Tag: beverage
Chartreuse With Envy
All spirits come with a good bit of lore and legend, though few come even close to the mythos surrounding Chartreuse. More than a color, “chartreuse” also refers to a region, Carthusian Monks, and of course, the liqueur. Part of the allure is the scarcity, raising prices to the realm of top shelf bottles, if you can even get your hands on it at all. At the end of the day, when happy hour rolls around, its inimitable flavor cements its place in modern mixology.
An Elixir For Long Life
Fortunately for us history buffs, the origins of Chartreuse are well documented. In 1605, a mysterious manuscript containing the recipe for an “elixir of long life” was presented to the Carthusian monks in Paris by François Hannibal d’Estrées, Marshal to King Henry IV. The document described an elaborate preparation using 130 plants, flowers, roots, and spices. It was so complex that it would take the monks more than a century to fully interpret and bring to fruition.
It’s said that this was the number of ingredients because it simply encompassed every single potentially beneficial flower, spice, bark, root, and berry known at that time. The contents of that manuscript have been kept a closely guarded secret ever since. Intended to be purely medicinal, none of these men of God could have imagined the debauchery it might one day inspire.
Shades of Green and Yellow
Due to lack of access, most people think of Chartreuse as having only two varieties: green and yellow. While they’re not wrong, there are more variants of each one, differentiated by blending and aging.
Élixir Végétal
Small adjustments were made for the next 100 years, until 1737 when Élixir Végétal De La Grande-Chartreuse was officially bottled for sale. This concentrated tonic remains exactly the same to this day, aside from the tiniest reduction in ABV, from 71 – 69%, rumored to fit through a loophole allowing it in carry-on luggage. Made from a neutral alcohol traditionally distilled from beet sugar, a few drops can perk up any cocktail, much like bitters, or even be enjoyed straight-up. With top notes of anise, a subtle bitterness yet balanced sweetness, it has a complexity that’s impossible to describe in a few short sentences. Anything I write sounds polarizing, off-putting, or at odds with any conventional flavor pairings, and yet the actual tasting experience is anything but.
Core Colors
Green Chartreuse, the most iconic expression of the art, came soon after. This “health liqueur” gets its color naturally from chlorophyll, befitting of its herbaceous, slightly spicy flavor. Yellow Chartreuse uses more sugar and is lower proof, producing a downright syrupy consistency that could replace any additional sweeteners in a cocktail with greater nuances of citrus and delicate florals.
1605 and MOF
Launched in 2005 to celebrate 400 years of distilling, Liqueur d’Elixir 1605 pays tribute to an alternate creation, Liqueur de Santé, which was later renamed Green Chartreuse in 1840. Blending a small amount of the powerful Herbal Elixir de la Grande-Chartreuse into the standard green Chartreuse base, gives it the familiar intense botanicals of green Chartreuse with a less sweet finish. Similarly Chartreuse MOF is a collaboration between the Carthusian monks and France’s prestigious Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (MOF) sommeliers, released in 2008. Dryer than the classic yellow, it’s intended as a digestif after dinner, never to be muddied as a mixer. And you had better sip slowly, because both will ring up at over $200 per bottle.
V.E.P. Green and V.E.P. Yellow
V.E.P. stands for “Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolongé,” otherwise known as Exceptionally Prolonged Aging. These are the rarest of all expressions as they must rest in oak barrels for up to 20 years, though no one but a few monks could tell you exactly how long. Smoother and more mellow as a result, while still carrying the original character of the green and yellow base. Each bottle is a real investment though, easily reaching price tags well into the thousands, if you can find it in the first place.
Liqueur Worthy of Devotion
Leveraging sales of the tonic to support monastic life, the monks began to produce just enough of the famed alcohol to allow a life dedicated to prayer, study, and silence. They could easily double or triple production, or completely outsource the process to strike it rich, but that’s never been the point of Chartreuse. Today, only two monks know the full formula and oversee the blending of those classified 130 botanicals. Their work happens largely out of public view, and that air of secrecy only deepens the mystique.
Ironically, that humility and devotion has helped transform Chartreuse into some of the most coveted bottles around. As cocktail culture has exploded in the past two decades, bartenders have rediscovered just how irreplaceable it is. Classics like The Last Word, Bijou, and Alaska cocktail rely on its unmistakable herbal intensity; there is simply no substitute. This elixir is indeed proving to have a very long life, with no end in sight.
Love, Through Rosé Colored Glasses
Having reached the ripe old age of 37 with zero romantic prospects, I’m clearly not the person you should be seeking for Valentine’s Day advice. I may not know a thing about conventional relationships, but that doesn’t stop me from celebrating love in all forms. The traditional view of love feels the most foreign to me, defined more by what it isn’t than what it is, reserved for just one, rather than all. Beyond fireworks and butterflies, grand gestures and soul mates, love is in the details; love is as simple as kindness.
Cheers, to All Forms of Love
I’d like to raise a glass to love, to those with and without partners. Even if you’re alone on Valentine’s Day, let’s not forget about self love, which is arguably the most important kind of all. Selfish? Yes, and it’s important to be selfish at times. As many have told me when I grouse about the idea of “deserving” x, y, or z, you can’t pour from an empty cup. To that, I’d suggest you fill your own champagne flute first.
French 75, with a Twist
One of my favorite drinks of the moment is the French 75. Classic, classy, and always welcome at any party, it’s been described as a Tom Collins in a Tuxedo. That is to say, a combination of gin, lemon, and simple syrup topped off with champagne. Variations are endless given that simple start: A French 95 swaps gin for bourbon, and a French 125 opts for cognac instead. Personally, I’d like a rosier outlook for a lovely little indulgence.
The Pink of Perfection
Prickly Pear & Rose Waterloo Gin was the inspiration, lending a floral flavor and tint to the drink. Finishing with sparkling rosé instead of plain Brut Champagne was only natural, softening the hints of juniper to an incredibly nuanced, gently blushing spritz. The prickly pear adds a subtly rounded sweetness, the rose wafts through like perfume on a silk scarf, and the bubbles do what bubbles do best, by lifting everything up.
If Valentine’s Day feels heavy, complicated, or hollow, let this be your permission to reclaim it. Make something beautiful just for yourself. Toast to the people you adore, the ones who lift you up, and the version of you that’s still growing, learning, trying. Love can be as soft as a pink drink in a chilled flute, enjoyed in your own quiet company.
Sleepy Martini
There is no greater tease than the espresso martini. Tall, sleek, and slender, the elegant glass is filled to the brim with dark amber liquid, topped with a velvety crown of foam. The very air around it seems to buzz with the aroma of roasted coffee. Should you succumb to temptation, you’ll get a jolt of caffeine, masking the intoxicating effects of the alcohol. Too boozy for breakfast but too stimulating for a nightcap, this classic cocktail remains firmly out of my reach when adhering to a rational schedule.
Odds Bar & Bistro – Decaf Espresso Martini
Surely, I can’t be the only one that wants to imbibe and still fall asleep at night. And yet, decaf coffee liqueur is simply not a thing. As one of three primary ingredients, this is a problem. There’s also the shot of straight espresso, but how hard is it to swap that for decaf in the first place? Really, it’s such an easy fix, it’s laughable.
When Is A Martini Not A Martini?
One thing that bothers me about the espresso martini, besides mixing uppers and downers, is that it really isn’t a martini at all. By definition, a martini is classically made with gin and dry vermouth, optionally garnished with an olive or a lemon twist. Strong, dry, and served straight up in a chilled martini glass, it’s the consummate definition of elegance.
The only thing that the espresso martini shares, like many other variants that rely on additional flavorings and sweeteners bolstered by vodka, is the glass. This is important to clarify not to belittle the espresso martini, but to free ourselves of the pretense that it must contain x, y, or z. For the espresso martini, there are no rules aside from stemware.
Robust and Relaxing
Writing out a recipe for something so simple feels silly, but I know just as well as anyone that a good recipe doesn’t have to be ground-breaking, ambitious, or even terribly innovative. It has to be delicious, of course, foolproof, and something you’d want to make again and again. That’s the case for this cocktail, which could be cut down to as few as three real ingredients at its core.
That’s part of the appeal, too; something that can be whipped up on the fly, even when your liquor cabinet is mostly empty, when friends show up unannounced, or when you just need something to take the edge off, post haste. This is the one that I’m shaking out more often than not, so I think you might enjoy it, too.