly when you stir the drink, ensuring a consistent flavor in each sip.
What's the ideal way to serve a Kaiser cocktail to enhance its flavors?
The Kaiser cocktail should be served in a lowball glass over ice to keep it chilled without diluting the flavors too quickly. Using a large ice cube or sphere can further slow down the dilution, preserving the drink's robust taste profile for longer. Garnishing with a celery stick or lime wedge can add an extra layer of freshness.
Upgrade your mixology
Become a member for free taking your cocktail making skills up to level 11. Or become a premium member to rise to cocktail greatness.
- Save your bar forever
- Access to our Cocktail Creator, allowing you to create your own wonderful concoctions.
- Access to Cocktail Colin; ask Cocktail Colin anything on an individual cocktail and he'll give you the answers you need.
- Create personalised cocktail menus for all your events, bars or parties
- Save cocktails to personalised 'Tried' and 'Want to try' lists
- Create and record tasting notes on cocktails
- Create lists of cocktails to share with friends and family
- A personalised MyBar URL, allowing you to share everything you can make with friends
- And much more ... (what to buy next, measurement choices, search personalisation...)
Have you tried our Wordpress Plugin?
Download our plugin and embed cocktail recipes directly onto your own site or blog.
Choose from our whole recipe database, or choose a specific cocktail made with a certain ingredient, and let us place a beautiful recipe on your own site.
Find out moreYou might also like
Create a cocktail
Choose a theme and some ingredients, give us some description and we'll create an amazing cocktail for you.
Register as a Premium Make Me a Cocktail community member and get access to an even more powerful creator.
Start creatingBuild your bar
Tell us what you have at home and we'll find a delicious cocktail for you to make right now.
Register as a Make Me a Cocktail community member and we'll save your ingredients list so you can come back to it at any time.
Create My Bar
Cocktail Colin
Your cocktail expert
Hi! I'm Cocktail Colin
Ask me anything about this cocktail - how to make it, substitutions, variations, or any other questions!
Become a member to access Cocktail Colin
Become a member (for free) to pick Cocktail Colin's cocktail filled brain on everything on this cocktail, from substitutions, if you can use what you have, to serving suggestions and more.
Become a member
Comments