Bar Necessities
Classic

Death in the Afternoon

Hemingway's louche

Glass Champagne flute
Method Built

Hemingway's contribution to the cocktail canon. Absinthe poured into a flute, lengthened with iced champagne until the drink turns opalescent — the 'louche.' His instruction was to 'drink three to five of these slowly.' Most drinkers find one to be enough.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 oz Absinthe
  • 4 oz Sparkling Wine

Method

Pour the absinthe into a chilled champagne flute. Slowly top with iced champagne until the drink becomes opalescent and cloudy. Do not stir.

Sourced from Ernest Hemingway. Published in 'So Red the Nose, or Breath in the Afternoon' (1935), a cocktail book with contributions from famous authors. Named for Hemingway's 1932 bullfighting book. Canonical per Wikipedia, Difford's, The Kitchn.