Corpse Reviver No. 2
Ingredients
&w=3840&q=75){kind=small}
&w=3840&q=75){kind=small}
- ice – for shaking
- 3/4 ounces gin
- 3/4 ounces Cocchi Americano
- 3/4 ounces Cointreau
- 3/4 ounces lemon juice – freshly squeezed (~0.5 medium lemons)
- 1/4 ounces absinthe – for rinsing the glass
- orange peel – expressed (for garnish)
Instructions
1. Pack a chilled coupe glass with ice to chill while you mix.
2. In a cocktail shaker, add the gin, Cocchi Americano, Cointreau, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Fill the shaker with ice and shake hard until very cold and well diluted, 10–12 seconds, until the shaker is frosty.
3. Discard the ice from the coupe. Add the absinthe to the glass, swirl to coat the interior, then discard the excess.
4. Double-strain the cocktail into the absinthe-rinsed coupe.
5. Express the orange peel over the surface to release oils, then place it in the drink or discard, as preferred. Serve immediately.
Corpse Reviver No. 2 is a bright, bracing equal-parts sour that balances botanical gin, orange liqueur, quinine-tinged aromatized wine, and fresh lemon juice. A light absinthe rinse perfumes the drink with anise, giving a cool, herbal lift without overwhelming the citrus. The texture is silky from vigorous shaking, and the flavor is crisp, zesty, and clean, finishing dry and refreshing.
The drink belongs to the early 20th-century family of Corpse Revivers—so-called "hair of the dog" remedies meant to revive the morning-after imbiber. It was immortalized in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book, where equal parts and a dash of absinthe defined its structure. As Kina Lillet disappeared, bartenders adapted with modern aromatized wines, keeping the spirit of the recipe alive while preserving its witty warning: consume too many and the reviving effects reverse.