Name: Death in the Afternoon
Total time: 2 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 10 ml Absinthe; 5 ml Sugar syrup (2:1); 135 ml Brut sparkling wine

Death in the Afternoon
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Serve in a Flute glass

Ingredients:
¹⁄₃ oz	La Fée Parisienne absinthe
¹⁄₆ oz	Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
4 ¹⁄₂ oz	Brut champagne/sparkling wine

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select a Flute glass.
Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist and rose petal.
POUR first 2 ingredients into chilled glass and briefly stir.
TOP with sparkling wine.
Express lime zest twist over cocktail and discard.
Float rose petal.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Brut champagne/sparkling wine - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Bravado (absinthe) dominates this drink, alongside hints of biscuity champagne. I've added a touch of sugar to tame this hardman's cocktail.

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Variant:

Death in the Gulfstream
Death in Venice

History:

Created by Ernest Hemingway (not just named after his book), this recipe was the author's contribution to a 1935 cocktail book titled So Red the Nose, or Breath in the Afternoon. I've toned down the maestro's original recipe a little as it included a whopping ounce-and-a-half of absinthe. The book stipulates: "Pour 1 jigger of absinthe into a champagne glass, add iced champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink 3 to 5 of these slowly."

This is followed by a note about the drink's origin by Hemingway, "This was arrived at by the author and three officers of H.M.S. Danae after having spent seven hours overboard trying to get Capt. Bra Saunders' fishing boat off a bank where she had gone with us in a N.W. gale." The book continues with a paragraph by its compilers, "It takes a man with hair on his chest to drink five Absinths and Champagne Cocktails and still handle the English language in the Hemingway fashion. But Ernest has proved his valour, not alone in his cups. Captain of the swimming team at Oak Park high school - first American to be wounded on the Italian front during the World War (with 227 individual wounds to his credit) - tossed by a bull in the streets of Pamplona while rescuing his friend Donald Ogden Stewart - deep sea fisherman - big game hunter - and one of the first citizens of Key West - Hemingway is the man who can hold his Absinthe like a postwar novelist."

More cocktails by Ernest Hemingway

Alcohol content:

1.3 standard drinks
12.08% alc./vol. (12.08° proof)
18.1 grams of pure alcohol

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Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 8 comments for Death in the Afternoon.
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Mel McMahon

12th April at 03:41

I love this cocktail. I've made it twice and find 15 ml absinthe is just right. I am not in general an aniseed fan, but it is balanced by the acidity of the bubbles and the colour is amazing. The rich syrup sinks to the bottom of the glass, which might be the idea, but I might use simple syrup next time. I love this for guests because of the fun of the ingredients and origin. I have tried the original and was pinned to the couch by the second sip. You have to do it once but it is more like a feat than a drink.

Sara C

12th January at 19:18

I suggest 1/2 oz of absinthe (no more but certainly not less) and no sugar, plus ice-cold sparkling wine poured very slowly over the absinthe

Andy Parnell-Hopkinson

13th August 2023 at 16:52

All a matter of taste but I prefer without the sugar.

Avery Garnett

26th June 2023 at 19:46

I don't like absinthe - it's the licorice/anise. I like maybe a spritz over the top or a few dashes to add complexity - but this is quite nice. Indeed, it's basically absinthe-flavour prosecco, but that's quite nice.

Simon Bradley

30th July 2022 at 22:08

I’m loving the bouquet on this: like a smelling an expensive perfume. A sum greater than its parts!

John Hinojos

15th May 2021 at 04:23

This is an outstanding Champaign cocktail. We did the recipe as written and it was great. I would recommend a good champaign as you want to make sure you get some of the yeast flavours which you may not get with other sparkling wines.

John Hinojos

15th May 2021 at 04:36

After writing the above, we decided to add a little (about a third more) absinthe. It went from great to OMG. We are both big absinthe drinkers. If you like absinthe you may wish to add more. I will be doing this cocktail again.

Dominic Knights

30th January 2021 at 19:01

What a man !
literary giant, booze guru.
Homage is owed.
love this...just enough La Fee, any more would be too much for me.
My homage is
" Death by Cornish Pastie"
Same ingredients and parts replacing the La Fee Absinthe
with Tarquin's Cornish Pastis.
Taste them side by side.
I think it is a winner...brings a more floral delicate note to the fore
It's a quaffer too!
I think the great man may approve.

Kester Ratcliff

14th June 2020 at 18:13

I mix absinthe with moscato d'asti 1:4-5 like above. Moscato d'asti is much less expensive than champagne and if you're going to add sugar syrup to champagne you might as well have bought Moscato d'asti in the first place. I think I like the fresh fruity flavour of the moscato better with this too.

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