Thank God for the Wall Street Journal. I can’t tell you how many times a week I start a sentence with “I just read in the Wall Street Journal”. Even I tire of hearing myself say it. And yet I can’t think of one other source of information that has served me so well both professionally and personally. My contribution to today’s Mixology Monday is no different. A month back the WSJ had an article in the Saturday edition that featured the exoticly named and extremely hard to get drink called the “Pousse Cafe”. I’m not quite sure how to pronounce it. Personally, I just use my best Sean Connery accent (so I sound more manly) and quickly describe how cool the drink looks and the level of skill that’s required to make it. I didn’t deviate from the article’s recipe but now that I’ve made a couple, I can see that it would be a fun drink to experiment with. Two of the ingriedents are common enough: curacao and cognac brandy. The third, green Chartreuse, is a little more unusual. Apparently the liqueur is only made by Carthusian Monks in France. Only three monks know how to make it and they’ve all taken a vow of silence. It claims to be the only liqueur to have a color named after it. Chartreuse is a herbal based drink that has a distinctive flavor all to itself.
The Pousse Cafe is a layered drink and because this recipe uses three liqueurs, the drink is called “Triple Pousse Cafe”. You can do as many layers as you want. The known record is thirty-four! More commonly (back when bartenders used to make the drink) the number was usually between four and six. The secret to making it is to pour slow and, after the first layer is in, put a spoon into the glass so that when you pour the next two layers, the subsequent liqueurs stay on top (see picture above). It really is a pretty drink to look at. I was a little suprised that I made it successfully on the second try so it can’t be that difficult to do. Your supposed to drink it one layer at a time, with a straw. The lemon, herb, and cognac layers make for a distinctive drink and rewarding drink as you make your way through each layer. I’d love to see if anyone out there has made this before and how many layers they got to.
So that”s my contribution to Mixology Monday, head over to Meeta’s site to see the rest!
How did you that!! Brilliant!!Three layers , undisturbed!!:))
it looks fantastic. like a crystal or a beam of light.
but how does it taste? i can handle the cognac and the blue curacao, but the chatreuse is pushing it. so herbal.
what’s your verdict on the overall flavours? was your description of “distinctive” meant to be positive, fence sitting or negative? ;p
The Sean Connery accent is a must! It looks great! I took a bartending class once and remember making something similar.
Brilynn - Thanks for kind words, Moneypenny…
Anna - It tastes better chilled than room temp, trust me. You are right on about the chartreuse. Not only is it VERY herbal, it’s 55% alcohol level is strong. It’s a powerful drink. Hard to make and not easy to drink in the middle. I enjoyed it but given the level of difficulty combined with not being used to chartreuse, doesn’t make it a regular beverage.
Asha - Thanks. I used a large spoon after the first layer to buffer the liqueurs from one another. Physics took care of the rest. You just have to be very careful and pour slow.