Friday, March 11, 2011

l'arc de triomphe

1 oz Absinthe (Pernod Fils)
1 oz Orange Juice
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Bitter Orange Marmalade
3/4 oz Egg White (1 Egg White)
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Shake ingredients with a balled-up Hawthorn strainer spring until frothy. Remove spring, add ice, and shake. Pour 1 oz seltzer water into a footed beer glass or wine glass. Strain drink into the glass; garnish with 2 dashes Peychaud's Bitters and an orange twist.

Last Saturday happened to be two drinking holidays, National Absinthe Day and Beach Bum Berry's Birthday, so we planned to celebrate each with a beverage. For the former, I found the page for the L'Arc de Triomphe in A Taste for Absinthe. I was excited to use the bitter orange marmalade that I had recently bought specifically to make this recipe. The drink was created by Scott Baird of 15 Romolo and Bon Vivants in San Francisco, and the use of marmalade reminded me of the Jubilee Line at Craigie on Main (as well as the Savoy's Marmalade Cocktail recipe which I have yet to make). For an absinthe, I opted for Pernod Fils for I wanted something flavorful that could stand up to the egg white and citrus; I later discovered an article that stated that Baird uses Kübler which probably would make for a more subtle flavor profile.
Definitely the orange notes from the marmalade, juice, and twist paid dividends in the aroma; moreover, this was joined by an herbalness from the Peychaud's Bitters and perhaps the absinthe. The orange continued on in the sip as a slightly tart flavor that was smoothed out by a creamy richness from the egg white. The egg white also mollified the swallow that came across as a light absinthe flavor. Over all, the L'Arc de Triomphe was like an anise-flavored Orange Julius.

2 comments:

barleywino said...

you might also enjoy Jamie Boudreau's Marmalade Sour http://spiritsandcocktails.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/marmalade-sour/

frederic said...

http://spiritsandcocktails.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/marmalade-sour/

Looks like a cool cachaça and egg white instead of gin variation of the Savoy classic!