Death in the Afternoon

Ernest Hemingway's contribution to a 1935 collection of authors' cocktails, named for his 1932 bullfighting book. A jigger of absinthe is drowned in iced Champagne until the glass clouds to an opalescent, pale-green milkiness — the louche effect of anise oils blooming out of solution. Bracing, herbal, and deceptively potent; Hemingway advised drinking three to five, slowly.

ClassicSpirit-ForwardCarbonated

Ingredients

  • 1.5 ozAbsinthe
  • 4 ozChampagne(chilled)

Preparation

built · Champagne Flute · None

  1. 1.

    add

    Pour the absinthe into a chilled Champagne flute.

  2. 2.

    top

    Top slowly with iced Champagne until the drink turns an opalescent, milky pale green (the louche).

  3. 3.

    other

    Do not stir; serve at once and sip slowly.

Flavor Profile

fizz
81%
dilution
35%
herbal
33%
bitter
25%
heat
22%
body
21%