Name: Harvest Moon Cocktail (PDT's recipe)
Total time: 2 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Rye whiskey 50% abv; 30 ml Aromatized wine; 15 ml Calvados apple brandy; 7.5 ml Chartreuse Green; 3 dash Abbott's bitters

Harvest Moon Cocktail (PDT's recipe)
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Harvest Moon Cocktail (PDT's recipe) image

Serve in an Old-fashioned glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)
1 oz	Aromatized wine (e.g. Lillet Blanc)
¹⁄₂ oz	Calvados / apple brandy / straight applejack
¹⁄₄ oz	Green Chartreuse (or alternative herbal liqueur)
3 dash	Bob's Abbotts bitters

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill an Old-fashioned glass.
Prepare garnish of coin-shaped and sized orange zest twist.
STIR all ingredients with ice.
STRAIN into ice-filled glass.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Stirred down and boozy – very boozy, especially when made with bonded rye and applejack (as per the original recipe) rather than the comparatively subdued calvados used here. However, the cocktail's apple notes, coupled with the subtle herbal complexity of Chartreuse, combine wonderfully in this potent rye whiskey-based after-dinner sipper.

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History:

Created in 2007 by Daniel Eun at PDT, New York City, USA. Daniels' original recipe, as recounted in Jim Meehan's 2001 The PDT Cocktail Book, uses Wild Turkey rye whiskey and calls for the drink to be served straight-up in a coupe rather than on-the-rocks. However, we prefer this with the added dilution from serving over ice. In the book, Jim writes, "This drink looks like the sky during the harvest moon – when reddish-orange moon (the orange twist) rises after sunset."

More cocktails by Daniel Eun

Nutrition:

One serving of Harvest Moon Cocktail (PDT's recipe) contains 205 calories

Alcohol content:

2.2 standard drinks
30.63% alc./vol. (30.63° proof)
30.2 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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Showing 6 comments for Harvest Moon Cocktail (PDT's recipe).
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Daniel Jones

5th November 2024 at 07:56

I really enjoyed this cocktail, although half way through I removed the ice chunk because it began to lose the complex rich flavors due to dilution. I saw this recipe on another site that uses 1/2oz Green Chartreuse so I split the difference and did about a 1/3oz. I love these cocktails that use 1/2oz or less of Green Chartreuse, because it blends with the other ingredients compared to dominating the flavor profile like in a Last Word, which I do enjoy but don't make often.

Lynn Garvie

6th October 2024 at 11:26

Are the Abbots bitters essential here? Is there a good alternative? I like the sound of this and would like to try it, but I don't have Abbots bitters. (Harvest Moon Cocktail)

Simon Difford

7th October 2024 at 09:16

When considering alternative bitters, Abbotts have a Christmasy herb spice-like flavour. Avoid citrusy bitters in favour of herbal/spice.

John Hinojos

20th June 2021 at 03:50

Made this using bonded rye and applejack. At 100 proof each, it was a perfect mix. Great balance with a hint of the apple and the Chartreuse. It was just want I was looking for after a wonderful French dinner.

John Hinojos

20th June 2021 at 03:54

I did serve over a block of ice, but it will not last long enough to dilute too much. Would consider serving as originally done with no ice and a longer stir.

Steven Schulman

26th January 2021 at 01:07

Maybe a bit more rye - I might bump it up to 2 parts rather than 1.5

Geoff B.

7th January 2021 at 05:43

A fall cocktail with some nice botanicals. Definitely boozy and would recommend over ice as noted. I like the proportions noted and nicely allows each ingredient to play a part.

David M.

7th January 2021 at 05:42

I enjoyed picking out the Calvados and Chartreuse flavors. But overall, despite the “very boozy” classification, the flavors were a bit too mild for me this evening.

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