Boy, did I ever have a happy accident! I was surprised to see I didn’t have any rum in the house EXCEPT Plantation Pineapple. I used that with the two vermouths, *dry* orange curacao, the cheap grenadine and the all important saline spray. It is STUPENDOUS!

I used the tiny dash/spidgen/pinch measuring spoons one can purchase, to get the absinthe, bitters, and orange blossom in perfect Savoy harmony. Wow. It really is a perfect, perfect, drink.

John Le Carré fans: You may remember when George Smiley goes on a drinking binge with Jerry Westerby to get him to “spill.” Jerry’s drink of choice is a Pink Gin, and understanding that he seems to swill them all day, we understand his drinking state of mind. “Pink Gin” also figures quite a bit in Somerset Maugham novels, where it’s the only thing to cut the Malaysian heat.

Hunter was my friend, and he really, really, would have liked reading this. Xoxo YFTR, Susie