[tulip thief]

1 oz Bols Genever
1/2 oz Avèze Gentian Liqueur
1/2 oz St. Elder Elderflower Liqueur
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a rocks glass with 1 1/2 oz Q Tonic water, fill with ice, garnish with a lime wedge, and add straws.

Two Mondays ago, Andrea and I ventured down to the South End to have dinner at Estragon. For a first libation, I selected a Genever drink that was lightened with tonic water from bartender Sahil Mehta's drink notebook; moreover, it had the combination of gentian and elderflower liqueurs that worked so well in his The Root and the Flower. With the Dutch spirit, earthy bulb-like flavors, and floral notes, I began to think of the Tulipomania that was sweeping the Netherlands in the 17th century and dubbed this one the Tulip Thief.
The Tulip Thief gave forth lime and floral aromas that joined those of the Genever's malt and botanicals on the nose. Next, a carbonated lime and malt sip was fruity from the elderflower liqueur, and the swallow presented the Genever merging into the earthy bitter gentian notes from the Avèze and the quinine from the tonic water.