Lawn Dart

The description for the Lawn Dart in The PDT Cocktail Book says that its flavor mimics the aroma of freshly-cut grass. If that doesn't sound like something you'd like to drink, I suppose I understand. But you'd be missing out. One sip of this cocktail really blew me away. The flavors are really unique, but they work perfectly together. The bell pepper, a truly unique cocktail ingredient, makes a big impact. It brings out the grassy notes in the gin and tequila, and the dash of Green Chartreuse ties it all together. It does, indeed, taste like summer.

I have a beef with the recipe, though. It calls for "one 5-inch slice of bell pepper," which is not nearly descriptive enough. If we're talking about, say, cucumber, a 5-inch slice is a very clear unit of measurement; there's really only one dimension in which to cut a cucumber. But a bell pepper is more vague. What orientation is the bell pepper when you cut this slice? Do you slice all the way around the pepper? If not, how wide should the slice be?? I thought about this for way too long.

In the end, I went with a slice from the top to the bottom of the pepper (roughly the instructed five inches), about 1/4 inch wide. Maybe smaller than the recipe intends, but I didn't want to over-bell-pepper my cocktail. And I was pretty happy with the outcome.

History: This cocktail was developed by Sean Hoard at PDT in New York in 2010. He's now the manager of Teardrop in Portland.

Lawn Dart

1 oz. tequila blanco
1 oz. gin
3/4 oz. agave nectar
3/4 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. Green Chartreuse
1 5-inch slice bell pepper

Recipe from The PDT Cocktail Book.