The Tipperary Cocktail

Irish whiskey makes this classic a natural for St. Patrick’s Day

This drink features Irish whiskey and sweet vermouth (so it resembles a Celtic Manhattan). But there’s also green Chartreuse liqueur in the mix – which makes for an extra tangy drink.

And who can resist tangy?

The Widow's Kiss Cocktail

Complex yet smooth, this 19th century charmer is spookily good

October brings longer nights, cooler weather – and Halloween. So it’s the perfect setting for The Widow’s Kiss.

This autumnal drink combines calvados, yellow Chartreuse, and Bénédictine. Her alluring, slightly sweet herbal flavor will entice you.

Which is the idea, of course. Won’t you step into our lair?

The Cloister Cocktail

Chartreuse and citrus sparkle in this little-known charmer

We’re transitioning to autumn in our part of the world. And looking for a predinner drink, of course.

Hence, The Cloister Cocktail – a gin-based palate cleanser with bright citrus and sharp Chartreuse.

Never heard of it? Most people haven’t. But we need to change that.

Because a drink this good shouldn’t be, well, cloistered away.

The Bijou Cocktail

Bijou means “jewel” in French, and this drink is a true gem

The Bijou is a classic from the 1890s. Its name refers to the ingredient colors, which represent three different jewels: Clear dry gin for diamonds. Red sweet vermouth for rubies. And green Chartreuse for emeralds.

When you mix those ingredients together, the result is an amber hue—and of course amber can be used as a jewel, too.

Best of all, the flavors combine to create a polished, multi-faceted cocktail that’s perfect before dinner. We’re betting you’ll declare it a crown jewel.

The Alaska Cocktail

Icy flavor that’s bracing as a glacier 

When you think of Alaska, you might picture whales or ice floes. But cocktails? Not so much.

Let’s change that. Because the Alaska Cocktail is perfect for transitioning into the cooler weather we’ll be seeing soon in the Northern Hemisphere.

Drink it before dinner, and it lightens up heavier autumn fare. Sip it at the last summer cookout, and it will console as you put the Weber away for winter.

The Last Word Cocktail

This “Lost” Drink Is a Favorite with Aficionados

The Last Word Cocktail has had an erratic history — which is fitting, I suppose, for drink that was born (surreptitiously) during Prohibition.

It was created sometime in the 1920s at the Detroit Athletic Club — by a vaudeville performer, not a bartender — but didn’t become particularly popular (maybe because of that bathtub gin they used?) The drink was all but forgotten until 1951, when Ted Saucier described it in a book about cocktails called Bottoms Up, reintroducing this cocktail to a whole new audience. But most of his readers promptly forgot about it, and the drink was lost again.

It was rediscovered about 8 years ago, when Murray Stenson (of Seattle’s Zig Zag Café) saw the recipe while flipping through Saucier’s Bottoms Up. He put it on the cocktail menu at Zig Zag, where it became an instant hit. After its successful (re)launch in the Pacific Northwest, The Last Word made its way to New York — and then to cocktail glasses around the globe. It’s still not widely known to the general public, but it’s a drink that cocktail aficionados cherish for its pungent, rich flavor.

The Last Word is a refreshing drink with a bit of a bite — pleasant in warm weather, but with enough substance to stand up to crisp fall evenings. And because it helps sharpen the palate, it’s one of the best pre-dinner drinks I know.

Give it a try, and I promise it won’t be the last one you have — you’ll return to it again and again.

The Champs Élysées Cocktail

Perfect for Celebrating Bastille Day & the Tour de France

July means big doings in France.  On the 14th — le quatorze juillet (Bastille Day) — France celebrates her “national day” with festive eating, drinking, and fireworks. There will be a military parade along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a broad, beautiful boulevard that runs through the heart of swanky northwestern Paris.

And throughout the first 3 weeks of July, France hosts the most famous bicycle race in the world, Le Tour de France. This 2000+ mile race takes cyclists through some of the planet’s most gorgeous scenery — and up some of its toughest mountain climbs. On the last day of le tour (July 22 this year), the cyclists ride triumphantly to Paris, where they finish with a sprint around the Champs-Élysées (usually riding 8 circuits of the avenue, about 19 miles total) at speeds exceeding 40 miles an hour.

Those of us who aren’t lucky enough to be in Paris this July can create our own celebration — with The Champs Élysées Cocktail.

C'est magnifique.