Sippin Gypsy Cocktail: Winter's Garden

Cheers Sippin Gypsy Team Bourbon!  This creamy cocktail comes inspired not only by my new found appreciation of bourbon after an amazing experience in Louisville Kentucky, but also my love of tropical gardens.  I wanted to find a way to bring Louisville on vacation to my home in Florida.  This cocktail relies on the bold warm flavors of bourbon and surrounds it in a light botanical veil.  Green Chartreuse is a severely under utilized spirit that adds an herbal complexity to a cocktail's flavor profile.

I've had no 'formal training' as a bartender, but I know spirits and flavors and I know what I like.  This is a great cocktail to play with your own pallet and customize the drink to have sweeter notes by increasing the pineapple juice and lessening the Green Chartreuse, or make the drink more 'boozy' or herbaceous by decreasing the amount of pineapple juice and increasing the Green Chartreuse.  The art of cocktail crafting is more of a personal creation as opposed to a rigid recipe that must be followed.  Play and have fun!

2 oz. Bourbon
1/4 oz. Green Chartreuse 
1/2 oz. Coconut milk
1/2 oz. Pineapple Juice
1/4 oz. Lemon Juice
2 drops Orange Bitters

Combine all ingredients into a tin shaker with ice and shake vigorously until the tin is very cold to the touch.  Fine strain into your glass and garnish with edible flowers and coconut crisps.

I'm excited to hear from my fellow Sippin Gypsies!! Tell me what you think of this wintery tropical cocktail and please let me know what variations you try!