Chartreuse

Herbaceous, nutty, and bright, this rendition of the Prohibition-era classic doubles the gin for a more robust cocktail.

Don’t let the sugar cube and dainty bubbles fool you: This is a very stiff drink.

Bonal is a French apéritif infused with gentiana, a low-growing wildflower common in many parts of France

"Let's face it; it gets pretty cold in Colorado. This drink doubles as a cold cure, and it's also a great preventative drink—the perfect remedy for congestion." —Adam Hodak, Green Russell, Denver

"During my early career as a touring musician, I needed to find more remedial ways to stay healthy. Echinacea tea, honey, and ginger root all became musts in my arsenal of Gypsy medicine." —Giuseppe Capolupo, Bar Marco, Pittsburgh

The Last Word, a classic gin cocktail, balances nutty, herbaceous, sweet, and tart flavors. It’s one of the most successful examples of the equal parts game.

The Greenpoint cocktail is a rye manhattan, made with sweet vermouth and yellow Chartreuse.

A bold, herbaceous Irish whiskey manhattan.

This drink is a daisy with beer in it, like adding Corona to your marg.

Bartender Kyle Davidson created this bitter and fresh Cynar cocktail in 2008 at The Violet Hour.

This equal parts mezcal drink is beloved by everyone who tastes it.

I created the Arinato to be a lighter stirred drink and to celebrate the more delicate sides of mezcal. I use the 80-proof Ilegal Joven; paired with floral fortified wines, it makes for an easy-sipper that proves how elegant mezcal can be.

Inspired by a Sazerac, here's a super boozy, herbal-Scotchy drink that'll relax your shoulders, loosen your tongue, and clear your mind—basically, everything you need a stiff drink to do.

The Puritan, another old variation, lies somewhere between the Martini and the Alaska, using both dry vermouth and a bit of yellow Chartreuse. 

Burning sage, a common practice for ritual cleansing, is also a simple way to coax out the herb's essential oil, which gives this gin and pear juice cocktail a pleasantly smoky, herbaceous finish.

Not quite so popular these days, this style of cocktail demands a steady hand to layer the ingredients, starting with the densest and ending with the least dense, to create the drink's snazzy colored stripes. The pousse-café glass is a specific vessel, but try it in a champagne flute or another glass you have to hand before you invest in extra equipment.

Poring through old cocktail books, we noted that every reputable bar had a house recipe for bitters. Originally we played with infusing bitter herbs and spices in absinthe but found the task too time-consuming and the results too inconsistent. We settled instead on a blend of different absinthes, Green Chartreuse, and bitters to create just the right balance of anise and bitterness.

The Mid-Morning Fizz is our take on the classic Ramos Gin Fizz and is our choice for the perfect summer eye-opener. Our variation loses the cream of the original recipe and adds Green Chartreuse for a more pronounced spiciness. It is a lighter but more complex cocktail and loves to pair with traditional brunch grub like croque monsieur, burgers, steak and eggs, and especially French toast. Like all cocktails containing egg whites, the Mid-Morning Fizz requires a long, hard, and steady shake.

Maybe I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer. When I visited the Chartreuse distillery in the French Alps, our guide told us that the exact recipe for the famed herbal liqueur was a closely guarded secret, known only by three brothers who worked at the monastery. Astounded, I spoke up. “Wow, that’s incredible. What is the likelihood of three brothers going into the same business together, as well as becoming monks at the same monastery?” The other guests on the tour simply stopped and looked at me with their mouths slightly agape. Then our guide enlightened me and we moved on, but not before I overheard a few hushed conversations evaluating my intellect. This is a very light ice cream, and it’s so simple that anyone, regardless of their intelligence level, can easily put it together.