nude eel

1/2 oz Dry Gin (Hendrick's)
1/2 oz Cognac (Martell VS)
1/2 oz Dubonnet Rouge
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Two Fridays ago, I wanted to find more uses for the Dubonnet that I bought for the Decolletage and decided to revisit one of the recipes I tried before writing for the blog called the Nude Eel. Sometimes the drink is called the New Deal, but that is certainly less colorful. Instead of a misheard bar conversation, the name Nude Eel can be traced back to a few literary sources including poet and critic Ezra Pound's and poet e.e. cumming's opinions of FDR's relief, recovery, and reform acts of the early 1930s. The older versions of the drink, such as the one above that I found in the 1947 edition of Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide, call for Green Chartreuse. The later ones, such as the one in Stan Jones' Complete Barguide, seem to have switched to Yellow Chartreuse as the liqueur of choice. With all of the controversy around the current economic reform acts, perhaps it is time to revive this classic recipe.
The Nude Eel offered up a gin and Green Chartreuse bouquet. Next, a semi-sweet minty orange sip was followed by the Chartreuse's herbal notes filling the swallow. Overall, the drink reminded me of a Bijou with some extra body from the Cognac. I could definitely see Yellow Chartreuse prospering here as well similar to how it has in other herbal, brandy, and aromatized wine drinks like the Norwegian Wood.