The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

Shake Off a Hangover with a Corpse Reviver Cocktail

By Pat Evans January 1, 2018

Corpse Reviver No. 2 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

After a long night of drinking, even a modest hangover can leave an imbiber feeling like a corpse. Perhaps one of the best ways to shake off the funk is the classic cocktail, the Corpse Reviver.

There are famous hangover cures from across the globe, but often the one with the most credibility and effectiveness — and negative stigma — is hair of the dog.

Corpse Reviver is a line of cocktails from before Prohibition, and the drinks are often a concoction of multiple spirits. Many of the variations have been lost over the years, but it’s the Corpse Reviver No. 2 that often shows up on cocktail lists across the country. It makes sense — this variation is refreshing, tasty, and strong.

Copper and Kings Corpse Brandy — Corpse Reviver No. 1 Image used with permission by copyright holder

Drinkers have been enjoying these since the mid-1800s, and one of the first written recipes for the Corpse Reviver No. 1 appeared in 1871 in The Gentleman’s Table Guide. This tome suggests using a wine glass and filling the cup halfway with brandy, the rest with Maraschino and two dashes of bitters. Another version, the aptly named Kentucky Corpse Reviver, can be made by substituting bourbon for brandy.

As noted, the gin-based, absinthe-touched Corpse Reviver No. 2 is the more popular version now. Both two versions of Corpse Revivers were featured in 1930 in The Savoy Cocktail Book, which suggests drinking the cocktail prior to 11 am, “or whenever steam and energy are needed.”

Since its inclusion in The Savoy Cocktail Book, variations on the cocktail have flooded other anthologies and, in the early 21st century, the Corpse Reviver No. 2 saw a surge in popularity in England. It has since migrated to the U.S. during that nation’s cocktail renaissance.

No matter the cause a dreary start to a day can in part be shaken off by a Corpse Reviver. Just remember not to drink even one too many, lest you become a corpse again.

Corpse Reviver No.1

½ brandy
¼ apple brandy
¼ vermouth

Method: Shake well and serve in a cocktail glass.

Corpse Reviver No. 2

¼ dry gin
¼ Lillet
¼ Cointreau
A dash of Absinthe

Method: Shake well, strain, and serve in a cocktail glass.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Recipes

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Pat Evans is a writer based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, focusing on food and beer, spirits, business, and sports. His full…

Food & Drink

Mustard is the Weirdest and Tastiest Cocktail Ingredient

mustard cocktails recipes mango

We’ve had a lot of strange and interesting cocktails in our day. But lately, we’ve been seeing the most unlikely ingredient on drink menus across the country — mustard. While many of you save this tangy condiment for meat glazes and Chicago-style hot dogs, mustard actually plays really well with booze. Of course, you have to strike the right balance of ingredients and flavors to get a mustard cocktail right, which is why we called in the experts to help. Here are four exciting mustard cocktails to switch up your at-home bartending routine.
Deli Calling

Playing around with cocktail ingredients can be a lot of fun, but it can also be costly if you don’t have the proper ingredients on hand. Mustard, though, is probably something that’s always sitting in your fridge. "Mustard is a great ingredient to add to the canon of modern cocktails for several reasons, the foremost being, everyone has it already!” says Karsten Osterby, bar director of Freedman’s in Los Angeles. “It works excellently with gin, where the complexity of the juniper berry and supporting botanicals are rerouted to a darker or brighter profile, depending on the type of mustard used.” An easy-to-make mustard syrup adds some heat to this refreshing Highball.

Food & Drink

Jack Daniel’s Kicks Off Summer with a Citrusy Cocktail in a Bottle

jack daniels southern citrus bottled cocktail d

Are you already counting down the days to June 21st? Well, dramatically toss away that tear-away calendar because summer is coming early this year and it tastes like grapefruit. Jack Daniel’s just expanded their Country Cocktails line with a new flavor called Southern Citrus, and it is dangerously delicious.

One might write off these bottled cocktails as being in the same vein of, say, a Mike’s Hard Lemonade, but that would be a mistake. Whiskey often falls to the wayside in the summer, so having a whiskey drink that cools rather than burns on the way down is a welcome addition to any fridge, cooler, or barbecue.

Food & Drink

The Native American cuisine movement is on the rise

The vitality of Native cuisine

Chef Jack Strong.

Native American cuisine and indigenous food predate any food trend we know by a long shot. Tribes from coast to coast have created culinary styles over thousands of years, utilizing the ingredients that surround them and tried and true cooking techniques. Today, as indigenous peoples rightfully look to reclaim their seat at the table, we're seeing a rise in Native American cuisine and an entire movement around first foods.

Jack Strong is the executive chef at The Allison Inn & Spa, a luxury resort in the heart of Willamette Valley wine country. The restaurant is known for taking advantage of the many incredible ingredients that thrive in the region. He grew up in Oregon and is a member of the Siletz tribe, touting more than three decades of professional cooking experience to his name. He's one of relatively few native chefs, but the indigenous food movement is working to change that. After all, a culinary landscape that does not accurately reflect its community or historical context is a faulty one at best.