Alaska
An Alaska is 50ml of London Dry gin and 25ml of yellow Chartreuse with two dashes of orange bitters, stirred over ice for 30 seconds and strained into a chilled Nick & Nora, with a lemon twist. About 3.1 UK units, all of it spirit. It was in print by 1914, when Jacques Straub’s Drinks listed it as Old Tom gin with a smaller measure of yellow Chartreuse and a dash of orange bitters, shaken. The gin-led ratio has held; the Old Tom and the shaking have not. No one has explained the name. Yellow Chartreuse is the drink. Honeyed and herbal at 43% ABV, softer and sweeter than green, it sweetens the gin and seasons it at once. A full 30-second stir is what turns two strong bottles into one smooth drink.
Glassware: Nick & Nora Glass
Garnish: Lemon twist expressed over the glass and either discarded or rested on the rim
Ingredients
50ml
Around 40% ABV, with plenty of juniper. It has to stay in front of a sweet, herbal liqueur, and a soft or floral gin gets lost. Straub’s 1914 recipe used the sweeter Old Tom style.
25ml
Yellow, not green: 43% ABV, honeyed and gentler than green Chartreuse at 55%. It does the sweetening and the seasoning together. Green at the same measure makes a harder, hotter drink.
2 dashes
Two dashes join the gin’s citrus to the Chartreuse’s honey and lift the finish. Angostura’s clove pulls the drink somewhere else, so keep to orange.
Instructions
Chill a Nick & Nora glass in the freezer.
Add the gin, yellow Chartreuse and orange bitters to a mixing glass.
Fill with cubed ice and stir for 30 seconds.
Strain into the chilled glass.
Express a lemon twist over the surface, then rest it on the rim or discard it.
Our version
The IBA lists no Alaska. Straub’s 1914 recipe is Old Tom gin with a smaller measure of yellow Chartreuse and a dash of orange bitters, shaken. Ours is 50ml of London Dry gin, 25ml of yellow Chartreuse and two dashes of bitters, stirred.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Stir for the full 30 seconds. With no juice and no vermouth, the melt is the only water in the glass, and an under-stirred Alaska tastes hot and sticky where a properly stirred one is silky. Chill the Nick & Nora and keep the pour small. Yellow Chartreuse turns cloying as it warms, and a 75ml drink is finished before that happens. Taste the ratio before you change it. Two to one keeps the gin in front; equal parts makes a sweeter drink led by the Chartreuse, and three to one a drier one. Move 5ml at a time.
Behind the Alaska
Flavour Profile
The Origin
The Alaska was in print by 1914. Jacques Straub, wine steward of the Blackstone in Chicago, listed it in his book Drinks: a dash of orange bitters, yellow Chartreuse, and Old Tom gin as the larger measure, shaken.
Where the name came from is unknown. The drink has no recorded link to Alaska, and no bartender or bar has a credible claim to it.
Yellow Chartreuse
Yellow Chartreuse is a separate recipe from green, at 43% ABV against green’s 55%, sweetened with honey and coloured with saffron. Where green leads with heat and a medicinal edge, yellow is softer, honeyed and floral.
In the Alaska it does two jobs. It is the only sweetener and the only seasoning, so the drink rises or falls on it.
The Orange Bitters
Two dashes tie the gin’s citrus peel to the Chartreuse’s honey and lift the finish. They should be felt rather than tasted; if you can pick them out, there are too many.
The Ratio Question
Straub made the gin the larger measure, and two to one keeps it in front with the Chartreuse in support. Equal parts gives a sweeter drink in which the Chartreuse leads; three to one leaves it as a background note.
Three ratios for the Alaska
Two to one (ours)
- Gin
- 50ml
- Yellow Chartreuse
- 25ml
- Character
- Gin in front, honey behind
- UK units
- About 3.1
Equal parts
- Gin
- 40ml
- Yellow Chartreuse
- 40ml
- Character
- Sweeter, Chartreuse leads
- UK units
- About 3.3
Three to one
- Gin
- 60ml
- Yellow Chartreuse
- 20ml
- Character
- Drier, Chartreuse in the background
- UK units
- About 3.3
| Ratio | Gin | Yellow Chartreuse | Character | UK units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two to one (ours) | 50ml | 25ml | Gin in front, honey behind | About 3.1 |
| Equal parts | 40ml | 40ml | Sweeter, Chartreuse leads | About 3.3 |
| Three to one | 60ml | 20ml | Drier, Chartreuse in the background | About 3.3 |
The Stir
Straub shook it. We stir it, as for a Martini: with nothing cloudy in the glass, stirring keeps it clear and dense, and the dilution is easier to judge.
For gin with sweet vermouth and green Chartreuse, try the Bijou; for green Chartreuse with lime and maraschino, the Last Word.
How to Serve It
Small and very cold in a chilled Nick & Nora, with lemon oil expressed over the top. It works before dinner in place of a Martini, or after it in place of a liqueur.
Make it at home
The Spirit
GinGin is a spirit flavoured with juniper berries. GB law requires juniper to lead the taste and sets a 37.5% ABV floor; the usual bottle is 40%. The law grades it by how the flavour gets in, from plain gin through distilled gin to London gin, and it carries the Martini, the Negroni and the Gin and Tonic.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Alaska cocktail?
Can I use green Chartreuse instead of yellow?
What ratio of gin to Chartreuse should I use?
Why is it called an Alaska?
Should an Alaska be shaken or stirred?
Which gin works best in an Alaska?
How strong is an Alaska?
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Bijou
A Bijou is 40ml of London Dry gin, 20ml of green Chartreuse, 20ml of sweet vermouth and two dashes of orange bitters, stirred over cubed ice for 30 seconds and strained into a chilled Nick and Nora glass, with a lemon twist expressed over it and a cherry. About 3.0 UK units. The drink is usually traced to Harry Johnson’s Bartenders’ Manual, in its edition of 1900. Bijou is French for jewel, and the usual explanation is that each bottle stands for a stone by its colour: gin for diamond, vermouth for ruby, Chartreuse for emerald. At 55% ABV, green Chartreuse is the force to manage. Many recipes pour the three in equal measures; ours doubles the gin so its juniper holds against the Chartreuse, with the vermouth giving body and the bitters tying the herbs together.
Last Word
A Last Word is 22.5ml each of gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur and fresh lime juice, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled Nick & Nora or coupe. About 2.9 UK units. The measures are the IBA’s; the cherry or lime twist is ours. It comes from the Detroit Athletic Club, where it was on the menu by 1916. Ted Saucier’s Bottoms Up of 1951 credits the vaudeville performer Frank Fogarty with taking it to New York. In 2003 the Seattle bartender Murray Stenson found it in Saucier’s book and put it on the menu at the Zig Zag Café, and from there it spread. Four strong flavours at equal volume, and none takes over. Chartreuse brings herbs and heat, maraschino cherry and a bitter almond edge, lime the acid, and gin holds them together.
Champs-Élysées
A Champs-Élysées is 45ml of cognac, 15ml of green Chartreuse, 20ml of fresh lemon juice, 10ml of sugar syrup and a dash of Angostura, shaken hard with ice for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled coupe, finished with an expressed lemon twist. About 2.6 UK units. The earliest known recipe is in Drinks, Long and Short by Nina Toye and A. H. Adair, published in 1925: three parts brandy, one of Chartreuse and one and a half of sweetened lemon juice, with a dash of Angostura. Our measures keep the three to one of brandy to Chartreuse and split the sweetened lemon into fresh juice and syrup. It reads as a Sidecar with green Chartreuse in place of the orange liqueur. Chartreuse is 55% ABV and intensely herbal, so even a small measure changes the whole drink: the cognac and lemon are still there, under a layer of mountain herbs.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026