absinthe

Recipe (this one’s a doozy)
NOTE: This recipe is in PARTS, not ounces. Please be wise.

.75 gin
.5 vodka
.5 brandy
.5 light rum
.5 blended scotch
.5 irish whiskey
.5 tequila
.25 rye
.5 apricot liqueur
.25 raspberry liqueur
3 dashes cinnamon bitters (or 1 tsp Fireball — trust me on this)
.25 oz Absinthe and .125 oz Green Chartreuse for float
Lemon Peel, expressed and as garnish

Stir all ingredients (except the ingredients for the float) in a mixing glass until VERY chilled and diluted. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Express the lemon peel over the drink and garnish with the peel.

* * * *

Today is Pentecost, which is all about the Holy Spirit descending and indwelling Christians, creating unity out of a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual group of people. So, I wanted to create a cocktail that had as many “spirits” from as many regions as possible (get it?).

I ended up doing a riff on the strongest known cocktail in the world, the Aunt Roberta Cocktail (really neat history behind that drink, by the way). It has 12 ingredients (the symbolism gets a little nuts here), and what came out was an even stronger drink that is surprisingly balanced and soft for all that’s in it.

Seriously, give this a try. It will be worth your time and effort. It is one drink, with many parts. And it is beautiful.

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Recipe

1.5oz Gin
1.5oz Light Rum
.25 Anisette Liquer
.5 barspoon Absinthe
3 dashes Rhubarb Bitters
Express a lime peel over the top

Stir all ingredients in mixing glass and strain into a martini glass or coupe. Express the oils of a lime peel over the top. No garnish.

* * * *

For a several years now, I have celebrated my annual “baptism birthday” to reflect on my baptism, my membership in the family of God, and the seal of assurance God has on me.

It’s beautiful and meaningful, and it deserved a cocktail. And, seeing as yesterday was the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, this seems like a good time to share it with you.

My goal was to make a drink like baptism–it looks like it’s just water but there’s a lot more going on.

Boy, did I succeed.

The drink is a lovely balance of floral and nutty with some herbal spice to it. These flavors really meld well together to create a complex bouquet of flavors that’s really striking (why don’t more drinks mix gin and rum!?).

This drink is a favorite of mine for its meaning, aesthetic, and taste, and I hope it can become that way to you. As you drink it, remember your own baptism and the promise of God to mark you and keep you as his child.

Ingredients

I used a juicy, citrus-forward, and very flavorful gin rather than a dry gin. For the rum, I used Maggie’s Farm White Rum, which is fantastic and has more character than most light rums, but whatever you have should work fine. Absinthe is an acquired taste, but it’s used in such small quantities and there are enough competing strong flavors that Absinthe-haters should not fear. It’s a lovely accent on the drink.

The only somewhat obscure ingredients are the bitters and liqueur. I supposed you could use orange bitters in place of rhubarb, but only if they are a very strong sweet orange flavor. The Fee Brothers Rhubarb Bitters taste almost like sweet tarts, with a unique strong burst of flavor (it’s especially delicious added to plain seltzer). So if you can get your hands on those, they’re worth your time.

Lastly, when most people think of Anise in cocktails, they think absinthe, but the liqueur is a very different beast. Absinthe begins with anise, but adds a lot of bittering agents. Anisette adds sugar, coriander, and other ingredients that make a very sweet, nutty flavor. So much so that you might be able to substitute Amaretto into this drink.