The Lady in Chartreuse

It's been a long while since I've posted about cocktails - well, I haven't had much variety in my diet. In fact, after margaritas with tropical liqueurs, or with tequila infused with hot chilies, tangerine peel and pineapple, I had come to the conclusion that the perfect margarita was just perfect, and there was no need to experiment any longer.

Than I had a Pisco Sour with my brother and sister-in-law. It convinced me to try making a drink I'd never tasted.

The White Lady was popularized after the First World War. The recipe is something like:

2 oz. gin
Juice of 1 small lime (1 oz)
1 oz  triple sec (technically Cointreau)
1/4 white part of a raw egg

Shake without ice to froth the egg white. Then shake with ice and strain into cocktail glass.

I believe that the White Lady represents death, although the cocktail is quite sweet and toothsome: the eggwhite froth gives it a silky mouthfeel.

It also makes a great palette to adapt in various ways. Here's one I just thought up: The Elderly Lady - use Elderflower liqueur like St. Germain instead of the triple sec.

What got me started on this was a drink I may have mentioned before, the pride of the finest airport bar anywhere, One Flew South. It's called Treuse or Dare, and  it is basically a White Lady with about an oz. of Chartreuse.

The Charteuse taste of this cocktail haunted me - but the only place I could order it was the bar in The Altanta airport international terminal. And lately, I haven't been travelling as much. So now I have learned to make it myself, but not as well as Tiffany at One Flew South.

Cocktail Artist Tiffany