el burro

1 1/2 oz Reposado Tequila (Espolón)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1/4 oz Absinthe Verte (La Muse Verte)

Shake with ice and strain into a copper mug (or Collins glass) filled with ice. Top with 1 oz ginger beer (AJ Stephans) and garnish with a candied ginger slice (omitted) toothpicked to a lime wheel.

Two Saturdays ago, I opened up Kate Simon's Absinthe Cocktails and was drawn to the El Burro. I thought that this absinthe-laced Mule would make good use of the copper Moscow Mule mugs I bought from the Cocktail Kingdom booth at Tales of the Cocktail this past summer but had never been used. The drink was created by Jim Meehan, and I was quite surprised that the recipe did not appear in his PDT Cocktail Book.
The absinthe greeted my nose along with the aroma of the freshly cut lime wheel. The lime juice and the crispness and bubbles of the ginger beer filled the sip, and the tequila, pineapple, and ginger flavors appeared on the swallow. Finally, the absinthe's anise and other herbal notes rounded off the drink on the aftertaste. While this absinthe-containing Mule was not as flavorful as the Dead Man's Mule, it was definitely more so than many other Mules I have had.