Something that Europeans do very well (that Americans don’t really do at all) is the digestif. Â In a lot of places, any decent meal takes a long time and ends with a digestif, a drink designed to aid digestion. Â Given the number and range of digestifs, you’d think that Europeans have lots of trouble with indigestion: brandy and whiskey; aromatic wines like port, sherry, and vermouth; French herbal liqueurs like Chartreuse and Benedictine; and all those wonderful Italian bitters like Cynar, Campari, and Zucca (not to mention the deliciously sweet, lemony Limoncello). Â Digestifs are traditionally consumed neat or straight, but they also make for some amazing cocktails. Â Here’s one you should try after your next big meal: The Widow’s Kiss.
Read below for the full recipe!
The Widow’s Kiss
1 1/2 oz Apple Brandy or Calvados
3/4 oz Yellow Chartruese
3/4 oz Benedictine
3 Dashes Angostura Bitters
 
Combine the ingredients and stir well with ice (or shake – which you normally shouldn’t do with an all-spirits drink – to give it a nice texture), then strain into a chilled cocktail glass and enjoy.  You can garnish with a lemon twist or a cherry, but this drink doesn’t really need one.
Here’s what you get: a deeply herbal drink with a warm apple finish from the brandy. Â It’s rich and sweet, so save this one for sipping during a long, lingering conversation after dinner. Â The Widow’s Kiss can be too sweet for some people, though I find its herbal complexity balances its sweetness. Â If you prefer a dryer drink, try reducing both liqueurs to 1/2 oz or adding a few more dashes of bitters.
 
The Widow’s Kiss is the creation of George Kappeler, head bartender at the Holland House hotel on Fifth Avenue back in the 1890s. Â This was right around the time that bartenders were starting to expand their ingredients to include liqueurs beyond the traditional maraschino and orange. Â As David Wondrich notes: we don’t know if Kappeler had a particular widow in mind when he made this drink, but if he did, she must have been quite a lady.
Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper