Alaska (Straub's 1914 recipe)

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (98 ratings)

Photographed in an UB Retro Coupe 1910

Ingredients:
1 12 oz Hayman's Old Tom Gin
34 oz Yellow Chartreuse (or génépy liqueur)
1 dash Orange Bitters by Angostura
13 oz Chilled water omit if using wet ice
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.
  3. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  4. STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 9/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 5/10

Review:

Made with an Old Tom gin with amplified botanicals and minimal sugar (some are way too sweet) this is a spiritous and, if you hit the right dilution, tasty and complex cocktail.

View readers' comments

AKA: Oriental

History:

Adapted from a recipe in Jacques Straub's 1914 book Drinks. The proportions are exactly as per his recipe but Straub calls for his Alaska to be shaken rather than stirred.

Alaska Cocktail.
1 dash orange bitters.
1/3 jigger yellow chartreuse.
2/3 jigger Tom gin. Shake.

Jacques Straub, 1914

Conjecture suggests this cocktail is so named due to its golden colour referencing the Alaska Gold Rush which was big news around the time of its creation. This gold rush, in the Klondike region of the Yukon in Canada, started in 1896.

By the summer of 1899 many of the prospectors left the Klondike for an area around Nome in west Alaska following the discovery of gold there. Interestingly, the Nome Cocktail is a variation on the Alaska and is mentioned in the Alaska Cocktail entry in David Embury's 1948 The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.

ALASKA
1 part Yellow Chartreuse
5 to 7 parts Gin
Stir. A twist of lemon over each drink. Note that this is merely a Dry Martini with Chartreuse in place of vermouth. Because of the sweetness of the Chartreuse, a larger proportion of gin may be used than with the Dry Martini.
This is also sometimes called the Oriental. It can be greatly improved by using less Chartreuse and adding 1 to 2 parts dry sherry. This is the Nome.

David Embury, 1948

Nutrition:

One serving of Alaska (Straub's 1914 recipe) contains 173 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.6 standard drinks
  • 28.73% alc./vol. (28.73° proof)
  • 22.4 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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2nd September 2022 at 00:08
Always a great drink when you feel the hankering for Yellow chartreuse or digging out the Old Tom….plus I was breaking a a “new” ( to my collection ) antique cocktail glass I picked up.
Peter Shaw’s Avatar Peter Shaw
19th March 2022 at 08:13
Even with the 3:1 (as in Robert Simonson's The Martini Cocktail), or 2:1 gin to chartreuse with a London dry gin, the yellow chartreuse is still a little overpowering for me (although I do like chartreuse!) so I tried 6:1. I guess your own taste can be as disparate as your preferred gin to vermouth ratio in a proper martini!
dan huff’s Avatar dan huff
24th January 2022 at 03:50
Wonderful cocktail and such a beautiful color. My new favorite when wanting a martini.
Flemming Juul’s Avatar Flemming Juul
19th November 2021 at 22:42
Nice cocktail as is. Works well with other gins and with Strega as well.
21st September 2021 at 00:20
The variant of this I love is Jim Kearns' take. 2.25 oz Old Tom Gin, 0.75 oz Yellow Chartreuse, 1 dash of orange bitters, stir. The soft Old Tom, and the 3:1 ratio make this drink have a great volume, and a silky drinkability that are just awesome. Also, with no explanation as to why this drink is called "Alaska" might I suggest that it's gold color was a nod to the gold rush in Alaska at the time, hence the connection bar patrons would have naturally made at the time!
26th September 2021 at 22:18
I never considered the Nome as connected to the Alaska Gold Rush, and I don't know why. This all makes so much more sense now! I love this dual-research thing, and I really think we got it! Thanks so much!
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
26th September 2021 at 10:27
I've added notes re the Alaska Gold Rush above. Many thanks for bringing to my attention.
John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
31st March 2021 at 00:37
What a great savory cocktail. Good for an aperitif. Perfectly balanced with no ingredient overshadowing another.