What do you conjure when you hear the word Cloister. If it’s a Pokémon, you’ve probably found yourself on the wrong blog, though the same could be said if you’ve reached the word reflecting monasteries or convents. This cocktail takes it’s name from those, although why it doesn’t isn’t immediately clear. Neither it this cocktail’s age, which is from 1971 via Thomas Mario in the Playboy’s Host & Bar Book*. Resurrected by Jim Meehan, is it worth the time to drink?
Cloister
The Cloister is balanced, layered, and refreshing. The herbal notes of the gin align beautifully with the heady herbaceous notes and touches of vanilla and spice in the Yellow Chartreuse to create a wonderful complexity that doesn’t go full on into Chartreuse’s complete back. The lemon and grapefruit each offer their own unique mix of citrus notes that wonderfully compliment the botanicals. Overall, it’s a delightfully refreshing drink that can help open up those uncomfortable about Chartreuse to it’s wonderful potential.
Drink Notes & Recommendations
The original recipe seems to closely mimic a Daisy, and it isn’t quite in balance:
- 1 1/2 oz Gin
- 2 tsp Grapefruit Juice
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Yellow Chartreuse
As far as using the more modern spec I’ve used (hat tip to PDT’s Jim Meehan – buy his books – both PDT* and Meehan’s Bartender Manual* are amazing) things are more in balance. Using this spec, the main items you could play with are the gin and the sweetener. Changing the syrup is going to really move the needle of profile here, so be judicious (I’d lean toward possible herb notes like basil or an orange oleo saccharum). More readily accessible will be the gin. Changing this will give you access to tilt the balance toward spice (Aviation), citrus (Bluecoat), or traditional juniper (Beefeater / Bombay).
- Gin – London Dry (like our default Beefeater tester) works great here, but the canvas is ripe to be improved. Feel free to grab the aviation and watch the flavors dance with spice, or accentuate the citrus through a modern gin like Bluecoat. I’d be hard pressed to select a gin I don’t think would actually work here.
- Yellow Chartreuse – The milder, more approachable Yellow Chartreuse is similar to it’s green counter part in that it’s fairly hard to substitute. In a pinch, consider a half portion of Strega, and increasing the simple by an 1/8.
- Grapefruit Juice – Look, we get it, it’s tempting to used bottled. Don’t. If you want this to taste amazing, you’re going to have to use fresh squeezed. Use a ruby for ideal outcome.
- Lemon Juice – For best results, use fresh squeezed.
- Simple Syrup – Use a one to one water to sugar simple here.
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