A friend passed along a simple recipe composed of four ingredients last week. I shook a couple over the weekend and found another keeper for my cocktails shortlist.
The drink is The Final Word, based on gin and incorporating a new ingredient for me, green Chartreuse. I’m no stranger to gin cocktails; it’s become my favorite base spirit. It helps that gin goes with darn near everything, but it’s also refreshing on the palate, making it the base of many warm-weather pleasers.
A sip of green Chartreuse puts me in the mind of absinthe, not only for its vivid color but also for its complexity of flavor.
This liqueur is made by aging over a hundred herbs, plants, and flowers in neutral spirit, then bottled at a sturdy 110-proof. Where absinthe is light on the palate, Chartreuse is heavy, but not cloyingly so.
According to its Wikipedia entry, Chartreuse is one of the few liqueurs that continue aging in the bottle, which is good because I’ll probably have this one around for a while.
The recipe is simple: equal parts London Dry gin—a juniper-forward spirit works best—plus green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur, and fresh lime juice. Shake with large cubes and double-strain into a chilled glass. Double-straining removes small ice shards from the finished cocktail. A chilled glass, well, that looks pretty and keeps your drink as cold as possible for as long as possible.
I recommend The Final Word to anyone who enjoys gin-based cocktails, herbal concoctions, and anise.
#cocktails #ginDrinks #theFinalWord
A Random Stroll 