Alaska Cocktail

Chartreuse is one of those great cocktail ingredients that has survived the ages and is a crucial ingredient in a lot of classic cocktails. I didn't own any before undertaking this project though, so this will be, for all intents and purposes, my introduction to Chartreuse. And it's a doozy.

Alaska Cocktail:

• 1 1/2 oz. gin (Seagram's)
  
• 3/4 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
• 2 dashes Orange bitters

Stir and strain into 3 oz. Cocktail glass

Let me just say that 3/4 of and ounce is quite a lot. This cocktail is essentially a Martini with Chartreuse (an extremely potent, herbal liqueur) in place of the vermouth. It makes some sense, since both can be enjoyed on the rocks as an aperitif, but, well...Chartreuse is rather intense. Some of my friends tell me that they like to do a shot of it at a nice bar. That seems a bit crazy to me.

We'll see if this ingredient grows on me. This cocktail was just so far away from what I was expecting that I couldn't enjoy it. Super intense, and super herbal.