Corpse Reviver Number Two Cocktail

CORPSE REVIVER N U M B E R T W O

The American drink, Corpse Reviver, dates from the mid-19th century. The 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book provides a recipe for the “Corpse Reviver No. 2.” The following is my version of the latter concoction.

RECIPE FOR ONE

1.5 oz gin 1 oz Contreau 1 oz Lillet Blanc 1/2 oz lemon juice (in addition to the squeezed amount from the quartered lemon.) If using bottled, shake well before use. 1/8 (quartered) fresh lemon genuine Absinthe

Garnish: 1 Luxardo maraschino cherry lemon skin (from the quartered fresh lemon)

Pre-chill both the glass and the ice-half-filled shaker in the freezer for at least fifteen minutes.

Draw out the cherry with a spoon to drain. Pierce the pulp of the lemon with a fork and squeeze the juice into the shaker. Skin the lemon peel and hold apart for garnish. Pour a dash of Absinthe on the inside part of the peel and allow to soak during other preparations.

Measure all fluids into the shaker. STIR the ingredients VERY well.

Prepare the garnish: wrap and skewer the cherry within the lemon skin retaining the dash of Absinthe as much as possible.

Use a dash of Absinthe to generously coat the inside of the chilled glass. You may leave more or less excess in the glass, but coat all the way to the rim.

Stir the shaker contents again, then strain the shaker contents into the chilled, coated, and garnished glass. Smell it. . .again. Once more, then drink.

A few historical references to the Corpse Reviver:

“Town and Table Talk on Literature, Art &c,” in London Illustrated News 35:1003 (19 November 1859): p. 458, col 3. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Illustrated_London_News/nKejVKuct vgC?hl=en&gbpv=0

“How I Stopped the Brownes from Asking Me ‘To Come In The Evening,’” in Chambers’s Journal of Popular Literature, Science and Arts (London) 17:431 (5 April 1861): p. 220-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=J0QFAAAAQAAJ

“American Hotels and American Food,” in Temple Bar: a London Magazine for Town and Country Readers (London) vol. 2 (June 1861): p. 345-56. (see p.353) https://www.google.com/books/edition/Temple_Bar/32sJAAAAQAAJ

“A Smash for a Sensationist,” in Punch, or the London Charivari vol. 41 (21 December 1861): p. 247. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Punch/w4ZEAAAAcAAJ

For the Corpse Reviver No. 2:

The Savoy Cocktail Book (London: Constable & Company, 1930) p. 52. https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1930-The-Savoy-Cocktail-Book/52/