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Colleen Bawn

Colleen Bawn

4.3 36 ratings

Ingredients

1 fresh Egg (white and yolk)
3/4 oz Rye whiskey 50% abv
3/4 oz Chartreuse Yellow
3/4 oz Bénédictine D.O.M.
1/6 oz Sugar syrup 'rich' (2:1)

How to make

Serve in a coupe glass

Prepare

  1. 1 Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
  2. 2 Prepare garnish of grated cinnamon and nutmeg.

Method

  1. 3 BEAT egg and pour into shaker.
  2. 4 Add other ingredients, SHAKE with ice and strain back into shaker.
  3. 5 DRY SHAKE (without ice) to emulsify.
  4. 6 FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish

  1. 7 Dust with freshly ground nutmeg and cinnamon.

50.0% alc./vol.

History

A hearty drink suited for winter, it is a meal in itself.

The name 'Colleen Bawn' is an anglicization of the Gaelic 'cailín bán', meaning girl or young woman. The Colleen Bawn (or The Brides of Garryowen) is also the title of a melodramatic play by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault, which was first performed on 27th March 1860 at Miss Laura Keene's Theatre in New York City. The first known printed recipe for the Colleen Bawn cocktail appears in Frederick and Seymour Davies' 1896 book Drinks of All Kinds For All Seasons. It is repeated, almost identically, in Edward Spencer's 1903 book The Flowing Bowl. The recipe from Drinks of All Kinds For All Seasons reads: "Colleen Bawn. Put into a small tumbler one egg well beaten, with a teaspoon of icing sugar, one-third of a wineglass of yellow chartreuse, one-third of a wineglass of benedictine, one-third of a wineglass of old rye whisky ; shake well, strain, add dust with cinnamon, nutmeg, and pink sugar." The recipe from The Flowing Bowl reads: "Colleen Bawn. Small tumbler, one egg beaten, with a teaspoonful of sugar, one-third of a wineglass of yellow chartreuse, and like quantities respectively of benedictine and rye whisky ; shake well, strain, add dust with cinnamon, nutmeg, and pink sugar."