Maiden's Blush No.2

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How to make:

1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
2. Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.
3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
5. EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Review:

A mere spoon of blanche absinthe washes over ten times as much Old Tom gin in this complex sour which is delicately balanced by a splash of raspberry syrup.

History:

Adapted from a recipe in Louis Fouquet's 1896 Bariana: Recueil de toutes boissons americains et anglaises (Bariana: Compendium of all American and English drinks), the second known earliest French cocktail book.

The Maiden's Blush also appears in Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book with two versions, No.1 with orange curaçao and No.2 with absinthe and the following recipe:
"1/3 Absinthe
2/3 Dry Gin
1 Teaspoon Grenadine
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass."

Fouquet's recipe calls for 2 parts absinthe to 1 part Old Tom gin while Craddock's stipulates 2 parts gin to 1 part absinthe. Even in Craddock's 2:1, the absinthe dominates the gin so our recipe above uses 10 parts gin to 1 part absinthe. Hence you may want to reduce the gin and up the proportion of absinthe according to taste.

Nutrition:

One serving of Maiden's Blush No.2 contains 150 calories.

Alcohol content:

• 1.2 standard drinks
• 18.56% alc./vol. (37.12° proof)
• 17.2 grams of pure alcohol