phoebe snow

1/2 Dubonnet (1 1/2 oz Byrrh Grand Quinquina)
1/2 Brandy (1 1/2 oz Camus VS Cognac)
1 dash Absinthe (1/2 bsp Kübler)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass; I added a lemon twist.

Two Tuesdays ago, I selected Hugo Ensslin's 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks book and spotted the Phoebe Snow. This three ingredient drink was named after a fictional character at the turn of the century who was created to showcase how clean anthracite coal was in trains via jingles like, "Says Phoebe Snow/about to go/upon a trip to Buffalo/"My gown stays white/from morn till night/Upon the Road of Anthracite". The fanciful New York socialite promoting the Lackawanna railways made such an impact that this cocktail was named in her honor. I had previously skipped over this cocktail for the Dubonnet then was a rather poor quinquina (the reformulated Dubonnet that I tasted over the summer was delicious though; however, I have not yet spotted it in stores); instead, here I substituted another rouge quinquina, Byrrh, in its place.
The Phoebe Snow cocktail began with a lemon and grape nose that led into further grape notes with cherry undertones on the sip. Next, Cognac, grape, anise, chocolate, and quinine flavors rounded out the delightful swallow.