As feared, I fell behind already! I must admit the first two posts in this series were done a month ago 🙁
Time to catch up and get some Absinthe drinking in. Following our Absinthe Cocktail, the Absinthe Drip Cocktail is next in line. Since this is the way we generally enjoy Absinthe, we didn’t need to recreate it to know how it tastes.
The Absinthe Drip Cocktail is the traditional way to drink this high proof anise flavored spirit. For those of you who are new to Absinthe drinking, here’s a quick instruction on how to prepare the Absinthe Drip Cocktail:
- Add 1-1/2 ounces of Absinthe to a Pontarlier Glass (Mr. Boston’s notes an Old Fashioned glass – I think they mean a lowball)
- Place an Absinthe spoon atop the glass along with 1 sugar cube
- Slowly drip ice cold water over the sugar into the glass until the cube is dissolved. We normally add 3 times the water to Absinthe but Mr. Boston’s says to fill the glass. Personally I’d find that too watered down, so you might want to play around with that.
I put together this video years ago and it is ready for a refresher. But if you’d like to see the drink in action here you are 🙂
The Absinthe Frappe is next on the docket. The first hurdle I saw with this cocktail is the need for Syrup of Anisette.
I did some digging but didn’t find a good source for said syrup. Torani used to make an Anise Syrup but they seem to have discontinued it.
Having plenty of Anise Seed and Star Pod Anise handy, we tried our hand at making up a batch at home. The process is really easy, just heat up a cup of filtered water on the stove, add a cup of sugar and 2 TSP or so of a ground Anise Seed, Star Pod Anise blend. Boil it until the sugar is fully dissolved, let it cool and filter out the spices into a sealed container.
Adding more Anise to drink that was already heavy on the licorice notes seemed odd but in the spirit of discovery we gave it a go.
As per the instructions we shook the cocktail over ice until the shaker literally froze. Seriously the lid was frozen on and it required some warm water and strength to pry it apart. Frappe is an accurate description!
To my surprise, the addition of Anise was not overpowering and complimented the Absinthe nicely. It has a thicker mouth feel than the Absinthe Drip Cocktail but not as thick as the Absinthe Cocktail. All and all it is an enjoyable 2 oz cocktail.
My next post may be delayed due to a dry Absinthe bottle! We have a new batch infusing. With any luck we will be up and running by the weekend. Fingers crossed…