Absinthe Special Cocktail

Look familiar?

Absinthe Special Cocktail:

• 1 1/2 oz. Absinthe
• 1 oz. water
• 1/4 tsp. sugar (1/2 tsp. simple syrup)
  
• 1 dash orange bitters

Shake and strain into 3 oz. Cocktail glass

Very, very similar to the Absinthe Cocktail. The difference is a bit more water and using sugar as the sweetener, rather than Anisette. The difference is pretty pronounced, though. The flavors in this drink are much cleaner, and the orange bitters really shine. Before having opened this book I never would have thought I would enjoy the flavor combination of orange and anise, but it's really pleasant. This is a keeper.

I should have scaled back the water a touch since there is water in the simple syrup, but I forgot. The extra water in the recipe is specifically because you're making a simple syrup in the drink, so you need a little more to get the dilution correct. I will (almost) unfailingly use simple syrup in a drink rather than granulated sugar for one big reason: sugar doesn't dissolve well at a low temperature or in alcohol, two things that are rampant in the cocktail shaker. So it's way too easy to leave a drink feeling a bit gritty if you just throw some sugar in and call it good, unless you really, really shake or stir it. It's a feel thing, and there are definitely some drinks that prefer a sugar cube or granulated sugar, but it's usually for a good reason.

This being the last "Absinthe" cocktail, the Absinthe Frappe is notably, umm, absent from good Old Mr. Boston. Shame. Try it sometime.