Name: Butler's Tipple
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Cognac (brandy); 15 ml Chartreuse Yellow; 10 ml Gentian liqueur; 5 ml Sugar syrup (2:1); 10 ml Chilled water

Butler's Tipple
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Glass:

Photographed in an UB Nick And Nora 1920

Ingredients:
1 fl oz	Cognac (brandy)
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Yellow Chartreuse (or génépy liqueur)
¹⁄₃ fl oz	Gentian liqueur (e.g. Suze, Salers etc)
¹⁄₆ fl oz	Sugar syrup 'rich' (2 sugar to 1 water, 65.0°Brix)
¹⁄₃ fl oz	Chilled water/mineral water omit if using wet ice

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill a NICK & NORA GLASS.
Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.

How to make:

STIR all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish:

EXPRESS lemon 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

Review:

Almost creamy with vanilla richness, bittersweet rootiness, and brandy's strength.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created by Nicholas Gilmour at The Tippling House in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Nutrition:

One serving of Butler's Tipple contains 155 calories

Alcohol content:

1.2 standard drinks
23.01% alc./vol. (46.02° proof)
16.1 grams of pure alcohol

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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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Showing 10 of 15 comments for Butler's Tipple.
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CJ Grant

22nd June at 02:38

Quite herbal beyond the sweetness, which I do think is at least somewhat necessary, but can see the debate between how much. The bitter grassy gentian liqueur needs a counter, but I can't tell with one try if the yellow chartreuse brings enough on its own. Might need to experiment.

CJ Grant

26th June at 17:39

So I tried making this without the simple syrup and it does seem a bit of a different experience than the one the other day. The herbal notes are more pronounced and the components are in nice balance. I added just a couple drops of simple and the Chartreuse came forward. Interesting.

In the end, I have my preference leaning towards having this a bit less sweet than the recipe calls for.

Simon Sedgley

15th June at 16:37

Responding to previous commenters, we think that the sugar syrup is absolutely necessary here to integrate the other ingredients and bring everything into harmony. Use as little or much as is to your preference but without it we think that the drink is in danger of disintegrating into a disparate clatter of spirit and liqueur. We loved it as specified but can understand why some might wish to reduce the syrup just a bit.

Simon Sedgley

15th June at 16:47

Perhaps those espousing no sugar syrup might wish to experiment with bitters as a bridge between the other ingredients and let us know of their successes.

Calvin Grant

14th June at 02:32

Liked it as written, the creamy richness was fully balanced by the boozyness and the bitter ingredients and not cloying. Might try without the rich syrup to compare though as so many others have suggested.

Mookie

11th July 2025 at 18:39

This was really good, but I also agree with other folks that dialing back the sweetness would help with my palate. Still, one of my favorite uses of Suze

Creed Erickson

17th April 2025 at 22:20

Finally got around to this one. Very nice drink! However, too small and too sweet. I’ve adjusted the volume of this recipe in my notebook up by 33%. I didn’t add the suggested water, which may be part of the sweetness problem, but I’ll likely skip the syrup next time.

Caspian Berggren

23rd February 2025 at 15:06

Despite its few ingredients this is a deep, rich and complex cocktail. I omitted the syrup and I think that was the right choice for my taste. The Chartreuse is perfectly balanced by the Suze, and the Suze is perfectly balanced by the Cognac. Make sure to use a good, flavorful Cognac though so it doesn't just play support.

Dave D.

27th December 2024 at 00:14

Just made this using my new bottle of Gesepy (Dolin) since my yellow Chartreuse is getting low, thought I’d finally try a substitute! Amazing cocktail. Used 5 ml simple syrup and perfect amount for my taste buds.

Florian Ruf

26th August 2023 at 17:40

I omitted the sugar syrup, which in my opinion was the right decision. For my taste I would next time reduce the Suze and add a bit more Chartreuse jaune.

Chris Costello

19th August 2022 at 22:03

Delicious as is, but I will omit the syrup entirely next time and increase the Suze just a bit.

Paloma Rien

26th February 2022 at 21:26

This was wayyyy too sweet for me in its current form with 1/6 oz syrup (and I usually like my drinks on the sweet side). If you’re making this for the first time, I recommend starting with just a dab of syrup. A little goes a very long way, since the spirits are already fairly sweet on their own. (I ended up cutting my first attempt with some very dry champagne, which was delightful in its own way.)

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