Tailspin

* ¾ shot gin
* ¾ shot sweet vermouth
* ¾ shot green Chartreuse
* A dash of Campari
* Stir well with ice and strain in to a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist and cherry.


It’s always hard to know how much “a dash” is when dealing with ingredients that don’t come in bitters bottles with the tiny hole in the top. General consensus seems to rest at around ¼ teaspoon, so I tend to pour a tiny bit in to my bar-spoon, so it comes roughly half way up, and use that as my dash. It’s not exactly the most scientific of measures, but then again neither is specifying a dash as a measurement.

The Tailspin may well have been named by the taste profile it presents, with the slow rotation of sweetness from the vermouth and Chartreuse. Then, as the taste lingers it plunges in to the herbal of the Chartreuse, along with a hint of bitterness from the Campari. It’s an interesting cocktail, but very rich and sweet. I wonder if my dash of Campari should have been a little more generous - and I never thought I would be thinking about adding more Campari in to a drink.

The Tailspin is an interesting drink, complex and perhaps an excellent digestif. It would be rude at this point not to mention the Bijou, a cocktail exactly the same as the Tailspin but for the use of orange bitters rather than Campari. But how much difference can one ingredient make…?



Bijou

* ¾ shot gin
* ¾ shot sweet vermouth
* ¾ shot green Chartreuse
* 1 dash orange bitters
* Stir well with ice and strain in to a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry and squeeze of lemon peel.

The use of orange bitters rather than Campari presents a more balanced drink. The bitters both take the edge off the sweetness, as well as introducing a bitterness at the end. They also lend a spicy edge which was lacking in the Tailspin and gives the cocktail an appealing overall taste. Again perhaps best served as a digestif, the Bijou is perhaps best defined by its dictionary definition - “small and elegant”.

Interestingly, I found the Bijou, as well as the Tailspin, to improve as they warmed up. Usually in a cocktail the opposite is the case, but with these the warmth seems to bring something more to the cocktail. I don’t know what it is, but everything seems to come together better once some warmth has been introduced to the mix. So if you do try these, maybe go easy on the ice, or at least let it sit for a short while. It’s worth it…