Louise Allen

Delicious! So as not to waste the absinthe I popped the rinse discard into a shot glass and dropped the expressed lemon round into it, served on the side. The drink itself is superb. Well balanced and bittersweet. Putting the absinthe on the side with the lemon makes me yearn for a Prague revisit...

What is fennel tea? Took me ages to spot it but have no idea what it entails

Agreed. I've moved to an 8 on the boozy scale. Your joice of sake will influence the taste. A fun to experiment.

Yes, I am already considering seeing how my sparkling sake will turn out. Make up per spec excluding the sake and the top up in the glass, maybe

I'd say it was more of an 8 on the boozy scale. My partner and I debated whether it was touch on the sweeter side but decided the balance was just about right thanks to the fino and vermouth. Definitely a very pleasant pre-dinner sipper with a crisp clean finish. I'd like to try different sakes to see how that influences the outcome

I tipped the (slightly generous) rinse of maraschino into the drink. It's a very tasty beverage, I was suspicious at the lack of sour but it really doesn't need it. it's very nicely balanced albeit a bit sweeter than I'd usually go for (but see note above that is the likely cause). Now I need to buy more cognac as I made this to use up a bottle.

I really enjoyed this. I'd consider a touch less sugar syrup next time but that may well be down to the ginger beer I used (Fentimans).

A nicely balanced drink. I had picked up some sorrel liqueur while on holiday in Grenada and this is a fine use of it.

Nice and fruity, really quite refreshing. I wouldn't say it was a 7 on the boozy scale, more a 6?

This is very nice. I was out of Suze so used Bols Genever which I think made it a touch sweeter

I used a Havana 3yo but.might try with a darker rum next time. I had it up in a nick and Nora glass but might switch to trying it on a large rock for a little more dilution

Having recently visited Barbados and picked up some Bajan rum, I had to give this another go (for science!) and have to say its superb with Four Square rum.

I only had blanco tequila and mezcal so used those. I also used smith and cross rum. The result was delicious!

Definitely boozy! I put the absinthe directly into the glass and swirled it around, much like you'd do for a Sazerac, but didn't discard it. Gives more anise on the nose. I enjoyed this very much and would have it again as a digestif

I really like the smokiness from the mezcal and will try it with different ones (for science!). As a negroni fan, this drink is sure to become a new favourite twist on the classic.

I really liked this. I did reduce the amount of sugar syrup to 5 ml based on the below comments about the sweetness of the drink. I found it to be very refreshing, perfect for a sunny afternoon!

The Pisco Sour link goes to the Cola de Mono cocktail

My goodness this is delicious. It comes across as anise with apple caramel. Dangerous but in a very good way.

Very nice! Quite boozy, definitely a sipping drink. Looking forward to trying this with different mezcals. I think the choice of vermouth can make a big difference too - I only had Belazar in the fridge which is a touch sweet but the drink was still well balanced.

Dashes are so annoyingly imprecise so, using my Diffords patented jigger, I added 1.25ml of absinthe and that worked out just lovely. I used Engine Oil gin which is my current favourite.

This is a really nice, balanced drink. I used Havana 3 y/old as I don't have Bacardi.

How exciting! Looking forward to seeing how this all progresses

This is such a good cocktail. Beautifully balanced and flexible too. Works with mezcal beautifully, giving a different range of flavours and, if you run out of triple sec, just make a blue one with blue curacao ;)