For a once-obscure drink, the Last Word sure gets around. I first posted about it way back in ought-six, and since then a good chunk of the boozy blogosphere has also hailed this excellent drink. The Last Word has its own thread at eGullet, Gary Regan wrote about it in the San Francisco Chronicle, Robert Hess mixed one on video, and that paper of record, the New York Times, ran the recipe in December (while giving credit to yours truly).
Over at the Seattle Times, however, reporter Tan Vinh started sniffing around and discovered that not only was the Last Word’s resurrection the work of Zig Zag bartender Murray Stenson, but he found people around town (namely, me and Robert) who would claim that the Last Word is currently Seattle’s most significant drink contribution to the cocktail renaissance. He then went to Zig Zag, made Murray mix up a bunch for him and his photographer while they took some still shots and video, and stuck it in today’s paper.
You can, and should, read Tan’s story here: The Last Word, a cocktail reborn in Seattle, is on everyone’s lips — but also check out the video of Murray (which I’ve helpfully pasted above) as he usurps “my” recipe and mixes up a couple of Last Words.
(And should you be thirsty for one now, here’s the recipe again so you don’t have to click all over the place:
Last Word
- 3/4 once gin
- 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
- 3/4 ounce maraschino liqueur
- 3/4 ounce green chartreuse
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake well for 10 seconds and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Ta-da!
Next: the Last Word backlash begins….
