Author: Nick

The Last Word is one of the quintessential equal parts cocktails and a study in balance.  Likely created pre-prohibition, the Last Word received a resurgence in the early 2000s when Seattle’s Zig Zag Cafe added to the menu.   Many members of the pre-prohibition cocktail movement took note, and the cocktail first spread across Seattle, and then ultimately the collective drinking world.  While at the time ingredients like Green Chartreuse could be hard to find, they’ve since become plentiful, so finding the ingredients to make the drink shouldn’t be an issue.

Last Word

Last Word

¾ oz

Gin

¾ oz

Maraschino Liqueur

¾ oz

Green Chartreuse

¾ oz

Lime Juice

Combine all ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Double strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish.

The Last Word is a brilliant study in balance.  Sweet is in taught balance with sour, spice and herb are in perfect harmony.  The light cherry and almond like notes resonate beautifully with the fresh lime and run perfectly with the chartreuse’s and gin’s complex herbaceous notes.  Overall, every sip is electric, and wonderfully grounded in showing off every facet of it’s components.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

The Last Word is a riffable template, with drinks like Naked & Famous being generated from it.  Start with the original and see it in action before playing with the template, it will help you understand how it works and why it works (especially as you encounter failures).

• Gin –  London Dry is the go to for an original, but you could easily substitute for contemporary styles.  We made ours with Beefeater, but could also it being delicious with Aviation.  For a bolder gin riff, consider using a Navy Strength gin.
• Maraschino Liqueur –  We used Luxardo, which is one of the most common maraschino liqueurs you can find.  It’s distinctive for it’s straw like exterior.
• Green Chartreuse –  Sadly there’s no real substitute for this herbal liqueur, so you’ll need to procure a bottle.  Be prepared to pay upwards of $50 a bottle for a 750.
• Lime – Use fresh squeezed as always for best results.

The Highball is one of the proto-cocktail templates that underpins a variety of drinks from the Americano to the Cuba Libre to the Gin and Tonic.  The concept is simple, spirit and sparkling water.  Adding citrus and you can end up with a Buck, Collins, or Rickey.  While the origins appear to be around the turn of the twentieth century, the exact story is lost to time.  What should it matter though, the Highball remains a delicious drink over a hundred years later.

Highball

Highball

2 oz

Whiskey

4 oz

Cold Seltzer

In a highball (or double rocks glass) add a large ice cube. Add whiskey over ice and wait 5 – 10 seconds. Add seltzer, stir once, and serve. No garnish.

The Highball is nearly completely dependent on the choice of whiskey used. Using Suntory Toki here, the elements of cereal notes are expanded with the seltzer, and allowing them to express themselves. This is a difference from the spices, touches of heat, and green apple skin that are present in the raw whiskey. The apple notes are now more subtle, and perhaps even slightly crushed or the flavor an apple cut over an hour ago. The caramel and spice present in the original now make up the background, and now add notes of minerality and toasted grain.  There’s even a really gentle floralness and elegance that expresses itself.   The highball is therefore and extension of the whiskey you start with.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

The Highball is base cocktail.  In it’s purest form, the highball is two things, a spirit and a non-alcoholic mixer.  The result is an endlessly riffable drink, including things like the Gin and Tonic, Bloody Mary, and Mimosa.  As the drink is so simple, there is no room for a spirit to hide, so high quality spirits are critical to execution.

• Whiskey – This is the flavor of the highball.  If you start with a whiskey you don’t like, you’re unlikely to find that you like it significantly better in a highball.  Whiskey is a temperamental spirit and, prior to the rush to turn everything whiskey into cask strength expressions, common wisdom used to be to add a drop of water to your whiskey when served neat to help express the true character.   This thought process is founded in the idea that the molecules in the whiskey expand, opening up new flavors and smells.  A highball is a semi-similar though process, just on scale.  You’re adding a significant amount of neutral spirit, so expect the flavors to expand and change – but they will not get stronger.  Our general recommendation is to start at 4 oz of seltzer, and add or subtract from there (add for more complex / intense whiskeys, subtract for gentler bottlings)
  • Scotch – Highly peated scotches (like Laphroaig or Lagavulin) may require more seltzer, while other non-peated whiskeys like Glenlivet may require less.
  • Japanese Whiskey – These blends are generally closer to scotch in their flavor profiles, and should therefore be adjusted accordingly.  The expectation is that generally you shouldn’t see overwhelmingly peated expressions, so 4:2 ratios should work well.
  • Irish – Expect to follow similar 4:2 ratios compared with Japanese whiskeys.  Exceptions should be expected for finished whiskeys (in other barrels – like sherry or madeira)
  • Bourbon / Rye –  Unlike the other whiskeys list, expect to experience significant impacts from the base spirit (especially for bonded, barrel / cask strength).  These whiskeys can have strong profiles.  The goal is to balance them with the seltzer.
• Seltzer – Seltzer is the purest form of carbonated water.  There are no minerals added (Club has additional minerals to mimic mineral water).  For the most control, use seltzer.  Club is an acceptable substitute, but note that the minerals added can adjust citrus and bitterness.

The Chrysanthemum is another cocktail that’s experienced some amount of recipe flux since it’s creation.  Reportedly the original was actually equally parts dry vermouth and Benedictine.  Most interpretations have turned this down even further, leading to a 2:1 ratio of Dry Vermouth to Benedictine.  At an ounce of Benedictine, this seems like a lot. Still, there are few cocktails that feature Dry Vermouth as the main ingredient, so this feels like it’s worth a spin.

Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum

2 oz

Dry Vermouth

1 oz

Benedictine

2 Dashes

Absinthe

Combine all ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Double strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.

The Chrysanthemum is sweet, herbal, and floral.  The start of the sip is nigh cloying with candy spiced sweetness that gives way into a mix of herbal notes. The herbs pick up some of the spice before bringing in the brightness of the wine.  The spices are amazingly layered, ranging from cinnamon to clove to nutmeg.  The flavor of the herbs are earthy, almost garigue like, with a green wormwood character. Overall, it’s a deeply flavored cocktail with a good layering that with its low ABV won’t put you down and out.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

Like all cocktails with limited ingredient sets, there’s not a lot of places to hide.  So the quality of these ingredients are important to the final outcome.  Regardless of the ingredients you use, you’ll note this drink is deeply on the sweet side of things.  This is largely due to the Benedictine, and the almost comical ounce of the ingredient. Some of the more modern takes on this drink counter this by adjusting the ratio of sweet vermouth to 2 ½ oz while reducing the Benedictine to ½ oz.

• Dry Vermouth – There are few drinks that call for Dry Vermouth as the primary ingredient.  As such, consider one of a high quality such as Dolin or Noilly Prat.
• Benedictine – Due to the herbal notes and honeyed sweetness that go into this brandy based liqueur, we don’t recommend swapping this for anything else.  Similar to certain other classics, this is both a specific liqueur and a brand recommendation.
• Absinthe – The amount of absinthe is low in this drink, but you can think of it similarly to bitters in an Old Fashioned.  As a result, your choice of absinthe is your seasoning of choice or whatever you happen to have on hand.  Our default absinthe of choice is St. George Absinthe Verte.

Cameron’s Kick first appears in the early 1920’s and, if you’ll believe this, promptly leaves out exactly who Cameron is or why the drink bears that name.  Instead, the author Harry McElhone elaborates on the fact that the orgeat syrup in this case must be made with almonds.  Having tried the cocktail both with syrups containing almond, and those that do not, we can say he’s right, although we do wish he might have been able to elaborate a bit more on the drink’s construction.  This is as this particular cocktail is decidedly unusual for the time period, featuring a split base of both Irish and Scotch Whiskey.

Cameron’s Kick

Cameron’s Kick

1 oz

Irish Whiskey

1 oz

Scotch Whiskey

¾ oz

Lemon Juice

½ oz

Orgeat

Combine all ingredients in a shaker vessel. Add ice and shake. Double strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish.

Cameron’s Kick pulls in the nuttiness of the orgeat – but despite a half an ounce it isn’t super sweet. The cereal and grain notes from the whiskeys pull it in and they catch up on the backside with a fruitiness that starts kind of pome fruit but moves into that cherry-almond sweetness before ending with a hint of smokiness on the finish.  The uniqueness is pleasant, balanced, and refreshing.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

We made an inordinate number of Cameron’s Kicks in testing the impact of multiple different orgeat syrups.  Having done so, we can attest that while the kick is primarily determined by the whiskey you choose, the choice of orgeat ends up dictacting a lot of how the drink stitches together.  As said, for best results, use something made with actual almonds.

• Irish Whiskey – We really liked something a bit more elegant here, a task that Knappogue Castle pulled off in a stellar fashion.  You could also use something a bit bigger for a kick, but floral and fruit notes play wonderfully with the orgeat.
• Scotch Whiskey – While Great King St. Artist’s Blend was lovely and offered a good amount more apple, grain, caramel, and a hint of smoke, we really loved Glenlivet 12.  The addition of the pineapple and vanilla notes really sing here.  Really, the choice of scotch here is all personal preference, but there’s very little room for it to hide in this drink.  Experiment to find what works best for you (like adding a bit of smokiness with a big Islay)
• Orgeat – We tried everything from Fee Brothers to Small Hand Foods orgeats and found a surprising amount of variation.  We can – with some confidence, inform you that you should completely avoid Fee Brothers Orgeat here.  It’s artificial tasting, and rather unpleasant.  The best in our testing were Ferrera Orgeat and Small Hand Foods.  While Small Hand is more expensive, there’s a true nuttiness here (although it is more subtle).  Ferrara also includes real almonds, but has a slightly cherry like artificial note that flirts around the edges.  However, you get more Ferrera (almost triple) for about half the cost of Small Hands.
• Lemon Juice – Use fresh squeezed for best results.

The Sazerac is one of the first cocktails to appear and formally be recognized.  A product of the New Orleans environment, the Sazerac demonstrated local ingredients giving spin to a drink.  This relative of the old fashioned eschewed whiskey for cognac, and utilized the local bitters and sugars to drive it’s character.  The result is something unique, that in of itself ended up undergoing more than a few changes.

Sazerac

With that said, we’re going to start with the very original, pre-phylloxera Sazerac.  This drink is made with absinthe, cognac, and bitters.  We’ll discuss the modern variants below.

Sazerac

2 oz

Cognac

Barspoon

Rich Demerara Syrup

3 Dashes

Peychaud’s Bitters

2 Dash

Angostura Bitters

Rinse

Absinthe

Rinse a chilled rocks glass with St. George Absinthe Verte. Dispose of the excess or set aside in a glass for later use. Combine all remaining ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Double strain into the absinthe rinsed rocks glass. Express a lemon twist over the glass. Discard the lemon twist, and serve.

The original Sazerac is herbal, spiced, and complex with just a hint of sweetness.  This is a stiff drink, as there is no ice to continue dilution and there’s pretty much nothing that isn’t liquor.  The result is a celebration of the perfume and fruit notes of cognac laced with the herbal woody notes of the absinthe.  The lemon adds a freshness to the nose, and the anise notes from the Peychaud’s balance beautifully against the spices of the Angostura.  The light sweetness is just enough to balance and entice the drinker into having another.

Rye or Cognac in Sazerac?

The original Sazerac’s single largest shift in identity occurred thanks to the phylloxera outbreak in Europe.  As a result of the destruction of hundreds of thousands of hectares of grape vines by this tiny parasite, Cognac’s supply was decimated.  Needing to substitute, the residents of New Orleans transitioned to a readily available alternative, rye whiskey.   It just happens to work perfectly with the template, adding spice and oaky notes that the work just as well with the absinthe and bitters.

Many modern interpretations of the Sazerac therefore use the same template, simply replacing cognac with rye.  While this makes a delicious Sazerac, there is another option.  Use both!  For best results, we recommend using 1 1/2 oz of rye whiskey to 1/2 oz of cognac.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

As mentioned, the biggest decision you need to make is whether you intend to have a truly classic cognac based Sazerac, or to enjoy the more modern updated variation.  Beyond that, the process to make either is the same.

• Cognac – There’s no where to hide in this cocktail, so good quality spirits are a must.  For cognac we recommend Pierre Ferrand 1840.
• Rye – Again, the quality of your rye is important.  More herbal ryes will escalate the pairing of Peychaud’s and absinthe, while more spice forward ryes will compliment the demerara sugar and Angostura spices.  Play around and see what you like best, but we recommend Rittenhouse rye here.  Don’t be afraid to consider bourbon as well, such as Wild Turkey 101 or 1792 Small Batch.
• Absinthe – We recommend using absinthe here, and not a pastis.  Our go to is St. George Absinthe Verte.  The official guide from New Orleans also suggests using New Orleans own Herbsaint instead (which should be considered an acceptable substitute)
• Peychaud’s Bitters – These are the standard for any Sazerac.  You can purchase them at most well appointed liquor stores or through Amazon*.
• Angostura Bitters – These are the gold standard of bitters.  You should have a bottle in your bar, and you can purchase them most grocery stores or Amazon*.
• Rich Demerara Syrup – You can muddle a demerara sugar cube in place of the syrup, but we find this gives a better texture.
  • To make: Combine 2 parts Demerara Sugar to 1 part water and bring to a simmer stirring over high heat.  Remove from heat once the sugar has completely dissolved.  Allow to cool and bottle.  Refrigerate.   The high sugar content will work to inhibit bacterial growth for an extended duration – throw out if any clouding or mold develop.
• Lemon Twist – Unlike an Old Fashioned where you include the citrus twist, you discard the lemon twist after expressing here.
• Ice – This drink is served neat.  Keep the ice in the mixing vessel.

* – Amazon links contain affiliate links that may result in First Pour Cocktails receiving a portion of the sale.  These commissions help us keep researching new drinks and pay for the webhosting (which as of writing this, is a loss every year)!