Happy All Hallows Eve weekend. My name is Lloyd and I’ll be your bartender today.

Go ahead and pull up a seat. Don’t worry about money, your credit is fine. Now, I’ve been charged by the power that be with making all of you a tasty Halloween themed beverage. So may I present to you the Corpse Reviver. Not the Corpse Reviver #2 that you’ve normally heard of, but the original, Corpse Reviver #1.

Though I must confess, this iteration is less of a true Corpse Reviver, and more of a Dr. Frankenstein’s monster. Since the recipe calls for some ingredients I don’t have on hand (thank you Overlook for not stocking the off season bar). So I’m using regular brandy instead of cognac, and pommeau instead of calvados. Let me see if I can work some dark magic on these. Hopefully these substitutions will be up to your satisfaction.

Corpse Reviver #1

1.5 oz. Courvoisier VSOP cognac

.75 oz. Boulard Grand Solage VSOP calvados

.75 oz. Carpano Antica sweet vermouth

1 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters No. 6

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass. Add ice and stir for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange peel.

Interesting aroma. I get a mix of orange zest and brightness with the deep notes of the brandy. Nothing else really comes through on the nose.

The first sip is strong. The brandy leads the way flavor wise, and never really gives up any ground flavor wise. I get a consistent intensity of flavor throughout the sip. When the pommeau shows up, it does a good job adding to the party, without taking anything away from the brandy base. Apple always plays well with brandy, so it naturally fits. Since I used pommeau and not calvados, I decided to back off on the sweet vermouth, banking on the extra sweetness of the pommeau to make up for it, and I believe I made the right move. It has just the right level of sweet. Any more from vermouth would make it too saccharine for my taste.

As mentioned, the vermouth does all of its work in the background. No discernable flavor, but it rounds out the edges of the brandy and pommeau nicely.

Frank Caiafa says in the book that this is more aligned with a Manhattan, and better suited for the evening and I 100% agree with that statement. I think it is the brandy that has me agreeing. Even then, I would even call this an after dinner/dessert drink.  This would be extremely out of place in the daylight hours. Unlike the Corpse Reviver #2, which plays well in the late morning/early afternoon as a good hangover cure. Maybe instead of Frankenstein’s monster, I’ll call this a vampire.

(Banner image found here, Lloyd the bartender here)