Robert Simonson's new book The Old-Fashioned is quickly becoming one of my favorite cocktail books. Expect a review of it on Stay at Home Cocktails sometime soon. For now, bask in the glory that is the Absinthe Old Fashioned. It's a recipe Simonson got from the restaurant Rye in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Absinthe Old Fashioned
To make an Absinthe Old Fashioned, stir with ice:
1 1/2 oz Kubler absinthe
1 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
and strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube. Then float a few dashes of Peychaud's bitters on top.
This is one fan-freakin-tastic drink. I'm serious. I don't even like absinthe most of the time, certainly not when it is the base spirit of a drink. I don't licorice whips, either. Go figure.
But the absinthe, while not subtle here, is more like a driving grace note. Kind of like when you listen to Queen's "Under Pressure" and then to Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice, Baby." That extra grace note in Vanilla Ice's sample makes all the difference. Well, maybe not, but you can at least hear the difference. And that's the anise flavor here. It's there; you can smell it; you can taste it; but it's a grace note, like an accent. You taste it every time, but it's just like another floral note, another floral taste.
I'm not kidding: this drink is great. But be careful. Absinthe is powerful stuff, especially the 56% ABV Kubler stuff.
But have one or two Absinthe Old Fashioneds and you may change your mind about absinthe. Just like I have.
