Alaska Cocktail
A golden beacon for the long night
The Alaska Cocktail is an old drink and one of the early riffs of the Martini. It was around before prohibition and may have some association with Alaska’s arrival as a new territory. In its original formulation, it was, like a lot of drinks from that era, made from Old Tom gin. It made it to the Savoy cocktail book, where the dry gin was specified and no orange bitters - the original, in my opinion, is better.
Alaska holds sort of a spell on people. From the vast/last frontier to the northern lights, there is a certain allure of Alaska that’s unique. As a person who adores the cold weather, it has a special place in my heart. This drink has a gold rush sort of vibe to it, with the yellow hues and Chartreuse lifting the prestige of a glass of gin. It’s a great drink for those between-season times, especially winter-to-spring, though, as you can see, I couldn’t wait that long.
In a world awash with craft cocktails, the like we haven’t seen since pre-prohibition, two-ingredient (okay, three with the bitters) cocktails are rare on menus at serious craft cocktail places these days. So, it’s pleasant to spend an evening with what is truly an elegant, two ingredient cocktail. In addition, Green Chartreuse gets all the play as a must-have ingredient for classic cocktails. The Alaska cocktail really lets the softer, rounded flavor profile of Yellow Chartreuse shine - like the midnight sun. Time to tip one.
Alaska Cocktail
Potion:
1 ½ oz Gin
½ oz Yellow Chartreuse
2 drops 20% Saline
1 dash Orange Bitters
Small lemon disc
Procedure:
Chill your glass thoroughly, this one is best ice cold. In a mixing glass, add all the ingredients, sans garnish. Load the mixing glass with ice and stir until the drink is thoroughly chilled. Fine-strain into your glass. Express the small lemon peel disc over the drink and add it. Enjoy.
Glass: Nick and Nora, Coupe (pictured above), or Sherry (pictured below)
Options:
The key option here is the size of the portion. Any 3:1 ratio will do. If scaling up, remember to scale the orange bitters (another dash) as well. Another interesting route would be a spritz of Orange Curaçao in the glass. About that lemon disc - you could use a normal lemon twist here. I chose a small portion for this drink. An orange disc or twist also works just fine here, especially if you’d like a bit sweeter nose from the orange on the drink. I used Tanqueray because I thought its bright nose played well (and I’m currently bereft of Old Tom gin) with the Yellow Chartreuse, but definitely try a few versions with different gins - floral, juniper, more fruit, etc. Old Tom gin is original and will give it a slightly malty impression of sweetness (my preference normally).
This blog is, as ever, an opinionated take on drinks.
This is gorgeous!