By now you’re probably aware of the full-scale absinthe revival happening in the U.S., but my decadent green elixir of choice is chartreuse. Like its notorious cousin, it’s anise-y, high in alcohol, and supposedly contains small amounts of thujone, the chemical in wormwood wrongly blamed for the absinthe-fueled death and dismemberment back in the day. Chartreuse also boasts a history filled with enough intrigue to rival absinthe’s — for starters, it’s distilled by Carthusian monks in the French Alps, only two of whom know the 130 herbs and plants required to create the liqueur, and neither has the entire recipe.

Chartreuse is a sweet, extremely fragrant liqueur with an incredible amount of complexity, no doubt due to its large number of ingredients. Sipped straight, I’m hit with an explosion of herbal and spice flavors — fennel, star anise, cinnamon, clove, black pepper. What I love most about chartreuse is its chameleon-like ability to transform and play off other ingredients in a cocktail. Sometimes it’s green and vegetal, other times it’s warm and spicy, and there’s always something slightly mysterious and elusive about it, which makes it so delicious and utterly beguiling.

The gentlemen at The Violet Hour are true chartreuse connoisseurs and will expertly guide you through your slow descent into chartreuse obsession as they’ve done for me. It’s not on the menu, but ask for their riff on The Last Word, a classic cocktail made of equal parts green chartreuse, gin, maraschino liqueur, and lime juice. If you fancy herbal, medicinal flavors, try the Art of Choke, pictured left, which contains Cynar (an Italian artichoke-based liqueur), rum, green chartreuse, and fresh mint.

N.B. There’s also a sweeter and milder yellow chartreuse, but the liqueur I’m talking about is the green variety.