The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess

This clip is great.  I recently turned 21, and I’ve been thinking about how to start stocking my bar.  The suggestion to buy the ingredients for one cocktail at a time is very smart, especially for a budget-conscious college student like me.

Excellent site - The last Word is close to another old cocktail that I enjoy - the Aviation - all the same ingredients except the Chartreuse...but I have Chartreuse - so I’ll try The Last Word!!

Hi Char-

Thanks for the positive feedback!  Did you get a chance to check out one of the videos on Jamie Boudreau’s spin on the Aviation?

Tremendous cocktail! Splurged and added Chartreuse ($40) and maraschino liqueur to my home bar. So many delightful flavors in perfect balance. I usually want to tweak the amounts, but this one is dead on. Used Beefeater gin which is my “house” gin, but am going to try it with Boodles. Thank you for sharing this cocktail recipe.

Glad you like it! It’s always great when an old and forgotten cocktail can return to the scene and perhaps even introduce folks to some new ingredients and flavors.

you know im very glad that you share your idea. The cocktail that you show is good il try already in my small bar at home it nice good conbination i like it.

I’ve been reviewing all of your webisodes. I’ve noticed that for every other shaken cocktail you use a Boston Shaker instead of the cocktail shaker featured here. Do you have a preference and if so, why?

Thomas, I love the “Parisian” style cocktail shaker you see me using in this episode. It has a graceful elegance to. You’ll see me using in in several other episodes, but yes, you will normally see me using a Boston Shaker. Part of the reason for this is that the Boston Shaker is the more common “workhorse” behind the bar. And since the mixing glass is clear, it provides a better on-screen visual of what is going into the drink.

Since we import Inca Gold Pisco as incaspirits.com we were delighted with the recognition of pisco sour as an international favorite by Robert Hess. Perhaps he will follow with pisco punch, an American classic of the late 1800’s in San Francisco. Recently a book titled “The Wings of Cherubs” has been written detailing the history of pisco punch.  Walt Bauer

Wonderful cocktail, many thnx for highlighting it!
I found the recipe for ‘the last word’ in a Danish cocktail recipe book from 1968, simply called ‘Cocktails and Drinks’ and featuring many original winner cocktails from european and international competitions. Just in case you didn’t know already, the book mentions that ‘last word’ was invented in Detroit Athletic Club.

I just recently ordered the ingredients (Green Chartreuse and Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur) just to make this “intriguing” drink. They arrived today and then I discovered I didn’t have any limes. (Off to the store!)

The limes were small so I squeezed one and let it be the deciding measure for the equal portions of ingredients. The drink was truly a masterpiece of mixology; such a complex aroma and diverse contrasting of flavors. And I so much appreciate the even proportions of ingredients making it so easy to make as small or big a drink as meets to occasion and also easy to “tweak” the portions to one’s desire.

A perfect cocktail of significant interest.  Enjoy!

Roy,
Glad you took the time to order the ingredients for this drink, and even happier that you liked it after going through all that trouble! :->

-Robert

Thanks for a great site; I’ve made several recipes that I’ve really enjoyed.

And the Last Word is one of those cocktails that lives up to the hype!

I hadn’t watched this video before splurging on a half bottle of chartreuse today (seems like all the Eastside stores carry halves), but I admit I was happy to see my decision to try a bottle of Plymouth this time reaffirmed in your selection. Do you think it makes the best gin for the Last Word?

Plymouth is a great gin for virtually any gin-based drink. I would never go so far as to say it is the “best”, because that really depends on your on personal tastes.

I always try not to overly specify individual spirit brands when they aren’t the “only” product I recommend. I remember myself early on not really knowing if I had to use “the” brand of whiskey which was listed in a recipe.

I think the only time that I specifically try to promote ‘a’ brand in a broader category is in the case of Cointreau, which is a triple sec. In most cases when a recipe calls for triple sec, it will be SO much better with Cointreau that it is worth the added expense.

But for gins, play around, try different brands. As your Plymouth starts to run low, buy something besides Plymouth as a replacement, and do a taste comparison between the two. In this way you’ll figure out which brands work best at this time for your tastes.

-Robert

Thanks for the feedback. A recent gin I was experimenting with was Van Gogh. On first taste, I thought I’d made a bad decision to buy it, but soon grew to love it, and is my current favorite for a Martinez, especially when paired with Vya’s sweet vermouth. Definitely going into high rotation. I finished that first bottle, and I suspect its particular spiciness would clash with the Chartreuse in this drink. Of course, I will test to verify next time I pick up a bottle!

With regard to Cointreau, have you tried Harlequin yet? I’m really quite enjoying it. A couple people I’ve had taste it think they like it even better than Cointreau. Given the price differential, at least here in Washington, it’s great to have a choice that’s high quality *and* more affordable. At the moment, it’s my new go-to orange liqueur, at least until the results of the orange liqueur taste-offs happening on various blogs are in and persuade me to try something different!

Haven’t tried the Van Gough gin yet, I’ll give it a try.

I have tried Harlequin however, and it is quite good, but I still think I prefer Cointreau :->