Spirit Forward

Bijou

5 min.Gin

Chill a Nick & Nora or small cocktail glass.
1
Fill a mixing glass three-quarters full with fine shaved or cracked ice.
2
Add the gin to the mixing glass.
3
Add the sweet vermouth.
4
Add the green Chartreuse.
5
Add the orange bitters.
6
Stir until the mixture is very cold and well diluted.
7
Strain into the chilled glass.
8
Add a maraschino cherry or a medium-size olive to the drink.
9
Cut a piece of lemon peel and squeeze it over the surface of the drink to express the oils, then discard or drop it into the glass as preferred.
10

United States
Origin
The Bijou is a late-19th-century American cocktail whose earliest printed form appears in C. F. Lawlor's The Mixicologist (1895) as an equal-parts mix of gin, vermouth, and Grand Marnier. Within a few years Harry Johnson reformulated it in his 1900 New and Improved Bartender's Manual as equal parts gin, green Chartreuse, and Italian sweet vermouth with orange bitters, the version now regarded as the canonical classic. The drink largely disappeared during much of the 20th century and was revived during the early-2000s classic-cocktail renaissance, often in drier, gin-forward interpretations.
History
The name “Bijou” is French for “jewel,” commonly said to reference the colors of its components: gin as diamond, sweet vermouth as ruby, and green Chartreuse as emerald. Modern historians often credit Harry Johnson as the inventor of the Chartreuse-based Bijou, while acknowledging Lawlor’s earlier Cincinnati recipe using Grand Marnier. Early 20th-century European bar manuals such as Frank Newman’s American Bar (1904) include Bijou variants, showing that the drink’s name and idea spread internationally. Many contemporary bartenders find the equal-parts original quite rich and sweet, so modern house specs typically reduce the Chartreuse and push the gin to the foreground.
Trivia
Hard cheeses, Charcuterie, Herb-roasted nuts, Dark chocolate
Pairings
New and Improved Bartender's Manual
Source