Spanish Monk
A silky sour of gin, green Chartreuse and citrus, topped with a light, creamy foam.
Ingredients
- London Dry gin45 ml
- Green Chartreuse15 ml
- Lemon juice, freshly squeezed22.5 ml
- Simple syrup (1 part Sugar, 1 part Water)15 ml
- Egg white15 ml
- Lemon, to garnish (optional)1 twist
Method
- Fill a coupe with ice cubes so it chills while you mix the drink.
- Pour the gin, green Chartreuse, lemon juice, syrup and egg white into a shaker.
- Shake hard without ice for 20–30 seconds so the egg white emulsifies and foams.
- Add plenty of ice and shake again for about 20 seconds, until the shaker is ice cold.
- Tip the ice out of the glass and double strain the drink through a Hawthorne strainer and a fine sieve.
- Garnish with a lemon twist, if you like, and serve straight away.
Credit Eduardo López, Guayaquil; recorded by Charles H. Baker Jr. (1951)
About this drink
The Spanish Monk first appeared in Charles H. Baker Jr.'s The South American Gentleman's Companion in 1951, credited to Eduardo López of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Green Chartreuse, made by Carthusian monks to a secret recipe since the 1700s, gives it its spiced, herbal depth. The egg white softens the lemon's acidity and binds everything into a velvety, aromatic drink; New York's Little Branch later revived it with a touch more lemon and syrup.
Questions and answers
Where does the Spanish Monk get its name?
Green Chartreuse has always been made by the Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse monastery in France, and that monastic origin gave its name to this mid-century gin sour.
Can I leave out the egg white in a Spanish Monk?
Leave it out and shake straight with ice. You get a clear, sharp sour without the foam, but the herbal complexity of the Chartreuse stays the same.
