Gloom Raiser – David Embury

Gloom Chaser or Gloom Raiser. Dry Martini with 2 dashes absinthe and 2 dashes of grenadine to each drink. Stir. Compare the International. Another version of the Gloom Chaser consists of a Daiquiri with Curacao substituted for the sugar.

Today has been a wonderfully random day, everything started well, with Hugh from Mentzendorff (one of our wonderful wine suppliers) stopping by for some NYE tales and a couple of new wines. What started off as a relatively civilised wine tasting took a turn for the worse when we decided to taste our Haggis pizza for our Burns night tomorrow, the pizza was excellent, but it meant more wine, which meant productivity dropped somewhat.

Later, we had a surprise visit from Nicholson Gin, the latest riding the gin wave. The gin can trace its roots back to 1736, but lost its way a little in the late 1900’s before the brand was returned to the family and with the help of Thames Valley Distillers was relaunched. The gin itself is interesting, all the traditional botanicals, with the inclusion of nutmeg.

The “gloom raiser” is one of their recommended cocktails and their claim to fame is that it’s branded with Nicholson’s gin in Harry Craddock’s famous Savoy guide. I couldn’t find it in my personal edition, but there was a “gloom lifter”; an entirely different beast. There appears to have been a lot of gloom which needed moving in the 30’s. The raiser does get a mention in Embury some 20 years later though. the drink itself, a twist on your classic martini. The sweetness from the grenadine helps tone down the absinthe, which lifts the drink. It’s always a little surprising as to just how much taste a small dash of absinthe brings.