In my line of work, the occa­sional over-indulgence is nearly inevitable. There are plenty of odd con­coc­tions touted as hang­over cure-alls from sushi and coca-cola to greasy burg­ers and kale juice, but none so enthu­si­as­ti­cally rec­om­mended as the trusty “hair of the dog” rem­edy. I can’t say I believe fully in its effec­tive­ness, but the “like cures like” phi­los­o­phy dates back to the days of Aristophanes:

Take the hair, it’s well writ­ten,
Of the dog by which you’re bit­ten;
Work off one wine by his brother,
And one labour with another…
Cook with cook, and strife with strife:
Busi­ness with busi­ness, wife with wife.
— Aethenæus

Effec­tive as a hang-over cure or not, it never hurts to add a great clas­sic to your brunch repertoire.

The Corpse-Reviver fam­ily of drinks has unclear ori­gins, but what we do know is they are men­tioned in cock­tail books as early as 1871 in The Gentleman’s Table Guide (an inter­est­ing read in its own right). This ver­sion, the Corpse Reviver #2, was included in Harry Craddock’s famous Savoy Cock­tail Book pub­lished in 1930. He wrote, “To be taken before 11 a.m., or when­ever steam and energy are needed.”

The drinks pack a punch! Enjoy, but keep Craddock’s warn­ing in mind, “Four of these taken in swift suc­ces­sion will quickly unre­vive the corpse again.”

Recipe

• 1 oz Old Tom gin
• 3/4 oz Cointreau
• 3/4 oz Lil­let Blanc
• 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
• An absinthe rinse
• Gar­nish with a Luxardo cherry

Add all ingre­di­ents into a shaker except for the gar­nish. Shake with ice. Rinse your chilled cock­tail glass with 3 drops of absinthe. Dis­card any excess absinthe. Strain your shaker into the cock­tail glass. Gar­nish with a cherry.