Happy Friday one and all. I promise after this week I’ll finally put the Chartreuse away for a little while. However this one has been on the backlog for a while. Mainly because it involves open flame. Who doesn’t like their booze with a little bit of fire?

This is the Old Flame from the PDT book (another book I think I use too much and want to back burner for a while).  It is essentially a Gin Sour, but with Chartreuse added on top, and set aflame. It’s been a while since I’ve had a good gin sour, so I’m looking forward to trying this one.

2 oz. Plymouth Gin

.75 oz. Lemon juice

.75 oz. Simple syrup

1 Egg white

Dry shake, shake with ice and strain into a chilled egg coupe. Pour .5 oz. flaming Green Chartreuse VEP over the surface of the drink. No Garnish.

So…you may have noticed the lack of an egg. Well, we’re about to spend a week in Maine so as expected the fridge is looking rather barren since shopping pre vacation seems like a waste. What I was not counting on was a toddler wanting to make cupcakes and using the last egg. I figured the other gin sour I made didn’t need an egg, so I went ahead and made this one sans egg white. One more housekeeping note: I used Gordon’s London Dry gin, instead of Plymouth.

Unfortunately, the flaming part of the Old Flame didn’t really transfer to the drink as much as I thought it would. I was expecting some flames on the surface of the drink once I was finished pouring, but that didn’t transfer very well. I might have poured the Chartreuse too fast, or I might not have used a wide enough spoon to enhance the float. I think I need more work on the theatrics and presentation of flaming cocktails.

Aroma is fairly neutral, with subtle hints of lemon freshness. Which tracks from my previous notes about the Gin Sour.

The sip is sour up front from the lemon, but unlike the gin sour I made before, the sour persists a little bit longer than before. I’m thinking that is the Chartreuse at work. What is interesting though, is how less intense the Chartreuse is. Burning off most of the booze definitely takes its edge off. It softens the overall flavor, which I think works well here. The gin sour is a delicately balanced drink, so any adjustment can easily skew the flavors into something that is…less than optimal flavor wise. The muted Chartreuse depth carries the drink the rest of the way to a smooth, cold finish. There is a little bit of Chartreuse based aftertaste on my palate once I’ve finished, but again, nowhere near as intense as I’ve had before, given the burn off of the alcohol.

I would like to try this again, but with the egg. I wonder if the egg provides a little more body for the flaming Chartreuse to rest on when pouring it over the strained drink in the coupe.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)