‘You don’t wanna meet this cocktail in a dark alley.’ How the Death Flip recipe came about

Death Flip

Death Flip recipe

  • 30ml Herradura Blanco Tequila
  • 15ml Jägermeister
  • 15ml Yellow Chartreuse
  • Dash of gomme
  • 1 whole egg

Dry shake all ingredients, then shake with ice. Fine strain into a Flip glass. Garnish with grated nutmeg.

Adapted from a recipe by Chris Hysted, circa May 2010, Black Pearl.

When the Death Flip first appeared on the menu of Black Pearl, it featured the tagline, “You don’t wanna meet this cocktail in a dark alley. Ingredients unnamed.” It was the year 2010 and the drinking public took the bait; since then, the Death Flip has been embraced by bartenders across the globe and become a modern classic.

Its creator Chris Hysted says that he’d always loved each of the ingredients in the drink.

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“Tequila was something I was immediately drawn to. The production processes and regional differences really rung true with me. A proper old-school Margarita has got to be one of my favourite cocktails when made well,” he says.

“Since university, I’ve always loved Jägermeister. When I discovered cocktails like the Jägerita I loved the sense of irreverence it had. It’s cheeky, but it’s still a bloody delicious drink! The complexities of Chartreuse I also found really fascinating… It’s such a great modifier.”

But there was one problem: people didn’t think that they liked these ingredients, he says.

“So I decided I was going to put them all in one drink, and not let them know about it.” And once they’d had a sip and Hysted revealed the ingredients, people were surprised it tasted so damn good.

The genius is in the addition of the whole egg to create a Flip. Hysted explains that it came out that way because, well, it had to.

“Have you tried a Bijou variation using blanco tequila, Yellow Chartreuse and Jägermeister? Of course not. It’s horrible!” he says.

“In all seriousness, it was to provide some big mouthfeel, along with a creamy texture that people love… That, and it let us give it a damn cool name.”

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