Tag: chartreuse

Greenpoint

Tonight’s drink came from the minds at Milk & Honey, the renowned bar whose London outpost sadly closed at the end of 2020 (the NY original was kicked out by their landlords in 2013) – another victim of Covid shutdowns and landlords who didn’t see the need to extend some help to industries hit by the mandatory closures.

There is a great write-up about the end of the era on the Difford’s Guide website, and it is good to know the excellence of the bar lives on through the staff who went on to open Swift, Happiness Forgets & other great London bars. When I first wrote this (May 2022), the website was still live at www.mlkhny.com and the copyright date was early in 2022, so the site was apparently being maintained while both the London & New York venues looked for new homes. Sadly, at an update in September, I found the site has now expired.

The Greenpoint has a rye Manhattan base, emboldened with a yellow Chartreuse/sweet vermouth mix and shakes of both Angostura & orange bitters. The issue with Chartreuse is that is so potent a flavour, it tends to swamp everything else in the glass – but a good strong rye and vermouth have a fighting chance, at least. I’d be interested why the barman chose to marry these flavours – I wouldn’t have thought of vermouth and Chartreuse as a combination that would work, but it does here – sort of. To my mind, this needs a good long stir to dilute everything just a touch; plus I find Chartreuse a little ‘gloopy’ in the mouth (pardon the technical terminology here), so the added water just seems to help loosen everything.

To be honest, I found the one as a bit of a sipper: it’s interesting but not one to have several of, at least in my mind. The key here I think are the bitters – they counteract the herbal flavour of the Chartreuse.

To make one, stir together the rye with the vermouth, Chartreuse and bitters over plenty of ice. When well chilled and slightly diluted, strain into a cold glass and garnish with lemon peel (Milk & Honey original) or orange zest (Simon Difford’s modification)

60ml of rye (or Canadian blended whiskey with a good rye content, if you prefer)

15ml of sweet vermouth (I used Discarded here)

15ml of yellow Chartreuse

A dash of orange bitters (Bob’s Mandarin are good)

A dash of Angostura bitters

Stir very well, then strain into a well-chilled coupe.

Hearth & Home

Hearth & Home

After last week’s own invention, the Mekishiko Hito, I wanted to find another similarly smoky/spicy cocktail. Bourbon & mezcal seem to be fairly common combinations, but I was surprised to find this recipe from a restaurant/bar in New York, called The Daisy: this couples bourbon, mezcal and, to my surprise, yellow Chartreuse.

The combination looked pretty unusual, and the garnish (a burning cinnamon stick) just seemed to add to the madness. The blog where I found this recipe – The Bojon Gourmet – described the resulting drink as ‘bright, herbaceous & boozy with notes of smoke & spice’. I think I would agree. Chartreuse is certainly herbaceous, the bourbon almost vanishes in the mix & the ginger liqueur adds a slow burn. I’ll be making this one for Christmas, but I will certainly be making my own ginger liqueur for that version; Stone’s Ginger Wine is great, but perhaps a little too sweet for my liking, although its reduced ABV does stop this drink form becoming an absolute monster. In terms of heritage, it’s definitely come out of the whisky sour route: bourbon & lemon juice, sweetened by the ginger, is a classic sour mix; it’s the sudden appearance of the Chartreuse that is the surprise.

Recipe:

To make one, shake together the following:

45ml bourbon

20ml fresh lemon juice

20ml ginger liqueur

20ml yellow Chartreuse (the green might be too strong here)

After a good long shake, strain into a chilled rocks glass over a single large cube. Ignite one end of the cinnamon stick and either pop the unburnt end into the drink as a smouldering straw, or balance a shorter piece on the ice, as I did. There’s no need for bitters here (it is a sour base, after all).