It comes down to this: The final Friday @ 5 of this drink writer’s stead at the baiduhai.
Cocktail coverage remains in the Tribune’s future, of course, as well as mine, but this little chapter in The Stew has come to a close for me.
How to end more than a year’s worth of dissecting and demystifying “cocktails to kick off the weekend”? With The Last Word, of course — one of those Prohibition-era classics that’s so simple (equal parts gin, herbal liqueur, maraschino and citrus juice), it’s a wonder it fell out of favor at all in the 70-odd years between then and now.
The Last Word isn’t nearly as common as several other classic gin drinks of that era. Still, I recently had a decent one at The Charleston, which only in the last year or so has made the leap to investing in classic cocktails, which just goes to show: it’s out there.
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The Last Word (traditional)
3/4 ounce gin
3/4 ounce green Chartreuse
3/4 ounce maraschino liqueur
3/4 ounce lime juice
In a shaker with ice, combine ingredients and shake hard, like you mean it. Strain into a cocktail glass and sip slowly and carefully, as this is truly the last word on drinks.