Bijou Cocktail
This cocktail gets its name from the three main ingredients, and their relationship to bijoux, or jewels or gems. The clear gin is like a diamond, the red vermouth is like a ruby, and the green from the Chartreuse is the emerald. The original recipe called for those ingredients to be used in three equal parts but cocktail expert and bartender Dale DeGroff, who resurrected the cocktail, refashioned the quantities. I actually prefect a touch more red vermouth than he does so I up that to 1 ounce, but you can leave it as is.
Pedants may quibble that the cocktail should actually be called the Bijoux, plural, but you’ll have to take that up with Harry Johnson, who published it in his book the New and Improved Cocktail Manual in 1900. But I thank him for doing such a good job bringing three of my favorite ingredients together in one glass.
Bijou Cocktail
- 1 1/2 ounces gin
- 3/4 ounce green Chartreuse
- 3/4 to 1 ounce sweet vermouth
- 2 dashes orange bitters, or a bit of absinthe
- lemon twist, for garnish
- Add the gin, Chartreuse, and vermouth to a cocktail mixing glass. If using orange bitters, add those as well. Fill two-thirds with ice and stir briskly until well-chilled, about 15 seconds.
- If using absinthe, add a small amount of absinthe to a chilled coupe glass, then shake out the excess. Pour the drink into a glass and garnish with lemon twist.
