The Bijou — French for "jewel" — stacks three gems in one glass: diamond-clear gin, emerald Chartreuse, and ruby sweet vermouth. It appears in the 1900 edition of Harry Johnson's Bartenders' Manual, and it drinks exactly like its era: rich, herbal, unapologetically intense. Equal parts is the historical spec and still the honest one — this is a drink for people who think Chartreuse is a main course, not a seasoning.
Three jewels in one glass, and the emerald does most of the talking.
History
Harry Johnson — Jerry Thomas's great rival for the title of America's first celebrity bartender — printed the Bijou in the 1900 revision of his Bartenders' Manual, and the jewel conceit is usually credited to him: gin for diamond, Chartreuse for emerald, vermouth for ruby. Whether Johnson invented the drink or codified something already circulating is, as with most drinks of the period, not provable.
Like much of the pre-Prohibition canon it vanished for decades, then returned when the craft revival made green Chartreuse a back-bar essential again. The Last Word gets the headlines; the Bijou is its stirred, moodier cousin.
The Spec
Equal parts, stirred cold, orange bitters to knit the seams. Some modern bars dry it out to a 1 1/2 : 3/4 : 3/4 gin-forward build; start with the original and decide for yourself.
Green Chartreuse Carries the Drink
At 110 proof and 130-odd botanicals, green Chartreuse is the loudest voice in any room it enters. Here it gets a full third of the glass, so the drink lives or dies on it — there is no substitute, and yellow Chartreuse makes a different (gentler, honeyed) cocktail.
Stir It Cold
All three ingredients are intense; what the Bijou needs from you is dilution and temperature. Stir a full 30 seconds — a slightly overstirred Bijou is friendlier than an understirred one.
Bottom Line
The Bijou is maximalism from an age that didn't apologize for it. If the Last Word is your favorite drink, this is your favorite drink's grandparent — richer, darker, and stirred instead of shaken.