California Widow

3⁄4 oz Gin, St. George Terroir
3⁄4 oz Pear eau de vie, St. George
1⁄2 oz Elderflower liqueur, St. Germain
1⁄2 oz Herbal liqueur, Green Chartreuse
1⁄4 oz Bénédictine
3⁄4 oz Lemon juice
Instructions

Shake, strain, up.

History

California Widow is old slang for a woman whose husband is always away.

Cocktail summary
Created by
Rafa García Febles, NYC
Year
2013
Is the
author's original creation
Curator
Not yet rated
Average
3.5 stars
(10 ratings)
YieldsDrink
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From other users
  • Similar to, but not quite as good as, the Au Pair.
  • sweet chartreuse heavy
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Comments
Bevx commented on 11/25/2013:

Awesome, Rafa... The Chartreuse is present, but so subtle here (not an easy task)... I chose Scrappy's Orange for the bitters (since I just got the bottle today). Can't wait to try it with other varieties.

Bevx commented on 11/25/2013:

Also, this may be the fastest I've made a drink after being posted here... Couldn't have been more than an hour or 2... ;)

Ha. That might be a site record.

Thanks for trying it! Re: Chartreuse, it took me months to balance the three liqueurs.

Quite tasty, though quite sweet. Lovely balance of flavors. Dialing back on any of the liqueurs would ruin the balance of flavors, and that makes me wish there was an elderflower eau de vie on the market to keep that balance with a drier cocktail.

Thank you for trying it. I also wish there were elderflower eaux de vie available here; I know some are made and sold in France. (And Mad Men leads me to believe that they were available at some point in the states; at least, doddering eccentric Bert Cooper puts in a request for "spirit of elderflower" that's met with blank stares.) St. Germain actually has a eau de vie base, but I imagine that without the added acidity and sugar of a liqueur, the flavor of elderflower can seem pretty ethereal and subtle.

If you can get them, I recommend Cocktail Kingdom's wormwood bitters for drying out liqueur-heavy drinks. They give a lovely complementary complexity without adding too much flavor of their own.

I remember that scene from Mad Men. That was hilarious.

I'll see about the wormwood bitters. Despite a general preference for a slightly drier cocktail than this one, I've still managed to come back to this one multiple times. It's that good! Nice work.

I was excited to try this, as I like St Germain with both pear and herbal liqueurs. Very good, though I admit my unsophisticated palette wanted some acidity to balance the liqueurs so I ended up adding 1/2 oz lemon juice.

Tucker commented on 6/27/2014:

Tried this tonight given all the recent comments. Delicious blend of diverse flavors. Will be ideal for the fall.