ABSINTHE COCKTAILS

Drink

Gustav Temple advises cocktail-loving readers how to press into service that dusty old bottle of absinthe in the drinks cabinet

Most of our readers undoubtedly went through their absinthe phase many years ago, and a dusty bottle of the stuff languishes on the bottom shelf of the cocktail cabinet. Unless you are already a huge fan of Ricard, Pastis or Pernod, the milky, liquorice-tinged aperitif with the added ingredient of wormwood soon pales beside far more worthy pre-prandial concoctions such as a large G&T or a Moscow Mule (vodka, lime juice, ginger beer). Not to mention a Dry Martini with five parts gin and a bottle of vermouth through which a single sunbeam from the direction of France has passed,

“The myths that swirled around absinthe when it first came back on the market in the late 1990s were mostly successful marketing intrigues. Absinthe was said to cause hallucinations, make you insane and turn you into some sort of drunken mystic”

Cafe Table With Absinthe by Vincent Van Gogh The Absinthe Drinker by Pablo Picasso

“Recent scientific studies by one of the world’s leading absinthe experts, Ted A. Breaux, “have demonstrated beyond doubt that pre-ban absinthes contained no hallucinogens, opiates or other psychoactive substances. The most powerful ‘drug’ in absinthe is and has always been a high volume of neatly disguised, seductively perfumed alcohol”

or Roger Moore’s technique of freezing a Martini glass, swirling some Noilly Prat and then emptying it, before filling the glass with gin.

The myths that swirled around absinthe when it first came back on the shelves in the late 1990s were mostly successful marketing intrigues. Absinthe was said to cause hallucinations, make you insane and turn you into some sort of drunken mystic. This myth was helped on its way by all the paintings from the Belle Epoque period, fetishising absinthe bottles, glasses and drinkers as if they were tripping the light fantastic. Having been given the nickname of ‘La Fee Vert’ (The Green Faerie) in the late 19th century also boosted the drink’s otherworldly reputation.

The truth is that Absinthe only gives you hallucinations in the same way that drinking a whole bottle of any 70% ABV spirit would. Absinthe does not cause madness, unless you were

a First World War French trooper stuck in the trenches in 1915, with plenty of other insanity factors. It was indeed banned in France in the early 20th century, but mainly in response to strenuous efforts by the Temperance Movement. It was also illegal in the US from 1912 to 2007, but was never banned in the United Kingdom. Recent scientific studies by one of the world’s leading absinthe experts, Ted A. Breaux, “have demonstrated beyond doubt that pre-ban absinthes contained no hallucinogens, opiates or other psychoactive substances. The most powerful ‘drug’ in absinthe is and has always been a high volume of neatly disguised, seductively perfumed alcohol.”

Absinthe takes its name from the herb that gives the drink its flavor, Artemisia absinthium, aka grande wormwood. Wormwood is one of the bitterest herbs on the planet, so it is no surprise that absinthe is such an acquired taste. However, as a cocktail ingredient absinthe is extremely useful, and forms the basis of several classic cocktails, most of which only use absinthe to coat the glass before adding the more palatable ingredients.

The Corpse Reviver No. 2 hails from preProhibition days, with the claimed purpose of rousing the drinker from the dead. It first appeared in print in the 1930 edition of the Savoy Cocktail Book, author Harry Craddock, head barman at the Savoy Hotel, London. Harry also invented the Corpse Reviver No. 1: “To be taken before 11 am, or whenever steam and energy are needed.” The Corpse Reviver No. 2 features gin, Lillet blanc (a kind of French vermouth), orange liqueur and fresh lemon juice, served in a glass that has been rinsed with absinthe. It is a refreshing and invigorating cocktail at any hour of the day, but take heed of Harry Craddock’s counsel: “Four of these taken in swift succession will un-revive the corpse again.”

A more contemporary absinthe cocktail is the Last Resort, created by New York bartender Dushan Zari. It develops the flavours of a Brandy Sour, changing the base spirit to Massenez Poire Williams, a pear brandy, and rinsing the glass beforehand with absinthe.

Who could have invented a cocktail that uses absinthe and champagne other than Ernest Hemingway (who also gave one of his book titles to another absinthe cocktail, The Sun Also Rises)? Death In The Afternoon simply tops up a shot of absinthe with champagne, creating an aperitif that may require the assistance of a corpse reviver no.2 if taken in excessive quantities.

ABSINTHE COCKTAIL RECIPES

A selection of cocktails using absinthe as their base, at least one of which can be made from the existing ingredients of a half-decent cocktail cabinet

CORPSE REVIVER NO.2:

• Absinthe, to rinse • 3/4 oz London dry gin • 3/4 oz Lillet Blanc • 3/4 oz Triple Sec or

Cointreau • 3/4 oz Freshly squeezed lemon juice

Rinse the inside of a chilled coupe or cocktail glass with absinthe, discard the excess and set the glass aside. Shake the gin, Lillet Blanc, orange liqueur and lemon juice in a shaker with ice and strain into the prepared glass.

LAST RESORT:

• 1/4 oz absinthe • 2 oz Massenez Poire

Williams • 3/4 oz lime juice, freshly squeezed • 3/4 oz rich simple syrup • 1 egg white • Garnish: fresh grated nutmeg, 3 dashes

Peychaud’s bitters

Coat the inside of a chilled coupe glass with absinthe and discard the excess. Put the pear brandy, lime juice, simple syrup and egg white into a shaker and vigorously dry-shake (with no ice) to emulsify the egg whites. Fill the shaker with ice and shake until well chilled. Strain into the absinthe-coated glass. Garnish with grated nugmeg and three drops of Peychaud’s Bitters.

Old Absinthe House in New Orleans, 1955

The Sazerac is the absinthe cocktail that has continued to grace most menus in decent cocktail bars, some of which serve it with a shot of absinthe on the side (a ridiculous practice, naturally). Bartenders will argue into the early hours over whether a Sazerac should be made with cognac, bourbon or rye whiskey – some even averring that all three should be present – but the rye version offers the spiciest of flavours. The most important ingredient is the Peychaud’s Bitters. Those who already have Angostura Bitters and baulk at the notion of purchasing a second type of bitters are not those who wish to be taken seriously.

When Creole apothecary Antoine Amédée Peychaud created his bitters in 1830, his intention was not to widen the bitters market or anything as vulgar as that. He simply wished to create bitters based on anise and gentian with a floral, minty aroma, to be used as a medicinal tonic. As a native of New Orleans, where he had fled as a refugee from the island of San Domingo after a slave rebellion, Peychaud would have enjoyed the cocktails popular in Louisiana at the time, mostly brandy-based.

Meanwhile, another local entrepeneur named Sewell T. Taylor became the local agent for French cognac brand Sazerac-du-Forge-et-Fils. Around 1855, the Sazerac was first created, using Taylor’s brandy and Peychaud’s bitters.

Thomas H. Handy bought up both the bar and the bitters recipe when they fell on hard times, renaming the bar as the Sazerac Coffee House. But when the Phylloxera bug wiped out nearly all of France’s cognac production, the house cocktail

The 1807 Absinthe House, still going strong

became almost impossible to produce. Handy panicked and switched rye whiskey for the cognac, and the definitive version of the Sazerac was born. After lobbying in Louisiana by the New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society (surely a song by the Kinks in there?), the Sazerac was finally declared the official cocktail of New Orleans in 2007.

From the Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book of 1931 comes Duchess (not to be confused with a gin-based cocktail called The Duchess), a drink that bears many similarities to a Manhattan, being made with equal parts dry and sweet vermouth, but absinthe instead of bourbon. This is the cocktail among those suggested here with the largest absinthe content, and is therefore recommended for those with their souls firmly rooted in fin-de-siecle Paris. n

DEATH IN THE AFTERNOON:

• 1/3 oz absinthe • 1/6 oz cane sugar syrup • 4 oz champagne

Pour the first two ingredients into a champagne flute and stir. Top up with champagne. Garnish with a rose petal or lemon twist.

SAZERAC:

• 1/3 oz absinthe • 2/3 oz cognac • 2/3 oz bourbon/ rye whiskey • 1/3 oz pure cane sugar syrup • 3 dashes Peychaud’s

Bitters • 1 dash Angostura Bitters

Pour the absinthe into a tumbler, top with water and leave to stand. Shake all the other ingredients over ice in a shaker, empty the tumbler of absinthe and water, and strain the contents of the shaker into the tumbler.

DUCHESS:

• 1 1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth • 1 1/2 oz Extra Dry

Vermouth • 1/2 oz absinthe • 1/2 oz chilled water • 1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir all ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass.