Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Reviving the Corpse

OK—maybe I’ve been a little preoccupied with other projects of late. However, I assure you that they have all been beverage-related. (You probably knew that.) While doing some research in the East Bay, a friend and I hit upon the happy idea of remaking a Corpse Reviver #2 as a scotch cocktail. The CR2 is a classic hair-of-the-dog gin concoction meant for those days when you’re still a little shaky from the night before. Whether you think chasing a hangover this way is really a good idea is a matter of personal discretion but CR2 is a fine thing all the same. And this scotch version is very quaffable.

cocktail

Banquo’s Ghost
  • 1 oz scotch (used Black Grouse)
  • 1 oz Cointreau
  • 1 oz Cocchi Americano
  • 1 oz lemon juice
  • 1 dash absinthe
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The original Corpse Reviver #2 appears in the venerable Savoy Cocktail Book, edited by Harry Craddock, and turns up in a number of other good bar books as well. Since the amount of absinthe varies slightly from author to author, I turned to the acknowledged authority on Craddock’s book, Erik Ellestad of Savoy Stomp to see what he did with it. I swear I didn’t look at his photo before icing that glass. Clearly the thing to use.
 
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