A House Twist on a Classic
Is a Corpse Reviver even a Corpse Reviver without Absinthe?
Continuing the recent trend of updating old posts to fit the current home bar, and spurred on by my continuous need to come up with a new drink to make every time someone new visits to meet the baby, we’re resurfacing almost-6-year-old deep-dive today. Here’s everything you want to know about the Corpse Reviver #2:
The MI House Riff
I was drawn to the CR2 because I had a bunch of lemons, but I wasn’t sure how to address the fact that the home bar includes none of Cocchi Americano, Blanc Vermouth, or Absinthe.
The Cocchi / Blanc Vermouth / whatever modern replacement for Kina Lillet you want to use is really just adding some sweetness and herbaceousness. The Absinthe is adding a heady oil to the nose and a bit more herb and spice bite on the finish. I thought I could accomplish similar goals with a mix of Dry Vermouth and Italicus. And I think it works!
The Italicus is sweet and oily, and the Dry Vermouth has a strong herb and spice character. They both combine well with gin, lemon, and orange.
Is it the same as the classic? Definitely not, not even close. But does it hit the same notes? To me, it sure does. And our guests seemed to enjoy them as well.
I have no good name for this yet, but here’s the Mixing Ingredients House Riff on the Corpse Reviver #2:
1 oz Gin Mare
1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1 oz Cointreau
0.5 oz Martini Extra Dry Vermouth
0.5 oz Italicus
Shake it all together with ice for longer than you think is necessary, strain, and serve! This could come in handy next Friday…