Pernod, Herbsaint, Pastis, Etc. Cocktails

[Chris Amirault]

Another French Pearl update. No change in proportions from this post, but I have noticed a benefit to a change in order. Instead of muddling in an empty shaker, I've been muddling in the room-temp liquids, the logic being that having the mint come in contact with as many different compounds as possible ahead of time increases the benefits of muddling. So:

2 oz Plymouth gin

scant 1/2 oz lime

1/2 oz 1:1 simple syrup

1/8 oz Pernod

10-12 mint leaves

Add all liquids to the shaker. Gently but thoroughly muddle the leaves. Shake with cracked ice, strain with a fine mesh sieve, garnish with a mint spring.

I know feel confident to ask: Audrey, is this anywhere near correct?

[Darren72]

I started to make two of Chris' drink last night, only to realize that I didn't have enough gin left. So I made it with rum and it tasted great. Thanks for sharing, Chris. Next on the agenda: restock the gin.

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks for the props -- but I don't deserve them. I'm trying to knock off a decent imitation; Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club in Manhattan is the Van Gogh to my paint by numbers efforts.

Having said that: what rum did you use? Interesting idea. I'd think the rum and the Pernod would bang heads.

[Darren72]

Thanks for the props -- but I don't deserve them. I'm trying to knock off a decent imitation; Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club in Manhattan is the Van Gogh to my paint by numbers efforts.

Having said that: what rum did you use? Interesting idea. I'd think the rum and the Pernod would bang heads.

←

I used the 2-year Cruzan light rum.

[Chris Amirault]

The extraordinarily generous Libationgoddess shares this with the faithful:

• 3/4 oz Fresh Lime Juice
  3/4 oz Simple Syrup (1-1, uncooked)
  1/4 oz Pernod
  1 sprig mint
  2 oz Plymouth Gin
  Muddle / shake / fine strain
  Glass: Small Cocktail
  Garnish: None -- the opacity of the drink is the "Pearl"
  

So, side-by-side, original and pretender:

• 2 oz Plymouth gin
  3/4 oz lime vs 1/2 oz
  3/4 oz 1:1 simple syrup vs 1/2 oz 1/2 oz
  1/4 Pernod vs 1/8 oz
  10-12 mint leaves (call it even)
  

I think that this indicates my own preference for more "ginny" drinks. The balance between the lime and simple is 1:1 in both, and there's more of the faux green fairy in Audrey's original. It'd be more pearly, natch.

[Scotttos]

The extraordinarily generous Libationgoddess shares this with the faithful:

3/4 oz Fresh Lime Juice

3/4 oz Simple Syrup (1-1, uncooked)

1/4 oz Pernod

1 sprig mint

2 oz Plymouth Gin

Muddle / shake / fine strain

Glass:  Small Cocktail

Garnish:  None -- the opacity of the drink is the "Pearl"

Wow, excellent work. I've been trying to crack the recipe as well (with admittedly less success than you've shown). Also great point about the muddling a few posts up, was at Pegu last night and the bartender did in fact muddle the mint as you described (in a shaker with the room temp. liquids).

Everyone I know is enamored with this drink, so glad we finally have the recipe : )

Edited August 16, 2007 by Scotttos (log)

[eje]

Likewise, thanks for tracking down the recipe, Chris, and thanks for sending it over LibationGoddess.

While I haven't had the pleasure of drinking at Pegu, I whipped up a batch of Pearls this evening to rave reviews.

Yummy!

[EvergreenDan]

The extraordinarily generous Libationgoddess shares this with the faithful:

• 3/4 oz Fresh Lime Juice
  3/4 oz Simple Syrup (1-1, uncooked)
  1/4 oz Pernod
  1 sprig mint
  2 oz Plymouth Gin
  Muddle / shake / fine strain
  Glass: Small Cocktail
  Garnish: None -- the opacity of the drink is the "Pearl"
  

Just an update: Audrey has an updated version that uses Pernod Absinthe -- just reduce the lime to 1/2 oz. She was kind enough to clarify some confusion on Twitter.

[tangaloor]

I had a great cocktail at Little Bird in Portland a little while ago: the French Cola. All I have is the bar menu description: Pastis, Averna, lemon, soda. Delicious!

I've been working on the proportions but I'm not close. And I can only drink so many failures in one evening.

[EvergreenDan]

Holy Cow! Kickin' cocktail menu at Little Bird!

All ya gotta do is call. ;-)

French Cola

by Tom Lindstedt, Little Bird, Portland, OR

1 1/2 oz Amaro, Averna

1 oz Pastis, Pernod

1/2 oz Lemon juice

1 oz Soda water

1 twst Lemon peel (as garnish)

Build first three ingredients with ice in low-ball glass, stir to louche, add more ice, top with soda, garnish

[tangaloor]

Thanks! Great cocktails site you have! I'll try this one again for our after-bridge drink on Wednesday.

[FrogPrincesse]

I was in the mood for a French Pearl tonight. It's funny because I don't really care for Pernod, but I always loved this drink. Combining the Pernod with mint and lime was a stroke of genius.

I used Pernod pastis and Beefeater gin.

[FrogPrincesse]

I made three different absinthe/pastis drinks recently. The recipes called for absinthe but given that it was only a rinse or a mist, I used what I had available which was Pernod pastis.

The Rattlesnake (Harry Craddock, via Bartender's Choice). Rye, lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white, absinthe rinse. The minute I took my first sip, I remembered I had tried this drink at Noble Experiment a while back. This is a beautiful cocktail; all the elements highlight the rye. It has a great creamy texture.

Next up was PDT's Swiss Mist. Plymouth gin, grapefruit syrup, lemon juice, egg white, absinthe spritz. I thought that it was too sour, but then realized I had used grapefruit juice, not syrup... Oh well, I added a little bit of simple syrup but the cocktail felt watered down. Not bad, but not exceptional. I will need to make it again the proper way. The absinthe mist was a fun idea because it sat on the foam and gave little bursts of flavor.

Last but not least, the Mad Hatter (via Bartender's Choice): rye, lime juice, lemon juice, simple syrup, absinthe rinse. On paper it looked like something that could be either pretty basic or a nice surprise with the absinthe rinse and the lime/lemon juice combo. It proved to be the later - wonderfully complex with the absinthe/Pernod extracting a ton of flavor from the rye, including spicy undertones.

[FrogPrincesse]

A Corpse Reviver No. 2. This was technically a variation as I used Cocchi Americano instead of Lillet, although I kept the ratios the same.

3/4 each gin, lemon juice, Cointreau, Cocchi Americano; rinse absinthe/Pernod.

I think I may like it better than the Lillet version. Such a beautiful cocktail. The flavors just keep going.

[FrogPrincesse]

At the end, it was a tie between Cocchi and Lillet in the Corpse Reviver No. 2 (see here). The CR2 with Lillet has more lemon notes, while the Cocchi is more orange-forward.

 

A lightweight libation from last week, Marseille Can You See? (Sean Hoard): white vermouth (Dolin), pastis (Pernod), orange juice (Valencia), lime juice. Better in my opinion than just drinking pastis (I like anise as in absinthe, but not the strong licorice flavor in pastis). And as opposed to what the cocktail notes say, people don't drink pastis neat in France, it's always diluted with water!