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Absinthe Cocktails Man or Woman does not live by bread or pasta alone. Every now and then you need a stiff drink. And I do mean stiff. So grab a bottle of the newly legal old green fairy, absinthe.

What does one do with this bottle?

Grab a copy of Absinthe Cocktails by Kate Simon with lovely drink photos by Lara Ferroni. Simon who is an editor at Imbibe magazine (hey there are magazines for everything which makes me think you haven't read this month's Modern Ferret, but I digress...). Simon has great contacts with bartenders around the globe so the book features many new spins on absinthe. In addition, it lists all those faves of years gone by like the Corpse Reviver #2.

Here's a spin on the very lady-like Grasshopper from Jackson Cannon at Boston’s Eastern Standard.

Absinthe and Old Lace

1 ounce dry gin
1/2 ounce absinthe verte
1/2 ounce green crème de menthe (Jackson likes Bourdeaux-made Marie Brizard’s)
1/2 ounce simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water)
1/2 ounce half-and-half

Garnish: 1 dash Bittermens’ Xocolatl Mole Bitters or shaved bittersweet chocolate

Fill a stemmed glass with ice and let sit to chill. In a shaker, combine the ingredients and shake without ice to blend. Add ice and shake until chilled. Discard the ice from the stemmed glass, shaking out any excess water. Strain the contents of the shaker into the chilled glass. Garnish.

Having been very fascinated by the deadly absinthe, I am glad to see a drink book offering up many new ideas. If there is a problem, its that the book offers up particular brands of absinthe, vermouth, bitters, gins, until you kind of lose track of what it is you are trying to make. It may not bother some people but it left me distracted. Chronicle Books published this volume and they just love these small, focused, lavishly illustrated tomes. And so do I.

Remember, it's always "after 5" somewhere.

Posted by Lucindaville at 2:37 PM