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The Cheeky Monkey Cocktail is a little different from our usual mixes.
Sure, it’s still quick and easy to make, but it has a rather niche ingredient in it: Yellow Chartreuse.
With Yellow Chartreuse, you mix Vodka, Orange Juice, and Orange Bitters to make a tasty but rather out-there blend.
You just have to try it!
How do you make a Cheeky Monkey? What even is Yellow Chartreuse…?
Great questions! Let’s get into it!
…Or jump directly to the recipe.
What’s a Cheeky Monkey Cocktail?
What’s a Cheeky Monkey?
…is the exact question I thought that ran through my mind when I saw the cocktail on a menu of a swanky cocktail bar some years back.
I’d never heard of it before and I love trying new cocktails.
Then I looked at the ingredients: Vodka, Yellow Chartreuse, Orange Juice, and Orange Bitters…
…wait. What even is Yellow Chartreuse? (you can find out more about Yellow Chartreuse below).
It didn’t matter. I ordered the cocktail and I loved it. The flavour was so different: orange citrus overtones, resting on strong herbal undertones.
It was fantastic – you have to try it.
What Ingredients do you need to make a Cheeky Monkey Cocktail?
Before we get into the Cheeky Monkey cocktail recipe, let’s take a look at some of the ingredients we need to make it.
Vodka
We compared 12 different brands of Vodka and determined that Smirnoff was the overall best option. Given the current climate with Russia, that may seem like a questionable choice, but Smirnoff isn’t made in Russia, it’s made all over the world.
It actually has a history of Russian persecution and the creators were forced to flee Russia.
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Yellow Chartreuse
Chartreuse is a French herbal liqueur that’s made in two varieties:
- Yellow
- Green
These differ in taste an alcohol levels.
In one form or another, Chartreuse has been around since the 1600s, being perfected by monks in 1737 and was intended to be used for medicinal purposes.
Yellow Chartreuse is made from cinnamon, mace, lemon balm, dried hyssop flower tops, peppermint, thyme, costmary, arnica flowers, genepi, angelica roots, cardamom seeds and socctrine aloes.
For Yellow Chartreuse Liqueur, we recommend:
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Orange Bitters
Orange Bitters is an alcohol cocktail ingredients aimed at providing drinks with a bitter orange flavour.
Orange Bitters are made using peels of Seville oranges, cardamon, caraway seed, coriander, anise, and burnt sugar in a alcohol base.
For Orange Bitters, we recommend:
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How do You Garnish a Cheeky Monkey Cocktail?
The Cheeky Monkey Cocktail is garnished with a slice of orange to compliment the orange citrus flavours of the drink.
What Cocktail Equipment do you need to make a Cheeky Monkey Cocktail?
Now we know what goes into the Cheeky Monkey, but what do you need to make it?
Let’s take a look at some of the cocktail equipment we’ll need to make it.
…Or just click here to skip directly to the recipe!
Cocktail Shaker
Cocktail shakers improve the taste of cocktails. It’s a fact.
There’s a reason that famed British spy James Bonds says "shaken, not stirred". And that reason is: because it tastes better.
If you don’t already have a cocktail shaker set, you might want to check out our detailed Cocktail Shaker comparison article.
But to cut a long story short, here’s the cocktail shaker we recommend:
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Jigger
It’s important to get the mix of any cocktail right. The measurements are set for a reason – to specify a tried, tested, and tasty drink.
A jigger is going to help you get those perfect measurements – after all, it is what the pro’s use.
For a jigger, we recommend:
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Strainer
If you (or perhaps the person your buying for) don’t have a Hawthorne strainer as part of a cocktail shaker set, it’s a great, and incredibly useful, cocktail gift you need in your cocktail toolbox.
The strainer is typically used to remove the ice (or any other unwanted solid ingredients) from your cocktail as it’s poured from the cocktail shaker into your glass.
For a Hawthorne Strainer, we recommend:
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Cocktail Glass
This cocktail recipe tastes great, but let’s make it look great too.
Having the right glass for the right cocktail always makes the experience more enjoyable in my experience.
And the right glass is a cocktail glass.
We recommend:
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Cheeky Monkey Recipe
Before we get into the recipe, here are some tips and tricks to take the cocktail to the next level.
Mixing Tips
- Yellow Chartreuse is the softer, sweeter, honeyed sister of the green. It rounds the orange out rather than taking over.
- Squeeze the oranges fresh; the juice is the biggest part of the drink.
- One dash of bitters is plenty: it sharpens the orange and dries the finish.
- Chill the glass first, as the drink is served straight up with no ice.
The Recipe
Recipe card
Cheeky Monkey
Ingredients
Makes 1 drink.
Method
- Add Ice to a cocktail shaker.
- Use a jigger to measure out Vodka, Yellow Chartreuse Liqueur, Orange Juice, and Orange Bitters into the shaker.
- Shake well until the shaker is cold to the touch.
- Strain into a Cocktail Glass.
- Garnish with a slice of orange
