Here’s a delicious, spirit-driven cocktail that is super easy to make. It’s called the Ce Soir and comes from the now-closed Boston cocktail bar, The Hawthorne. This drink was created by Nicole Lebedevitch around 2017 and its French name translates as Tonight. The Hawthorne may be gone, but we think this cocktail deserves to live on. The ingredients are not difficult to source with one exception—you need to get your hands on some Yellow Chartreuse. If you have been paying attention to the under-scaled production challenges that have failed to meet the worldwide demand for Chartreuse, you might have been able to pickup a bottle of Yellow, since the Green is more popular in recipes like the Last Word. If not, you can directly sub Ver liqueur which might be easier to find and is a very close replica of Yellow Chartreuse.

We welcome just about anything with Cynar, an approachable yet still somewhat bitter Italian Amaro with a great depth of flavor. The result is a slightly bitter, herbal and sweet mixture that is potent but smooth, dark and luxurious. A good cognac can give this drink a velvety dark chocolate undertone. As is sometimes the case with booze-forward recipes—the better your base spirit, the better the drink can taste. We had great results with Maison Rouge which hit the market about the same time as this drink was created. It is a decent value, but after some reflection, the powerful flavors of Cynar and Chartreuse might even let an inexpensive brandy work fine here.

Ce Soir
2 oz cognac
.75 oz Cynar
.25 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash Regans’ Orange Bitters No. 6

Stir with ice in a mixing glass to chill, then strain into a cold coupe. Garnish with a heavy twist of lemon peel to coat the surface with oils and discard.

Brandy cocktails aren’t as common these days as whiskey and rum, so we appreciate having another good one to share with friends. We would not consider the garnish optional in this recipe. Even though you are discarding the lemon twist, the essential oils from the peel give this a wonderful aroma and the hint of lemon on the tongue gives just enough illusion to offset a generally sweet flavor profile. Give this a try and let us know what you think in the comments below!