Chartreuse and Tequila Are a Surprisingly Good Team
Last Monday night, I prepared a fully conscious, deliberate cocktail for someone else . Considering my boyfriend is sober and no one in my COVID capsule drinks alcohol, this hasn’t happened in quite some time.
I also made this with tequila, an alcohol that I’m sure has been sitting quietly on my bar cart for about 14 months now. I asked my guest to pick whatever he wants from the cart, and they chose that, so that’s what I used. The problem, however, is that I ran out of lime – an important ingredient in many popular tequila-based drinks. Instead of despairing, I flipped through old issues of this very column until I stumbled upon a 50/50 mix of Benedictine and Respado Tequila, which I wrote a few years ago.
I did n’t have a tequila respado either , unfortunately, but the idea of equal parts tequila and fancy herbal liqueur sounded like a good template, and it did. I replaced the missing respado with Herradura silver and traded Benedictine for green Chartreuse. Then I added a few drops of lime bitterness, tossed it with ice and strain into a low bowl with one large cube. It was good.
Today I decided to take a slightly different approach, shake it all up on one large cube and serve. That was good too. The stirring option is silky and denser, while the shake option is lighter and airier, but both are surprisingly smooth when you consider their ethanol content – vanilla-tinged oak tequila goes well with any combination of herbs the monks put in. green chartreuse. To make it you will need:
- 1 1/2 oz silver tequila
- 1 1/2 oz green chartreuse
- 4 drops of lime bitter
Put everything in a mixing glass or shaker; your choice. If you are stirring, add a lot of ice to the glass; if you are shaking, add one large cube to the mold. Shake or stir to cool completely. Strain into a compartment to serve it, or into a large cube. Garnish with a strip of lime zest.