Cool Refreshing Wormwood. Some Easy, Ice Cold Absinthe Drinks For A Ridiculously Hot Day.
Today it hit 100F here in Providence (~38C for those of you in first world countries) and I relegated myself to the only room in the house, besides the bedroom, that has air conditioning. My plan was to sit and do some light reading while listening to some music while I chilled with the old rat. He seemed happy with the idea, as much as the old curmudgeon expresses happiness anyway, and I settled down to some blues and Thomas Ligotti.
Just as I started the book, the music tragically stopped as my internet shut down because I’m a sucker with a subscription to Cox. With a good deal of time spent troubleshooting and sporadic teases at the internet’s failing return, I lost my desire to read and decided to completely shut down all electronics save for the AC and figure out something else to do. Hmm, what was there to do on a blisteringly hot day in the only room in the house that had AC..? the Bar.
Mint Tea Absinthe Frappe
1 1/2 oz LaClandestine Absinthe
1/2 oz Mint Tea Syrup
8 leaves Mint
2 oz Soda Water
Muddle Mint with Syrup then add ice and Absinthe. Shake well and double strain into an ice filled Collins, unless you want leaf bits in your drink. Garnish with a sprig of Mint.
I made this with a Mint Tea Syrup I made a little while ago as I felt that the slightly Vanilla flavored Brown Sugar Gomme Syrup I just made wouldn’t pair well here and I didn’t have any regular Simple Syrup. I chose one of my favorite La Bleues for this as it seemed like a nice clear Absinthe would add to the refreshingness of this drink, though the syrup did turn it dark. I must say, it turned out rather well and I’m really happy about how much fullness the Mint Tea Syrup gives here.
Momissette
1 oz Butterfly Absinthe
1/4 oz BG Reynolds Original Orgeat
4 oz Seltzer
Build in a Collins over crushed ice. Fill with Seltzer and give it a gentle stir.
This is a lovely drink that gave the the chance to try out the BG Reynolds Orgeat that I got from Awesomedrinks.com. While I do enjoy making my own, it’s nice to be able to get a really good one on the market. This drink went down surprisingly easy, but then, Butterfly mixes so well with everything. I think I may actually prefer this to the Frappe, it’s much more Absinthe forward in a thirst-quenchng way.
Black Mirror
3/4 oz Haint Absinthe
3/4 oz Averna Amaro
3/4 oz Brown Sugar Gomme Syrup
1/2 oz BG Reynolds Falernum
5 drops Bitter Truth Pimento Bitters
1 spash Soda Water
5-6 Mint Leaves
Gently bruise Mint in an Old Fashioned glass. Fill with pebble ice and add the Absinthe, Syrup, Averna, and Falernum. Top with Soda and space out 5 drops of Bitters.
This last one is one of my own with a couple of changes blending MY version of a drink called “Black Mirror” with one found on Kindred Cocktails made by Rafa García Febles. We both pattered ours after The Broken Mirror, but went in slightly different directions. I decided to try and blend these 2 together as the other version uses a Vanilla Syrup which my Brown Sugar Gomme Syrup has a lean towards. I still didn’t use lime juice and instead, again,m used Averna. This gave me the chance to also try the BG Reynolds Falernum I got at the same time I got the Orgeat.
All of these turned out rather well and all work as cool-me-downs without resorting to slushes of sickeningly sweet mixes. I may even update my old version of the Black Mirror in the list of Blackened Cocktails to this one .
