The Last Call

This post is a week late, but this blog is our hobby (not our real job) so we’re not going to worry about it. Anyhow, we came up with this drink for Mardi Gras as the “last call” before the beginning of Lent – a time when some of us stop drinking for 40 days (we’ll let you know how that works out). The name “Last Call” also references the classic “Last Word” cocktail.

The Last Word is really a perfect cocktail. It’s equal parts of four ingredients (gin, Green Chartreuse, Maraschino Liqueur, and lime) and a superb balance of tart, herbal, and sweet. It’s one of our fallback cocktails – one that we mix up when we can’t make up our mind about what we want to drink. 

Another classic that we regularly enjoy is the Aviation Cocktail. The Aviation is another gin cocktail and is one of the few that uses Crème de Violette – a sweet, floral liqueur that is typically a deep purple hue. It takes mixing quite a few Aviations to go through a bottle of Crème de Violette, so it’s probably not a liqueur that merits more than one bottle in your liquor cabinet. However, we were almost through our bottle of Rothman & Winter Crème de Violette (a brand that is widely available), and we found that our local liquor store now carries several different brands – including a craft version from Colorado’s Golden Moon Distillery. 

Compared with the Rothman & Winter, the Golden Moon Crème de Violette is much less sweet, has more complex floral and herbal notes, and is much lighter in color. While the Rothman & Winter gives your drink a lovely color, the taste of the Golden Moon makes a cocktail far more interesting. After a few sips we decided to try it as the replacement for Green Chartreuse in a Last Word variation, and the result was a very satisfying Last Call cocktail when also using a very aromatic gin. We mixed the cocktail with St. George Spirits Terroir Gin. This drink would not work well at all with either a mild gin or another Crème de Violette. We also tweaked the ratios by cutting back on the Maraschino liqueur and upping the gin to make sure things didn’t get too sweet.

As we were sipping our (first round) of Last Call cocktails we contemplated what the art pairing should be for our drink. The classic painting Nighthawks (Edward Hopper, 1942) came to mind. It’s not actually a bar scene, but a nighttime view into a diner with several customers leaning against a counter. It’s the somberness of the artwork that made us think “last call”. The Cocktail Artist (who does not pretend to be anywhere near the league of Edward Hopper) took a stab at rendering this scene in watercolor, and painted with a muted palette that matched the color of our cocktail. 

Cheers!


The Last Call

1 ¼  ounces Gin (St. George Spirits Terroir)
1 ounce Crème de Violette (Golden Moon Distillery)
½ ounce Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo) 
1 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Shake well and double strain into chilled cocktail coup. Garnish with a lime twist and a fresh pansy or viola.


Watercolor Study of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks - original watercolor by The Cocktail Artist


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