The Recipe
- 1oz (30ml) Calvados or other apple brandy
- ½oz (15ml) Yellow Chartreuse
- ½oz (15ml) Bénédictine
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
The Description
The recipe for this cocktail first appears in George Kappeler’s book, Modern American Drinks, published in 1895. It is an enticing blend of three French liquors.
Preparation
This cocktail is a boozy sipper with strong herbal notes due to the Yellow Chartreuse and Bénédictine. Don’t lets its diminutive 2oz size fool you. It is also one of the pricier cocktails I make given its ingredients.
To prepare this drink, mix all of your ingredients in a stirring glass with ice and stir for around 30-60 seconds or until the stirring glass gets cold. When finished, strain into either a chilled coupe or small martini glass. An optional method, which I use, is to dash the bitters directly into the bottom of the glass instead of adding it to the mixture and swirl the chilled blend into the coupe as you pour.
This cocktail is one of our cold weather staples due to its warming effect as you drink it.
The calvados I typically use is Chauffe-Cœur VSOP, though you can also substitute another apple brandy of your choice, such as Laird’s Bottled-in-Bond, which also makes for a nice version of this cocktail. Avoid apple-flavored liquors, such as flavored vodkas and schnapps, as the flavor profile of these liquors is quite different.