Four I'm Under My Host

One of the things that keeps me going in life is my search for the cocktalian holy grail, the perfect cocktail that has it all: complexity, balance, and that refreshing drinkability that upon finishing one makes you immediately feel like you’d like another. Well, recently I feel like I’ve discovered just that drink.

One Saturday night while on a tour of the newest cocktail lounges in downtown Oakland with my lovely wife Joyce and good friends Cyndie, Bill, and Simone, one of our stops was at Flora, a newish restaurant bar with an Art Deco vibe and superlative cocktail list.  Their offerings include drinks like the Queen Park Swizzle, the French 75, and the spectacular drink that seems to get mentioned in all their reviews (drum roll please…), the Corpse Revivor #2. It’s at the top of their list, and once we saw that it combines gin, Lillet, Cointreau, lemon, and absinthe, we immediately ordered up a round. The results were a unanimous ‘Wow’! The combination of the orange/lemon/gin base spiced up with a hint of licoricey absinthe was complex, potent, and tasty all at once, providing that elusive synergy that makes a truly great cocktail. Of course I made an immediate note to myself that this would have to be recreated at home.

Now I’d actually already come across the Corpse Reviver #2 recipe in Joy of Mixology and chuckled at the name, but had no idea of how amazingly good it could be. So my first pass utilized Gary Regan’s recipe, which he cites as being based on Craddock’s 1930′s classic The Savoy Cocktail Book: 1 part gin, 1 part triple sec, 1 part Lillet Blonde, 1 part lemon juice, and a dash of absinthe. Instead of the lemon twist garnish they’d used at Flora, I substituted the brandied cherry that I’ve found to be such a big hit in my version of the Aviation Cocktail. In any case, this first mixture, though a little different that what we’d had at Flora was deliciously good. So good, in fact, that in my usual fashion I found myself experimenting with the mix on an almost nightly basis in order to fine tune the recipe to my own taste. Well it’s been a couple of weeks now, and I’m still finding the Corpse Reviver #2 to be the ideal cocktail to take the edge off after a long day’s work (or a long weekend day chasing the kids around).  And I feel like I’ve refined the recipe to a near perfect balance for my taste, which has also been a hit with my guests. My only complaint about the Corpse Reviver is the name. While humorous, it doesn’t really do justice to this incredibly refreshing elixir. In thinking of alternatives, Michael has suggested the Reanimator, which has a certain ring while staying true to the original concept, but I’m not 100% convinced. So while you’re enjoying your own version of this magical cocktail, I urge you to try to think of a more inspiring and fitting name for it. But whatever the hell you want to call it, the Corpse Reviver #2 is a magnificent drink. Enjoy!

Rob’s Corpse Reviver #2

• 1 1/2 parts gin
• 1 part Lillet Blonde
• 1 part triple sec (Cointreau if you have it)
• 1 part fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. absinthe (or absinthe substitute)
• Brandied cherry for garnish (I use Les Parisiennes)

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake vigorously until very cold, strain into martini glasses, and garnish with a brandied cherry (and a teaspoon of the juice). Welcome back from the dead!

Related posts:

1. The Albert Hofmann Cocktail
2. The Post-Script