How to prepare an absinthe:

How to prepare an absinthe:


Pour a generous dose (1.5 oz/4-5cl) of absinthe into a tall glass. Slowly drip ice cold water into the absinthe, until it is diluted by 3 to 5 times the amount of the shot and turns completely cloudy. Adjust dose and water to your personal taste.

Absinthe Drip (the traditional 'French absinthe ritual')

Pour a generous dose (1.5 oz/4-5cl) of absinthe into a tall glass. Place a slotted absinthe spoon over the glass and set a cube of sugar on the spoon. Slowly drip ice cold water through the sugar into the absinthe, until it is diluted by 3 to 5 times the amount of the shot and turns completely cloudy. Adjust to your personal taste. By the end of the 19th century, hundreds of styles of absinthe spoons were designed to compliment the performance of this 'ritual', which for some purists could take 20 minutes to complete!

A dripper can be used, where ice is added to a dripper cup placed on top of a glass which is then filled slowly with water - the ice-water drips through a small hole into the absinthe below.
According to Tom Bullock's famous 1917 cocktail book 'The Ideal Bartender', this method should be offered up "when the customer asks for Absinthe without specifying any particular style of service."
This was Ernest Hemingway's favorite absinthe-preparing device.

Absinthe Suissesse

Absinthe Suissesse

This cocktail is a staple at The Old Absinthe House in New Orleans - it's simple to make and ideal for a hot summer's day. It is also one of the finest 'morning after' remedies you will ever taste.

- 1½ ounces (40 ml) absinthe
- ½ ounce (15 ml) orgeat syrup
- 1 egg white
- ½ ounce (15 ml) single cream
- 4 ounces (120 g) shaved ice

Combine all ingredients in a blender, blend for 5 seconds and serve in a chilled cocktail glass.

Dirty Secret

Dirty Secret

So simple, yet so effective! We can't understand why no one thought of it before.

1 measure Enigma verte absinthe
3 measures cola
garnish with a lime wedge

Pour 25ml of absinthe into a Old Fashioned glass filled with cracked ice, top up with cola and squeeze the lime over the glass. Garnish with the lime wedge.

This really is a Dirty secret, it looks dirty and the secret is in the kick provided by the absinthe.

Sazerac

New Orleans is said by some to be the birthplace of the cocktail (tonic drinks were served out of a French egg-cup called a 'coquetier' - which when incorrectly pronounced became 'cocktail' ) and not surprisingly, some of the best absinthe cocktails come from this city. This drink is considered by some as the first 'cocktail' ever invented; it was created by a New Orleans pharmacy in the early 19th century to ward off tropical malaise!

- 1 ounce absinthe (used as rinse)
- 2 ounces Cognac Sazerac-de-Forge (now sadly extinct!) - you will need another cognac. Rye whisky became a popular substitute and though mistakenly considered a part of the original recipe, makes a fine version.
- 3 dashes Peychaud's Bitters
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar or simple syrup (ideally Gomme syrup, if you can find it)

Add absinthe to glass, drop an ice cube to chill and slightly louche absinthe, swirl to coat sides and bottom, then drain absinthe. Add rest of ingredients, shake with more ice and strain into an Old-Fashion glass (or an egg-cup), garnish with lemon peel.

Panachée

One of the earliest known absinthe mixtures. The addition of anisette adds sweetness to the drink, while reinforcing the feeling of 'freshness'.
It was commonly considered the only way a 'lady' should consume absinthe.
If you order a 'panachée' today at a French café, you will get beer mixed with lemonade - actually quite good on a hot day, but not at all the same thing!

- one shot of absinthe
- one shot of anisette
- fill with ice-water in the same fashion as first described above

Absinthe Frappé

The most famous of all American absinthe preparations.
A song named after it and about it, from the 1904 Broadway operetta 'It Happened In Nordland' written by the renowned Victor Herbert, was so scandalously popular that it helped to instigate absinthe's demise in the Unitied States! For the lyrics to this song, scroll to Glenn MacDonough 1867-1924, who wrote the words to the music.

Pour a large shot of absinthe into a tall glass containing plenty of crushed ice, top up with ice water and shake or add sparkling water. A spoonful of sugar or simple syrup* can be added to taste.
Frappé (pronounced 'frap-ay') can have two meanings: in France, it is 'to serve ice cold' and in the USA, to serve shaken with ice or partially frozen.

*Simple syrup: Boil a pot of water, take it off the heat and stir in one pound of sugar to each half pint of water until completely dissolved. When cooled, pour into bottles for keeping. Simple syrup can be easily used as a substitute for granulated sugar or cubes.

Absinthe Martini - European style

If you order a "Martini" in Europe, you will be served a Martini & Rossi red vermouth on the rocks - this aperitif has existed since long before the 'classic' gin + dash of white vermouth + olive = Martini was invented. In most cases, if you want a 'dry gin Martini' in Europe, you will have to teach the bartender how to make it.
The mixture below was created around the beginning of the 20th century, when it became fashionable in France to drink 'American-style' cocktails.

- 1.5 ounces Martini red vermouth
- 1 dash absinthe
- 1 dash orange bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.


Tremblement de Terre (Earthquake)

Created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (and possibly drunk only by him, as this drink really stunts your growth) - an extraordinarily strong mix that can also ruin both ingredients. Try a lower alcohol absinthe such as a Swiss La Bleue or Pernot White Fairy.

- half absinthe
- half cognac (don't use the Louis XIII - in fact a rustic Armagnac can be a better choice)

Dose both half volumes according to mood and combine in a brandy snifter. Swirl well to avoid eye-tearing. An ice cube and a splash of water will be a welcome addition.

Alternatively, recent research has shown that this cocktail benefits by being prepared in an absinthe glass and dosed with cold water, as one would prepare a traditional absinthe. Quite drinkable!

75

The original cocktail (or fear-preventative) was created during World War I and named after the French 75mm artillery cannon. In the 1920's, the 'French 75' - something completely different, and without absinthe, was created by Harry's American Bar in Paris.

- 1 teaspoonful of absinthe
- 2/3 ounce Calvados (French apple brandy)
- 1/3 ounce genièvre

Shake with ice and strain into canteen.

Death in the Afternoon

A recipe verified in the 1935 humoristic celebrities' cocktail book titled
'So Red the Nose, or Breath in the Afternoon' edited by the famous journalist and author Sterling North and Carl Kroch.
Hemingway wrote: "This was arrived at by the author and three officers of the H.M.S. Danae after having spent seven hours overboard trying to get Capt. Bra Saunders' fishing boat off a bank where she had gone with us in a N.W. gale."
It seems highly unlikely that Hemingway would have drunk this concoction if given a choice. In most cases the mixture ruins both ingredients, which would have annoyed him. In this case, they most likely took advantage of the mixture to ward off the effects of a bad day in rough water, as champagne was considered a sea-sickness 'cure'.

- 1 jigger of absinthe added to a champagne flute
- Add iced champagne until it attains the proper opalescence.
- A small amount of sugar or Gomme syrup can be added to round it out, especially when using a verte absinthe.

In honor of the novel it was named after, why not use a Spanish Cava instead?


Long Island Iced Green Tea

A novel twist on a classic recipe. Make up as for a Long Island Iced tea but substitute 1/2 a measure of absinthe for the Tequila.

1 measure rum
1 measure triple sec
1 measure vodka
1 measure gin
1/2 measure absinthe
juice of 1 small lemon

Combine ingredients over ice, shake and serve in a tall glass over ice. Add a dash of coke and garnish with a lemon slice.

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