club forest cocktail

1/2 oz Port (Ramos Pinto Ruby)
1/2 oz Chartreuse (Green)
1 Egg Yolk
1/2 tsp Curaçao (Curaçao of Curaçao)
1/2 tsp Simple Syrup

Shake without ice and again with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with grated nutmeg.

On Friday night after a dinner at Baraka, we came home and were in the mood for cocktails. Flipping through the 1947 edition of Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide yielded the Club Forest Cocktail which appeared to be a more intense relative of the Coffee Cocktail. While both recipes contain egg yolks, the Club Forest Cocktail, however, would have less of a textural component since it lacks the Coffee Cocktail's inclusion of the egg white in the ingredients. To make up for it, the Club Forest Cocktail's ratio of egg yolk to the other ingredients is impressively high relative to most other flips. Another major difference is that the Coffee Cocktail's brandy is swapped for the intense Chartreuse liqueur and a dash of curaçao. My common assumption when the Chartreuse type is not specified is to interpret it as the original and more ubiquitous green variety which often contributes a lot of sharp herbal and spice notes to a drink.
The Club Forest Cocktail appeared almost like chocolate milk in some light and with a hint of purple in other. The freshly grated nutmeg provided a robust scent that led into a lush mouth-fullness from the egg yolk and port. Surprisingly, the green Chartreuse was rather smoothed out by these rich elements, and while subdued, these flavors were still noticeable at the middle of the sip and at the end of the swallow. The scant portion of curaçao, on the other hand, was rather elusive to my taste buds, and perhaps it would have been more evident had I interpreted the Chartreuse as the yellow variety. Such as switch would make for a sweeter and more mellow version of the Club Forest Cocktail which might be a variation worthy of a try.