Recipe: Corpse Reviver No. 2

While some cocktails began as a way of disguising bitter medicines, this cocktail began as a medicine of as different sort: a hangover cure. The Savoy Cocktail Book suggests that a Corpse Reviver No. 2 “be taken before 11 a.m., or whenever steam and energy are needed.” For us, it is usually a brunch cocktail, enjoyed in the morning (or afternoon depending on our “steam and energy”).

Corpse Reviver No.2
3/4 ounce gin (Plymouth works well, so does Aviation)
3/4 ounce Triple Sec (Cointreau works well)
3/4 ounce Lillet Blanc (some choose to use Cocchi Americano)
3/4 ounce Lemon Juice
Rinse of Absinthe

Rinse chilled cocktail glass with absinthe.
Combine ingredients in a shaker.
Shake ingredients sharply with ice.
Strain into cocktail glass.
Garnish with a brandied cherry.

Some variations on the Corpse Reviver No. 2 call for 1 ounce of each, rather than the ¾ ounce that we use. If you do pour that more formidable one, Harry Craddock’s quip “Four of these taken in quick succession will un-revive the corpse again.” perhaps would need to be restated to suggest “three”, rather than “four”.