Last Saturday we had a slow night at the bar. Todd, the owner, had finally given in and bought some Chartreuse after me bugging him about it for months. I was really hoping he’d snag some Fernet Branca to go with it, but as my friend John always says, never kick a gift horse in the mouth.

He’d also snagged a bottle of Benedectine, and I felt like playing around. I took a sip and realized it has a flavor profile not too dissimilar to Fernet Branca, but is considerably sweeter. I immediately thought of an industry sour.

So I started mixing. I began with equal parts Chartreuse, lime, and Benedictine, but with the simple syrup cut in half since Benedictine already has a good bit of sweetness to it. After shaking it still needed a little something, and looking around I immediately jumped to absinthe. I couldn’t tell you why exactly, it just felt right, like the night I met my ex-girlfriend. Or the night I broke up with the same ex-girlfriend. Sometimes you just know.

It still needed a little something, so I tossed in an egg-white which really rounded out the flavor. So here’s the final recipe.

Monastery Sour

1 oz. Benedictine

1 oz. Chartreuse

1 oz. lime juice

0.5 oz. 1:1 simple syrup

.25 oz. absinthe

1 egg white

Dry shake all ingredients. Add ice, shake like crazy. Strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish.