Name: Alaska (Difford's recipe)
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 1 disc Orange zest/swath; 50 ml Old Tom gin; 15 ml Chartreuse Yellow; 2 dash Orange bitters; 2 drop Saline solution 4:1; 1 dash Absinthe; 7.5 ml Chilled water

Alaska (Difford's recipe)
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Photographed in an UB Nick And Nora 1920

Ingredients:
1 disc	Orange zest/swath
1 ²⁄₃ oz	Hayman's Old Tom Gin
¹⁄₂ oz	Yellow Chartreuse (or génépy liqueur)
2 dash	Orange Bitters by Angostura
2 drop	Saline solution 4:1 (20g sea salt to 80g water)
1 dash	La Fée Parisienne absinthe
¹⁄₄ oz	Chilled water omit if using wet ice

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Nick & Nora glass.
Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.
EXPRESS the oils of a coin-size orange zest into the base of stirring glass.
Add other ingredients, REGAL STIR with ice.
STRAIN into chilled glass.
EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Alaska (Difford's recipe) lifestyle image

Alaska (Difford's recipe) lifestyle thumbnail

Review:

A classic Alaska mixed with a dash of absinthe and mixed with a Regal Stir.

View readers' comments

History:

Recipe by yours truly in August 2023.

More cocktails by Simon Difford

Alcohol content:

1.4 standard drinks
27.55% alc./vol. (27.55° proof)
20.2 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Florian Ruf

24th March at 13:28

I have recently added a variation from Coqodaq in NY using Midor melon, published by Punch. If you are interested: https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/33235/coqodaqs-alaska

Simon Difford

24th March at 14:35

I took the liberty of renaming Matt Chavez's creation a Cosmic Alaska:
https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/29165/cosmic-alaska

1 reply

Peter Pendergest

23rd February at 01:06

I’m always amazed how absinthe (a flavor I generally cannot stand), in moderate amounts, adds such complexity to a cocktail. I have to say this is the best version of the Alaska that I have had.

Jacques Gaudin

16th December 2023 at 02:55

I was surprised how absinthe and orange work so well together. My garnish was a disc of orange peel (used a mini cookie cutter). Never been to Alaska but somehow feels like I've seen a sunset on its icy landscape.

Andy Prior

13th September 2023 at 21:25

The instructions are a bit “not right”. You express the orange into the glass. But then mix everything in the glass and then strain into the same glass? I know you are good Simon - but I wanna see that!

Simon Difford

14th September 2023 at 07:35

The instructions are correct! Express zest into "stirring glass", stir and strain to "chilled glass." Two different glasses - one being stirring glass and the other being a Nick & Nora.