Marseilles Rhum Cocktail Recipe

The Marseilles Rum is a vivid, herbaceous cocktail made with equal elements rhum agricole, Bénédictine liqueur, Inexperienced Chartreuse, and freshly squeezed lime juice. 

This unique drink was created by Matthew Brodbine, beverage director for chef Dave Beran’s Pasjoli, the award-winning French bistro in Santa Monica, California. Related in taste and construct to a Final Phrase cocktail, Brodbine was impressed by a extra up to date (and obscure) creation that emerged within the early 2000s. 

“The Marseille Rhum began as a flip on a Shanghai Gin recipe (usually made with equal elements gin, Bénédictine, Yellow Chartreuse, and lemon juice),” says Brodbine. “Earlier than Pasjoli’s rework, we have been solely utilizing solely French spirits. Since then, we’ve opened the doorways to different nations and sources from throughout, however the Marseille Rhum stays true to itself, utilizing solely French liquors. Marseille Rhum was our tackle an obscure basic, however flipping it Pasjoli-style.”

Although the creator of the Shanghai Gin cocktail isn’t identified, the drink is alleged to have originated at beloved Vietnamese restaurant, the Slanted Door, in San Francisco on the onset of the basic cocktail revival.

Why the Marseilles Rum works

Equal-parts cocktails such because the Negroni, Final Phrase, and 50/50 Martini are bartender favorites for his or her riffable, plug-and-play capabilities. Swapping out a single ingredient is simple and might usually end in a totally completely different taste profile. 

This cocktail, impressed by a Shanghai Gin recipe, replaces gin with rhum agricole, Yellow Chartreuse for the extra intensely natural (and better proof) Inexperienced Chartreuse, and lemon juice for the marginally extra acidic lime juice.

Rhum agricole, a French-style rum made straight from contemporary sugarcane juice relatively than molasses, retains extra of the contemporary, grassy traits from the sugarcane than historically made rum. It has a particular, nearly vegetal taste profile. This daring spirit can maintain as much as the intensely herbaceous French natural liqueurs Inexperienced Chartreuse and Bénédictine.

Bénédictine offers notes of honey, saffron, and ginger whereas lending a silky, wealthy texture. And the Inexperienced Chartreuse helps to spice up the savory, woodsy qualities within the drink. Freshly squeezed lime juice lends a welcome vivid acidity that can stability the sweetness of the liqueurs and performs a vital function in enhancing the flavors of the rhum agricole.