Juniper Fairy

• 2.0 oz. French gin (Esme)
• 0.5 oz. dry vermouth
• 0.5 oz. apricot liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
• 0.25 oz. absinthe (Kübler)
• barspoon of simple syrup
• dash of Regan’s orange bitters

Stir with ice and strain into coupe.

Absinthe! I wanted a cocktail that highlighted absinthe, falling somewhere between a dash in a drink and a traditional absinthe pour, with gin as a base.

I used a French gin in this case, but actually tried a number of gins with equal success. Apricot is a flavor I felt might pair well, and the vermouth lengthens the drink with some additional botanical and wine influence. Add the sugar for additional sweetness, if desired, then finish with the bitters.

I.. can’t recall the exact origin of this name, although I acknowledge it is not very clever. Was I thinking of a play on juniper berry? Did I misread some entries on the the Juniper Tree fairy tale? Was it just late and I just settled for a name? I don’t know. Also, I don’t much care as long as I have this drink in hand.