During the course of my daily dose of blog scanning, I tend to check out the eGullet forum on Spirits & Cocktails. There is a thread on there pertaining to the Last Word cocktail. The Last Word is one of my favorite drinks. Here is the recipe:

The Last Word
Gin
Maraschino Liqueur
Green Chartreuse
Lemon Juice
-Shake equal measures of all four ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
-Use equal measures of the four ingredients. I won’t presume to tell you how much is enough, but equal measures is key here. Personally, I use an ounce each.

This cocktail is tart, sweet, herbaceous, a little funky and down right delicious!

So reading through the thread, a few folks start talking about a variation of The Last Word created and served at the San Francisco watering-hole and restaurant The Slanted Door. It seems that upon finding a recipe for a Shanghai Gin Fizz, the bartender whipped one up, decided he wasn’t a fan of the fizz part, dropped it and came up with what was locally called “Shanghai Gin.” To find the full thread, check out the eGullet link above and go to the “Last Word” thread.

Anyway, last night I decided to whip one of these up. I don’t really know why this one in particular was the winner of my “what cocktail do I want to wind down from the office” contest. Especially since I have about 20 pages of cocktail recipes at home to sift through. But last night, the fates must have really wanted me to have this cocktail.

And WOW! This drink propelled into the top 5 or so of my favorites – sweet, complex, savory, luscious. The only downside is that instead of using my normal one ounce of each ingredient, I’m going to have to use less so my chartreuse holds out . . . that stuff is pricey!

Anyway, enough of my gushing, here is the recipe:

Shanghai Gin
Gin
Yellow Chartreuse
Benedictine
Lemon Juice
-Shake equal measures of all four ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Sit down. Close eyes and take a sip. Repeat. Maybe open eyes. Smile contentedly.

I am certain that I’ll make one or two of these in the near future.

So there you go. The Shanghai Gin. Give it a try and let us know what you think. Join eGullet and let them know what you think.

Cheers!