This weekend’s cocktail
Our drink for the weekend is one of the great cocktails, the Last Word. It was created around 1915 at the Detroit Athletic Club but never became a fan favorite and after WW2 it completely faded away. It was revived in 2009 by Murray Stenson, a Seattleite who is considered to be one of the world’s great bartenders, after he found the recipe in Ted Saucier’s book Bottoms Up!. According to Stenson, the cocktail developed a cult following in Seattle and Portland, eventually made its way to NYC and then began to appear on drink menus around the world. It is a wonderful cocktail that just might make it to your shortest favorites list.
Last Word
¾ ounce fresh lime juice
¾ ounce Green Chartreuse
¾ ounce Luxardo liqueur
¾ ounce dry gin
Shake a few times with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass (no garnish).
Our Song to Accompany This Week’s Cocktail
At Last
Our song was written in 1941 by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the film Sun Valley Serenade. It was recorded by Glenn Miller a few times, starting in 1942. Its been recorded by lots of artists but is most closely identified with Etta James. It was recorded by her in 1960 and included on her album of the same name. In 2009 her version was of the song was inducted to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.
There have been a couple of notable covers of the song. One by Celine Dion and the other by Beyonce for the film Cadillac Records where she played Etta James in a film about the artists at Chess Records.
At Last, written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren produced by Phil Chess and Leonard Chess on:
Friday, finally playlist (updated each Friday) on
’til next week.