Posted By SeanMike on March 17, 2008

This was a hard one!

So I was debating for a while about what constituted a “strong” drink.  Is a Manhattan a strong drink?  it’s definitely not a “one and out” kind of drink, but at the same time, what about a Sazerac?  Especially with one made with a 120+ proof rye like Red Hook?

Fortunately I own a copy of The Joy of Mixology, and while skimming through it over at the abode of

tmfiii

 , we figured out what I should make.  I’m going to be honest here – this is not an “everyday” drink or even a “once in a while” drink – it was completely new to me, since a) when I’m drinking strong drinks, well, you’ve seen what I already mentioned and b) usually, I’m trying not to have that strong of a drink most of the time (more so than usual), not to mention c) I need to blog about Long Island Iced Teas anyways and Mr. Penguin forbade those explicitly.

The Earthquake – or, more accurately, the Tremblement de Terre.  I’ll let Gary Regan phrase it better than I can:

A drink mentioned in Absinthe: A History in a Bottle, by Barnaby Conrad III, but without measurements.  This was apparently a cocktail favored by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, a French artist who died in 1901, at the age of thirty-six.  Consider yourself fore-warned.

It’s a pretty straight forward drink:

Tremblement de Terre (Earthquake)
2 1/2 ounces cognac
1/2 ounce absinthe substitute
1 lemon twist, for garnish

STIR AND STRAIN into a chilled cocktail glass.  Add the garnish.

Personally, I used armagnac and Lucid for the ingredients.  Also, I’m getting better at doing twists.

Oh wow that was a strong drink.  Kubler might’ve done it better – i.e., less absinthe taste – but it was still a good, if “pow!” kind of drink.

I’d definitely only have one of those.

(And since I’m working my way through the Lucid, to help justify buying the Kubler, that’d help, at least 1/4 ounce at a time — too bad it was over at Marshall’s when I drank it!)

Categories: Absinthe, Cocktails, Cognac, Mixology Monday, Recipes
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