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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Photographed in an UB Nick And Nora 1920

Ingredients:
1 oz	Rémy Martin V.S.O.P. cognac
¹⁄₂ oz	Yellow Chartreuse (or génépy liqueur)
¹⁄₃ oz	Gentian liqueur (e.g. Suze, Salers etc)
¹⁄₆ oz	Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
¹⁄₃ 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 lemon zest twist.
STIR all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
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, bittersweet rootiness and cognac.

View readers' comments

History:

Created by Nicholas Gilmour at The Tippling House, Aberdeen, Scotland.

Nutrition:

One serving of Butler's Tipple contains 155 calories

Alcohol content:

1.2 standard drinks
23.01% alc./vol. (23.01° 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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Creed Erickson

17th April 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 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.)

Kayla Clayton

4th April 2021 at 04:25

Quite delicious, nicely layered and the Suze adds a nice layer of complexity. I used regular Chartreuse and a couple of drops of simple syrup. Also stirred long over wet ice- definitely think that helped dilute the sweetness and balance the drink. I think next time I'll try with honey or golden maple syrup instead

G. M. Genovese

30th March 2021 at 21:32

This recipe as it stands now is superb. Tough to imagine any element being reduced or accentuated. Just bought a bottle of yellow Chartreuse less than an hour ago. First time having it in almost 10 years. What a fortunate cocktail to start off with my YC adventures!

David M.

29th December 2020 at 06:50

Caveat: I used Gran Classico in lieu of Suze.
Very nice. Definitely bittersweet. Quite different from Campari based cocktails. The Chartreuse is further back, but pleasantly there.
I found that the bitterness subsided a bit over the course of the cocktail in a pleasant way.
(Also, this is a low volume drink, so I recommend serving in a Nick & Nora or tulip glass.)

Simon Difford

20th February 2021 at 20:53

Thanks for the heads-up - I've changed to Nick & Nora glass and we'll re-shoot the pic ASAP.

Geoff B.

29th December 2020 at 06:49

Since I substituted St. George Bruto for , which is a piney gentian liqueur closer to Campari, I would say the sweetness and bitterness balanced well although both competed on the palate. Of course the yellow chartreuse added its herbaceousness to complete the experience. Overall an interesting and the “bittersweet” Difford classification fits the bill.