The Little Green Book of Absinthe: AnEssential Companion With Lore, Trivia and Classic and Contemporary Cocktails (Perigee/Penguin) is a compact,informative guide that provides exactly what it promises. Authors Paul Owens, aSan Franciscorestaurateur, and Paul Nathan, a professional magician and writer forAbsintheparty.com (who was actually arrested for selling absinthe during theban), present the cocktail's history, basics and trivia. Collaborator DaveHerlong, beverage director and creative mixologist for the N9NE Group venuesinside Las Vegas'Palms Casino Resort, supplies the recipes.
Nathan and Owensidentify three major styles of absinthe. Swiss (blanche) is clear, can beenjoyed without sugar and makes “great martinis and spritzers.” French (verte)is typically more bitter and complex and works well in fruit drinks andpunches. Bohemian absinthe, “more bitter and less complex than French,” hasbeen criticized for being light on the anise and inauthentic, but the authorssay that Bohemian brands should draw criticism for another reason entirely, as“they generally taste horrible.”
A fourth category hasonly one entry, Le Tourment Vert, which Nathan and Owens identify as “the firstcocktail absinthe.” Sweet and versatile, with a lower alcohol content, LeTourment Vert is found in many of TheLittle Green Book's cocktail recipes calling for specific absinthe brandsand types.
The book includes 117recipes, including champagne cocktails, juleps, hot drinks, punches, shots andmartinis. The “Largoyle,” Herlong's first absinthe cocktail, is aninterpretation of the traditional lemon drop. The awesome combination of citrusand absinthe is repeated in a variety of refreshing cocktails, like the“Laneside Lemonade” with 1 ounce Grande Absente absinthe, 2 ounces lemonade and2 ounces 7Up.
Absinthe makes a greatwarm-weather cocktail, but it also lends itself to hot drinks, mixing well withcoffee and hot chocolate (Spiked J-fat Chocolate: 8 ounces hot chocolate 1ounce Obsello Absinthe) or adding to the classic Hot Toddy to form the“Tourment Toddy.”
A few cocktails arenamed for and inspired by absinthe enthusiast Ernest Hemingway. “HemingwayRevolution” stars “robust red fruits, raspberry liqueur, cranberry juice,raspberry purée, and crème de cassis,” and is recommended as a dinner ordessert drink. “Hemingway's Dream” iswhere “the daiquiri meets the mojito.” And, of course, among the most famous ofabsinthe drinks is the classic Hemingway cocktail, “Death in the Afternoon”:half-ounce La Fee Absinthe Parisienne, 4-and-a-half ounces Perrier-JouëtChampagne.
