Pete's Word Recipe
A Last Word with peated Islay Scotch in place of gin: smoke, green herbs, cherry-stone sweetness and sharp lime in equal measure.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Coupe glass
- ABV: 25%
- Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- Islay Scotch whisky22 ml (0.7 oz)
- Maraschino liqueur22 ml (0.7 oz)
- Green Chartreuse22 ml (0.7 oz)
- Fresh lime juice22 ml (0.7 oz)
How to Make It
- Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice.
- Shake hard until well chilled.
- Double-strain into a chilled coupe.
- Garnish with a lime twist and a dehydrated lime wheel.
Garnish
Lime twist and a dehydrated lime wheel
What it tastes like
The citrus acidity leads, it has a green, botanical backdrop and smoke dominates the nose.
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
- Islay Scotch whisky
- Whisky from Islay, made with barley dried over peat smoke — it smells of the sea and of soot. A few drops change a whole drink, which is why most recipes use it as a rinse or a dash.
- 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.
- 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%.
- 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
One of the many equal-parts riffs on the Prohibition-era Last Word; this smoky version is associated with New York's Death & Co in the late 2000s.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Pete's Word mixed?
- It is shaken and served in a coupe.
- How strong is a Pete's Word?
- Roughly 25% ABV as served — a spirit-strength drink — sipped slowly, and it wants a glass of water beside it.
- Can a Pete's 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 Pete's Word hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.