Bijou

Recipe: Bijou (serves one)

• 1 oz. gin
• 1 oz. sweet vermouth
• 3/4 oz. green Chartreuse
• 2 dashes (= 1/4 tsp.) orange bitters
• maraschino cherries

Stir liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into glass and garnish with cherries.

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We decided to try the Bijou cocktail — whose name means “gem” in French — when we came across this recipe in the New York Times. We also looked it up in our new copy of The Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails. The entry there cites an 1895 version that featured Grand Marnier instead of Chartreuse, as well as a 1900 version that used gin, sweet vermouth, and green Chartreuse in equal proportions (like a Negroni with Chartreuse in place of the Campari). We prefer the New York Times recipe, which is on the drier side. We enjoyed it on an unusual rainy afternoon in Los Angeles. Cheers!