zig zag cafe — Blog — Clair McLafferty

Though today's Blog Like Crazy topic is to tackle a controversial subject, I'm not going that far...yet. This cocktail's name may be provocative given the current "debate" over farm subsidies and fossil fuels, but it's named for neither of these things. With origins rumored to be in Barbados, the earliest recipe is a three ingredient highball.

Interestingly, none of the three ingredients resembled corn or oil. Some speculate that the oil part of the name comes from the thick black Black Strap rum, but the earliest iterations of the recipe call for aged rum, not its darker counterpart. This substitution was made rather recently by Murray Stinson of Seattle's Zig Zag Cafe -- the man responsible for bringing the Last Word back.

Stinson also changed the proportions of the ingredients. According to the label on John D. Taylor Velvet Falernum bottles, the drink is traditionally 3:1 Falernum to rum, but Stinson's version calls for the opposite. Each recipe creates a very different flavor profile: the bottle's recipe is a light, sweet summertime drink that would take the edge off a tropical summer. Stinson's drink, on the other hand, is a spicy, rich, deep concoction that brings out a different type of complexity in the cocktail. Others have riffed on this recipe, adding Coke and other ingredients for completely different ends.

As with most other drinks, the most important part is that it's to your taste. I've included both recipes so you can try both and draw your own conclusions.

Recipes:

Modern Corn n Oil

2-3 dashes Angostura bitters .5 oz lime juice or two lime wedges .5 oz John D. Taylor Velvet Falernum 2 oz Cruzan Black Strap

Fill a glass with ice. Add Falernum, top with rum and squeeze the lime juice on top. Add bitters and stir ingredients in the glass until chilled and fully combined.

Old School Corn n Oil

2 dashes Angostura bitters .5 oz lime juice or two lime wedges .5 oz rum from Barbados 1.5 oz John D. Taylor Velvet Falernum

Fill a glass with ice. Add Falernum, top with rum and squeeze the lime juice on top. Add bitters and stir ingredients in the glass until chilled and fully combined.

At Octane, we bartenders use the daily dinner hour lull to Instagram pictures of drinks and their ingredients. Many of the cocktails are both beautifully colored and cleverly named. As a result, I've become somewhat engrossed in research on the subject.

Weekly Cocktail of the Hour posts will highlight one cocktail and its history as told by the books and online sites I frequent and love. This week, the Last Word hits the top of the list. Though the exact quantity varies, the basic recipe calls for equal parts gin, Maraschino liqueur, Green Chartreuse and lime juice.

Developed in Detroit right before the start of Prohibition, this cocktail is almost more famous for its disappearance than for its origin. Interestingly, the name's origin remains a mystery.

After its introduction in the early 1920s, the Last Word almost entirely disappears from the historical record for 80 years. Though it resurfaced in Ted Saucier's 1951 Bottoms Up, it remained obscure until it was rediscovered and brought back to fame in 2004 by Seattle's Zig Zag Cafe.

Though summer is drawing to a close, the Southern heat will most likely endure until early or mid-October. The lime's acidity, Chartreuse's earthiness, Maraschino's sweetness and gin's herbaceousness all come together to create a light, sippable cocktail you'll want to keep in your glass all day long.

Recipe:

3/4 oz lime juice

3/4 oz Green Chartreuse

3/4 oz Maraschino liqueur

3/4 oz gin

Shake for 10-15 seconds or until cooled through. Strain into a chilled coupe glass.