Chartreuse Chambord Ginger-Beer Cocktail

I came up with this from a "need" to make a strong drink that would bend my brain a little.

Among my many and amazing talents, I do Junk Oracle readings. Junk Oracle is a little like Tarot, except it just uses chaos energy plus trinkets you might find in a gumball machine instead of nicely organized cards. I have a bag of Junk, and someone has a question. So I reach into my bag and pull out a small selection at random, drop it onto the table, and start putting together a story based on the symbolic meanings of the Junk and their proxmity to each other.

People can order email readings off my Etsy shop (lefthandedgoth.etsy.com), and the hardest part is finding a few uninterrupted hours to do them. Normally, this is harder than the actual work of a reading, because I am a busy gal in my Real Life. Once I steal some time, the readings just flow out and are fun and easy. Usually.

This past week I've been stymied by a couple of the pieces in this one chick's "throw". I know I put these pieces in the Oracle but I have no idea how they all relate to each other. So, I have come back to it a few times today, and think I've finally grokked the symbolism of the engineer's steel gauge tool that popped up, and maybe even how the little toy skeleton relates to the figurine of the choir girl. But the plastic bar of soap doesn't seem to fit in, so maybe what I need to do is shoot some pool so my mind will work on it in the background.

Problem is, the pool table is in the middle of being re-felted, and I can't use it right now. So maybe what I should do is have a stiff drink and stay close to the computer should sudden inspiration strike. So I decided to explore the back of my liquor cabinet and found a forgotten bottle of green Chartreuse and a recently-purchased bottle of Chambord.

Green Chartreuse is, for those who are unfamiliar, an herbal liquor with a proof so high that if you are able to hold it in your mouth, undiluted, for several minutes, it will cause the roof of your mouth to peel. That actually happened to me. If you like Jagermeister you might like Chartreuse. If you like Absinthe, but feel it's too minty fresh, you are likely to enjoy Chartreuse.

Chartreuse has a very strong flavor, so it doesn't mix with many things (like Jagermeister). However, it does mix pretty well with ginger ale. But ginger ale is too wimpy for me; I like ginger beer. But Chartreuse and ginger beer need a little something to round them out, so I got out the Chambord (a sticky sweet, low proof raspberry liquor) to see what would happen.

What would happen was pretty good. Read on.

Step 1: Ingredients

What you need:

1.5 oz Green Chartreuse
.5 oz Chambord
Ginger beer with some serious kick -- I use Goya, which contains capsicum
A dash of Angostura bitters (optional)

Step 2: Mix

Combine the liquors in a small glass.

Put some ice in a "rocks" glass (like you'd use for a whiskey sour).

Pour the liquor over the ice and watch it complain about the high alcohol content. Then pour in about 4 oz of ginger beer to fill.

If you like, add just a few drops of Angostura bitters. I used 6 drops which was just enough to take the syrupy sweetness down to a pleasant level, but then I don't like bitter things like black coffee or beer.

Gently stir to combine.

Step 3: Enjoy

Chartreuse has a really high alcohol content. Together with the capsicum from the ginger beer, this is not the world's smoothest drink. However, it's so tasty that I found it necessary to memorialize it here forever instead of getting back to the girl's Junk reading.

Please do not do stupid things when consuming alcoholic concoctions. Do them after, so you don't spill your drink. Then post videos on YouTube. But don't do dangerously stupid things, like drive, because then you might hit me with your car and I'd have to cause you some real trouble. I WILL come back from the dead and haunt you the rest of your insane life.

This drink still needs to be named, so if you have any ideas, post them here.