Time for a Drink: The Last Word
Let's get this weekend started right. Here's a cocktail to kick things off. Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
You could call the Last Word the true zombie of the cocktail world. Unlike the Zombie—that venerable tiki concoction which was constantly altered over the years, but which never actually disappeared—the Last Word was created and was then promptly forgotten for decades, before being brought back to life—rising from the grave, as it were—stronger and more powerful than ever.
The Last Word dates to Prohibition, as far as anyone can tell, and except for a brief mention in Bottoms Up!—a 1951 cocktail manual by Ted Saucier—the drink languished in obscurity until about four years ago, when Seattle bartender Murray Stenson dusted off the recipe and began serving the drink to customers at Zig Zag Café. Fast-forward to the present day, and the Last Word is a fully revived classic, gracing the bar menus in cities around the globe. More popular now than it ever was in its youth, the Last Word is a surprisingly tasty balance of four ingredients working in perfect unison. Mix one up this weekend, and make up for lost time.
About the author: Paul Clarke blogs about cocktails at The Cocktail Chronicles and writes regularly on spirits and cocktails for Imbibe magazine. He lives in Seattle, where he works as a writer and magazine editor.
Last Word
Ingredients
3/4 ounce gin
3/4 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
3/4 ounce maraschino liqueur
3/4 ounce green Chartreuse
Procedure
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice, and shake briskly for 10 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
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2 Comments:
Ahem, sure, Mr. Stenson was dusting off "Bottom's Up!" for the recipes.
Uh, huh, and if you believe that, I have a large orange bridge I could sell you...
erik_flannestad at 9:48PM on 10/13/07
Yeah, I guess having a link to "Playboy" over his name isn't helping matters any.
Paul Clarke at 11:41PM on 10/13/07