Last Word Cocktail Recipe
Equal parts gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino and lime — herbal and complex.
- Category: The Unforgettables
- Glass: Coupe glass
- ABV: 26%
- Difficulty: Medium
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Gin22 ml (0.7 oz)
- Green Chartreuse22 ml (0.7 oz)
- Maraschino liqueur22 ml (0.7 oz)
- Fresh lime juice22 ml (0.7 oz)
How to Make It
- Shake all ingredients with ice.
- Double-strain into a chilled coupe.
- Garnish with a cherry.
Garnish
Maraschino cherry
What it tastes like
The citrus acidity leads and it has a green, botanical backdrop.
The technique
Shaking. Anything with juice, syrup, egg white or cream gets shaken: the shaker chills the drink and adds roughly 20% water, and that water is what takes the edge off. Twelve to fifteen seconds, until the tin frosts over. Under-shaking leaves the drink harsh because it never got enough dilution.
Glass and ice
A stemmed, shallow coupe. The stem keeps your hand's warmth away from the drink, and the wide bowl carries the aroma to your nose. Served without ice.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Gin
- London dry gin: juniper up front, citrus and coriander behind it. Brand really does show here — Beefeater is sharp, Hendrick's floral, Tanqueray juniper-heavy.
- Green Chartreuse
- The 55% liqueur French monks make from 130 plants. Nothing really tastes like it and nothing really replaces it; yellow Chartreuse is sweeter and 40%.
- Maraschino liqueur
- A clear liqueur made from marasca cherries. It has nothing to do with the red jarred cocktail cherry — it smells of almond kernel and flowers, and it is dry, not sweet.
- Fresh lime juice
- Freshly squeezed lime. Bottled lime tastes cooked and flat; one lime gives about 30 ml. If you have none, half lemon and half grapefruit juice comes closest.
The Story
Born at the Detroit Athletic Club before Prohibition and revived in the 2000s.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Last Word mixed?
- It is shaken and served in a coupe.
- How strong is a Last Word?
- Roughly 26% ABV as served — a spirit-strength drink — sipped slowly, and it wants a glass of water beside it.
- Can a Last Word be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Last Word hard to make?
- Moderate. A shaker or mixing glass plus a strainer covers it.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.