If you don’t like Pernod, you probably shouldn’t read any further. Personally, I find anything flavored like anise seed to be delicious—licorice, fennel, absinthe, Pernod, Herbsaint, you name it. But I know that my tastes are not universal, so I feel obligated to warn you that there is anise coming. And a lot of it.

The cocktail called London Fog is named for the famous greenish pea soup fog of London—which was not a fog at all. The color was actually a result of air pollution, a sickly-colored smog produced by the burning of coal, which mixed with the natural fog from the Thames and so suffused the city of London during the Victorian period that people thought it was a natural atmospheric condition of the city. The phenomenon of London Fog slowly disappeared as electricity replaced coal as household fuel, and today that piece of Victoriana has passed into obscurity. At least we still have this cocktail to remind us of that long-lost color, though the flavor is significantly better.

1½ oz London Dry gin
¼ oz Pernod

Add ingredients to a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Serve.

This is a small aperitif cocktail, one best served very cold and before dinner. The flavor of the Pernod mixes in a lovely, friendly way with the herbal flavors of the gin, creating a surprisingly bright, pleasantly assertive tipple. It wakes up your taste buds and does a little dance all the way down. It’s a fun, kicky little drink and, somehow, especially perfect for cold weather.