Corpse Reviver #2
2015-08-29Ingredients
- 1 oz. Gin
- ¾ oz. Cointreau
- ¾ oz. Cocchi Americano
- ¾ oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
- splash Absinthe
- Add a splash of Absinthe to a coupe glass. Swirl to coat the inside of the glass and discard the absinthe. Add the remaining ingredients, with ice, to a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously and strain into the glass. Garnish with brandied cherries.
The original recipe for this wonderful cocktail (listed in Harry Craddock’s 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book) called for equal parts of all 4 ingredients. We add a bit more gin which helps to showcase the lovely botanical notes. The original recipe also called for Kina Lillet, which is no longer in production. It was a bit sweeter and more bitter than today’s Lillet Blanc as it was infused with quinine – from the bark of the cinchona tree. Though there are occasional limited edition Lillet bottlings which use quinine, today we substitute Cocchi Americano – an Italian fortified aperitif (aperetivo) flavored with the cinchona bark, citrus rind, and spices. Corpse Reviver #2 is a delightfully complex drink with nice botanical and perfumy notes with a subtle tartness and hint of bitter and sweetness. The best and most enduring of all the Corpse Revever cocktails, it comes from a series of cocktails meant to cure your hang-over. These “hair of the dog” cures get their name from Athenæus:
Take the hair, it’s well written,
Of the dog by which you’re bitten;
Work off one wine by his brother,
And one labour with another …
Cook with cook, and strife with strife:
Business with business, wife with wife.