Classic cocktail · Guided recipe
Chartreuse Swizzle
Start makingA modern tiki swizzle built on herbal green Chartreuse with pineapple and lime — bright, complex and vivid green.
In the glassGreen Chartreuse · Pineapple juice · Fresh lime juice · Honey syrup
See exact amounts
What goes in
Ingredients
Set up before you pour
Use a highball glass.
The tall, straight shape leaves room for plenty of ice and mixer while keeping a long drink lively.
- Standard size
- 350 ml11¾ oz
- Ice & serve
- Pack it generously with crushed ice.
- If you don’t own one
- Use a Collins glass or any tall, straight-sided tumbler.
- jigger or measuring spoon
- Green Chartreuse45 ml
- Pineapple juice30 ml
- Fresh lime juice22 ml
- Honey syrup8 ml
From bottle to glass
Method
- 01
Ice the glass Fill the glass with crushed ice
- 02
Measure and pour Pour 45 ml green chartreuse
Green Chartreuse
- 03
Measure and pour Add 30 ml pineapple juice
Pineapple juice
- 04
Measure and pour Add 22 ml fresh lime juice
Fresh lime juice
- 05
Measure and pour Add 8 ml honey syrup
Honey syrup
- 06
Stir around the ice Stir gently to combine
- 07
Finish the drink Finish it — add a sprig of mint
Know your drink
About the Chartreuse Swizzle
Buying green Chartreuse
Green Chartreuse is still made by Carthusian monks to a recipe they have never published, and since the order capped production a few years ago the bottle has been hard to find and expensive when you do. There is no clean substitute. A génépy gets you the alpine herbs at half the intensity, which is fine in a drink where Chartreuse is a modifier and hopeless in one where it's the base.
San Francisco bartender Marcovaldo Dionysos is credited with the recipe, which he put together in the early 2000s, when Chartreuse was something bartenders had to talk customers into. Pineapple was the key. It's one of the few juices sweet and assertive enough to sit under 45 ml of it without being erased, and the swizzle itself is Caribbean, a technique built for exactly this kind of high-proof problem.
Common questions
Chartreuse Swizzle FAQ
Can I pour the yellow bottle at 45 ml?
You can, but you'll be making a different drink. Yellow is 40% ABV against green's 55%, sweeter and led by saffron and honey rather than mint and pine. Cut the honey syrup to a bar spoon and push the lime up to 25 ml to keep it from going cloying.
Do I need an actual swizzle stick?
No. A long barspoon works: drop it in, spin it between your palms and pump it up and down until frost climbs the outside of the glass. That frost is the signal — you're chilling and diluting at the same time, and the dilution is part of the recipe, not a side effect.
Why does mine taste like a shot of liqueur?
Almost always not enough ice. Forty-five milliliters of 55% Chartreuse needs real dilution, and crushed ice delivers it fast. Pack the glass to the rim, swizzle until it frosts, then top with more crushed ice and let it sit a minute before you drink.
Does pressing my own pineapple make a real difference to the head?
It helps more here than in most drinks. Fresh juice is tarter, foams into a head, and carries a green edge that meets the Chartreuse halfway. Canned juice is pasteurized and sweeter, so if that's what you have, pull the honey syrup out entirely.
What ingredients are in a Chartreuse Swizzle?
A classic Chartreuse Swizzle calls for 45 ml (1.5 oz) Green Chartreuse, 30 ml (1 oz) Pineapple juice, 22 ml (0.75 oz) Fresh lime juice, 8 ml (0.25 oz) Honey syrup. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.
How strong is a Chartreuse Swizzle?
A standard Chartreuse Swizzle is roughly 24% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it spirit-forward — closer to a Martini than to a beer, so sip it slowly.
Is a Chartreuse Swizzle shaken or stirred?
A Chartreuse Swizzle is stirred, not shaken. It contains no citrus juice, so stirring keeps it crystal clear and silky instead of cloudy and aerated.
Sharpen the technique
Skills used in this recipe
How to stir a cocktail for a silky finish
Control chilling and dilution without adding the bubbles and texture of a shake.
Read the guide
Cocktail ice: cubes, crushed ice and dilution
Understand why ice is an ingredient—and choose the right shape for every drink.
Read the guide
Fresh citrus for cocktails: juice, wedges and balance
Get brighter lime, lemon and grapefruit flavor with better prep and storage.
Read the guideWhere to go next
If you like the Chartreuse Swizzle, try these.
Bermuda Rum Swizzle
Bermuda’s national drink: dark rum swizzled with pineapple, orange, lime and grenadine over crushed ice. A whole beach in a glass.
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Queen’s Park Swizzle
A Trinidadian showpiece: mint and lime swizzled with rum over crushed ice, crowned with a dark cap of Angostura. As pretty as a mojito, with more depth.
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Gin Swizzle
Built in the glass rather than shaken: gin, lime and sugar over crushed ice, churned with a stick until the outside of the glass frosts white. Angostura goes on last and works its way down, so the first sips are spiced and the final ones are clean.
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