This is simply one of my favorite cocktails. The ‘Corpse Reviver’ set of drinks actually belongs to a class or family of cocktails used, particularly in the morning, as ‘pick me ups’ (think Bloody Mary), presumably from a night of many other non-pick-me-up cocktails. I can think of no better way to start my day than with one of these fine drinks no more than I can actually imagine doing so. For example, the ‘Savoy Corpse Reviver’ was a brandy-based cocktail with equal parts brandy, fernet branca, and white creme de menthe. While I haven’t tried it, I can almost guarantee it won’t satisfy as well as ‘#2′.

This is a drink that, like the Aviation, is a great introduction to how gin can be used to wonderful effect for the ‘But I don’t like gin!’ crowd, is a fantastic example of how the true cocktail craft can create something far greater than the sum of its parts, and exemplifies just how damned much we’re missing in the insipid and limp cocktails served in most bars and restaurants today.

I’ve found only a couple of variations on this drink and I greatly prefer one over the other:

Corpse Reviver #2 – ver. 1¹

• 3/4 oz gin
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 3/4 oz Cointreau
• 3/4 oz Lillet (blanc)
• dash Pastis (Pernod, Herbsaint, or Absente to substitute)

Place all ingredients into a mixing glass, shake with ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a destemmed maraschino cherry (optional).

You are met first with a slightly tart but herbal scent from the drink and, upon the first sip, find a distinct sweetness to it that is tempered with a dry and clean finish. And, occasionally, especially when holding the sip in your mouth, you catch drifts of the anise come through the drink in a very gentle way. If I’m writing in a precious manner regarding this drink it’s because I can’t help myself, it just lends itself so well to an overwrought description. It’s not as deep or complex as ‘The Last Word’ cocktail but it serves its purpose exceptionally well and, again, demonstrates how close to alchemy this blending of ingredients to create a greater whole can be. One last note on this version, you can use traditional Triple Sec but I wouldn’t recommend it; if at all possible use the Cointreau as it seems to sit down and behave in the drink a bit better.

Now for the next trick:

Corpse Reviver #2 – ver. 2²

• 1 oz gin
• 1/2 oz Lillet (blanc)
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 1/2 oz Pernod (or other anise-flavored liqueur)
• 3/4 oz lemon juice

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

This is a great exercise in seeing how you can invite all the same dance partners to a dance and get a completely different result; version 1 is Foxtrot, version 2 is Quickstep – both are ballroom but only one of them is for me. The greater emphasis on the gin and lemon juice (proportionally) causes the elegance of the Lillet and the sweetness of the Cointreau to get covered up and lost. The far greater volume of Pastis (I tend to use Absente for its stouter and drier character) changes the overall tone of the drink significantly, and for my money, tramples over a good thing. Stick with the first one (but try both) and you’ll have a wonderful example of how slight modifications in drinks make a world of difference.

A great name, a great balance of flavor in ver. 1, and as Harry Craddock notes in ‘The Savoy Cocktail Book’, “Four of these taken in straight succession will unrevive the corpse again.” So, be careful, and enjoy.

Corpse Reviver #2 – ver 1 Rating:

Corpse Reviver #2 – ver 2 Rating:

1. Found in ‘The Joy of Mixology’, ‘The Savoy Cocktail Book’, drinkboy.com, and other various and sundry places [↩]
2. Found in Dale DeGroff’s ‘The Craft of the Cocktail’ and other various and unsundry places [↩]