![]() (Craddock's note on the #1 reads: “To be taken before 11 a.m., or whenever steam and energy are needed”). In particular, I wanted to try the version from Craddock's book. Craddock also compiled the Savoy Cocktail Book, still found on backbars all over the world today.Ī note Craddock includes along with his Corpse Reviver #2 recipe will give you a sense of Craddock’s sense of humor: “Four of these taken in quick succession will unrevive the corpse again.”Ī couple of years ago, I walked into my favorite craft cocktail bar wanting to try the other version of this famous drink: the Corpse Reviver #1. The drink was created by Harry Craddock, who ran the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London in the 1920s and '30s. Though many versions exist, the one I had ordered, the Corpse Reviver #2, was the most famous. One sip, and I understood that while simplicity could be marvelous, so could complexity.Ī little research told me that the cocktail I’d experienced that night was part of a series of Corpse Reviver drinks, so named because they were traditionally served as hair-of-the-dog remedies. This drink had an absinthe rinse, and it called for Lillet Blanc (which I’d only ever heard referenced as an ingredient for James Bond’s Vesper). Up until then, I’d been sticking to drinks with a few simple ingredients, easy to pronounce and not difficult to procure if I wanted to make them at home. It’s more tart, lithe even, and feels better drinking it in the full brightness of day.I was just getting into classic cocktails when I took a chance and ordered an ominously named Corpse Reviver at a local restaurant. ![]() Personally, though, I like the cocktail with Lillet. If you feel inclined, go ahead, they all make great drinks. Some cocktail originalists insist that Lillet changed its recipe in the ’80s to be less bitter, and if you want the “authentic” experience, you need to use either Cocchi Americano, which is closer to the original-both sweeter and more bitter than present-day Lillet. It’s called for by name as well, except its old name, Kina Lillet. Lillet Blanc: Lillet (“Lil-lay”) Blanc is a fortified wine from Bordeaux. Yes, it’s expensive, but it’s such a big part of this drink, something bad will weigh down the whole ship. Nor would I sub Cointreau for cheaper triple-secs. I wouldn’t go Grand Marnier or Curacao the brandy base of those will bring heavy oak and vanilla flavors that will weigh down the brightness of the cocktail. Cointreau’s clean orange infusion and moderate sweetness are perfect for this drink. Bottled, pasteurized lemon juice is technically acceptable, but I think you know you’re better than that.Ĭointreau: The brand is called for by name in the recipe, and it’s a good idea to listen. Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice is vital here, both for brightness and for sufficient acidity. Beefeater, Tanqueray, and Bombay all work well. It’s role here is as much backbone as anything, so you want a robust gin with a strong juniper presence. It is one of those drinks that you keep going back to because every sip shows you something new. With Cointreau weighing in at a full 80 proof, it’s deceptively punchy, but not overwhelmingly so. It’s tart, bright, juicy and easy, but also somehow simultaneously deep and complex and herbal, the ingredients fitting together tight as a jazz quartet. 2 is equal parts gin, lemon, Cointreau and Lillet Blanc, with a couple dashes of absinthe. 2 and faith is immediately restored, as it is perhaps the best brunch cocktail ever created.Ĭorpse Reviver No. Then you turn the page and get to the Corpse Reviver No. ![]() 1 is essentially a brandy Manhattan that Craddock specifically recommends “before 11 am,” and is so puzzling, so ill-suited to morning drinking, it makes one question the authority of the whole book. ![]() In his legendary 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book, Harry Craddock includes two recipes for Corpse Revivers No. In Germany, they refer to it as a “repair beer.” In China, the phrase translates to “drink that brings back your soul.” Across the 1800s, they were generally referred to as “eye-openers,” “phlegm-cutters,” “fillips,” “jorums,” “bracers,” and, my personal favorite, “anti-fogmatics.” And in the early 1900s, some purpose-driven bartenders went and named their recipes after this very principle, which gives us the cocktail family of “Corpse Revivers.” This Argentine Restaurant Made a Steak Sandwich So Good You’ll Want to Fly to South America to Taste It How to Make a Pink Lady, a Springtime Gin Cocktail That’s Tart and Frothy Buffalo Trace Just Dropped the Newest Bottle of Its Coveted Charter Oak Bourbon Series
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