The Gin and Pastis London Fog Is Meant to Clear Your Mind

If a Bloody Mary or Mimosa isn’t doing the trick, try adding the London Fog to your Sunday morning brunch cocktail repertoire. The cocktail is made simply with gin and pastis—an anise-flavored, lower proof cousin of absinthe. Although it’s stiff and boozy, it's also a refreshing cocktail designed to ease the mind, calm the digestive system, and prepare you for the day ahead. The name references the cocktail’s foggy appearance (thanks to the pastis), but the drink promises to clear a hazy head after a long night. According to The Stork Club Bar Book by Lucius Morris Beebe, it was a favorite hangover cure of actor Burgess Meredith, who you might know as the Penguin in the 1960s Batman series.

The key to a truly delicious London Fog is shaved or crushed ice. Cubed ice just won’t do—it doesn’t dilute the cocktail enough. So if you’re going to make this drink, make it right and crush up some ice using either a mallet and a Lewis bag or a blender. If you’re the one suffering and in need of a London Fog to cure your hangover, it’s best to get someone else to do the smashing or blending for you. And be sure not to leave out the lemon twist. The vibrant oils bring out the sweeter notes in the pastis and the citrus of the gin (which should be London Dry, obviously).