Category — Absinthe

Once per month cocktail fiends band together to create a booze-soaked collection of cocktail recipes for Mixology Monday.  This month’s host is Sonja of Thinking of Drinking, who chose absinthe as the theme.  From Sonja –

The topic for February is Absinthe. That much maligned, misunderstood, mistreated spirit, suddenly plentiful again in the US and other parts of the world. Absinthe played a role, whether large or small, in a variety of great cocktails from the 1800s and early 1900s – the Sazerac, Absinthe Suissesse, Corpse Reviver No. 2… I’m getting thirsty. So let’s celebrate absinthe’s history, and it’s future, with all manner of cocktails using absinthe.

I drink my fair share of Sazeracs and Corpse Revivers, and for good reason – they’re delicious.  But I wanted a drink that showcases absinthe as more than just a rinse or dash; and rather than going the route of an Absinthe Frappe, I decided to meet absinthe halfway.  So for this round of Mixology Monday, I’ve pulled out a cocktail that uses just enough absinthe to lightly slap you in the face, without knocking your teeth out – the Chrysanthemum Cocktail.

This little fellow is one of the few cocktails that uses vermouth as its main ingredient.  In fact, it uses a hearty two ounces of vermouth. Joined by one ounce of Benedictine and a teaspoon of absinthe, the Chrysanthemum comes together beautifully.  The floral vermouth tempers the strong flavors of the Benedictine and absinthe without being lost in the shuffle.

The Chrysanthemum Cocktail

2 ounces dry vermouth
1 ounce Benedictine
1 teaspoon absinthe

Stir with ice until cold, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a wide strip of orange peel.

If each trip out of the house during the holidays—always with the best of intentions to get your shopping done—results in you huddled over a drink at a nearby bar, hiding from the crazed mass, then you may be in luck.  Turns out that Sazerac Company has recreated the original Herbsaint recipe, dating back to 1934, and has bottled it behind a vintage label.  So now a trip to the liquor store is all you need to please your friends and family.  If that doesn’t say Merry Christmas, then I’m not sipping an Old Fashioned at 2:30 in the afternoon.

From NOLA.com –

A new bottle that looks antique will appear on liquor store shelves this week. In honor of the 75th anniversary of Herbsaint, the local Sazerac Company dug into its archives for the original recipe and recreated the absinthe substitute first sold in 1934.

Over the years, the Sazerac company changed the recipe for Herbsaint. The proof was lowered from 100 to 90. The fresh herbs were replaced with extracts. Except for a few loyal drinkers, today it’s mainly used for cooking. The legalization of true absinthe in 2007 made Herbsaint even less popular as a cocktail ingredient.

Two years ago, Kevin Richards of the Sazerac Company found the original recipe. While absinthe is made by distilling the bitter Artemisia absinthium and other herbs, Herbsaint infuses the herbs into a base spirit. A sack filled with herbs, not unlike a giant teabag, is steeped in the alcohol. Because the herbs, such as mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), are not distilled, more of their flavor survives in the final product.

The Sazerac Company plans to produce both the 90 proof Herbsaint and the 100 proof Herbsaint Original, which retails for $34.99. It should be in New Orleans bars and stores this week. The rest of the country won’t get to taste Herbsaint Original until after the New Year.

While the article contends that Herbsaint is most often used for cooking, plenty of bartenders continue to make Sazeracs with Herbsaint, and it fares well in other drinks requiring a pastis, like the Corpse Reviver #2.  But regardless, at $34.99, the 100 proof Herbsaint Original makes a hell of a gift.

This aptly named cocktail traces its origin back to the days when drinking in the morning didn’t have a stigma. When cocktails were breakfast drinks and every man, woman and likely a few children started their day with a smile and a stumble.

Around the turn of the twentieth century, “Corpse Reviver” was a general term similar to “hair of the dog” that denoted a beverage meant to absolve your sins from the previous night’s bender and bring you back from the dead (or at the least, a bad hangover).

The below recipe is adapted from Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails by Ted Haigh.

Ingredients:

1 ounce gin
1 ounce Cointreau
1 ounce Lillet Blanc
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
2 drops absinthe or pastis (Pernod or Herbsaint work well)

Directions:

Shake all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

The Tuxedo Cocktail traditionally uses gin as its base spirit, but  vodka is also a good option.  In fact, as vodka is fairly devoid of flavor, it really lets the other ingredients shine. In this case, those ingredients are dry vermouth, absinthe, maraschino liqueur and orange bitters.

Ingredients:

2 ounces vodka
1 ½ ounces dry vermouth
¼ teaspoon absinthe or anise liqueur substitute
¼ teaspoon Maraschino liqueur
3 dashes orange bitters

Directions:

Combine all ingredients with ice in a mixing glass. Stir well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry or twist of lemon.

While the origins of many cocktails are heatedly debated, clouded in  mystery or just plain lost in a boozy fog, the source of the Sazerac is one thing drinkers can agree upon. Born in New Orleans in 1859, the Sazerac was named by John Schiller, proprietor of the Sazerac Coffee House. While Schiller’s version used cognac as the base spirit, the cocktail evolved to replace cognac with rye whiskey and include a dash of absinthe on top of the traditional sugar and Peychaud’s bitters.

After being banned in the United States for nearly a century, absinthe was legalized in 2007, but many Sazerac recipes continue to call for Herbsaint or Pernod. These anise-flavored liqueurs offer a similar flavor but lack the punch of absinthe. Unlike the Sazerac’s other ingredients, the absinthe is used as a rinse – a small amount is poured into the glass, swirled around to coat the inside of the glass and then poured out (or poured down your throat, if you’re opposed to discarding booze).

Ingredients:

2 ounces rye whiskey
Absinthe (or Herbsaint/Pernod)
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
1 teaspoon bar sugar or simple syrup
Twist of lemon

Directions:

Add rye, sugar and bitters to mixing glass and stir with ice.  Pour small amount of absinthe or anise substitute into a chilled old-fashioned glass.  Swirl to coat the glass and discard the remaining liquid. Strain rye mixture into glass and drop in a twist of lemon.