Tuesday, June 29, 2010

carlota's tears

2 oz Milagro Silver Tequila
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Velvet Falernum
1/2 oz Pernod Absinthe
1 dash Angostura Orange Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass.

After finishing up at Stoddard's, our first destination on the Pernod Absinthe Boston Bar Crawl, I spotted our taxis for the night and was in awe -- a pair of 1930's era limousines. Our drivers were dressed in old school gangster clothing and their wiseguy jokes and banter certainly matched the era as well. From downtown, we ended up on Memorial Drive heading toward Cambridge, and due to Aaron Butler's tweet, we realized that the next destination was likely to be Russell House Tavern.
We were not wrong, and head bartender Aaron Butler had prepared three original Pernod Absinthe cocktail recipes for the evening. With help from bartender Corey Bunnewith, he served out the first drink, Carlota's Tears. This Daisy-family drink was influenced by Misty Kalkofen's Maximilian Affair, and Aaron, therefore, named it after Mexican Emperor Maximilian's wife, Carlota. Aaron's version was quite different from the smokey and floral Maximilian Affair as he took his drink in a more spice- and citrus-laden direction.
Carlota's Tears started with a strong absinthe aroma with hints of agave poking through. Flavorwise, I was stunned at how well the absinthe matched up with the tequila and was surprised that very few drinks have explored this combination. The lime juice was a classic complement to the tequila, and the falernum, while more often paired with rum, did work rather well with the agave spirit.

2 comments:

SPS said...

I'm really appreciating these Pernod drinks. I've had a bottle of the stuff on my counter for the last 6 months and couldn't find much use for it, given the fact that it's sitting next to my Herbsaint and some real deal absinthes. The Carlota's Tears will be getting mixed tonight. Hopefully my potent homemade falernum won't smother all the other ingredients. Thanks.

frederic said...

The Pernod that was used that night was the real deal absinthe, but the pastis Pernod would work as well (similar flavor but sweetened and lower in proof).