I’ve had a heck of a run of luck on this drink.? Named after the awesome Rachel Sergi of Zaytinya, I have managed to make a mess each time I made one.? First try – spilled the first one completely.? Second try (for Rachel, actually) – broke a bottle of simple syrup on the floor.? Third try (tonight) – spilled lemon juice everywhere.

But it’s still a tasty drink, though I have to say that this version tonight – using commercial agave syrup instead of homemade simple syrup – isn’t as good.? Use the good stuff, folks.

And there’s the problem of taking a picture of it.? Here is the picture as I took it originally:

What's the problem you think? I'll tell you what it!

See, you haven’t seen the recipe yet.? The problem is fire.

It angers up the Paul Clarke-s something rightenous like, but the “garnish” – because I don’t have any grain – is flaming absinthe, something fierce like Ms. Sergi.? But my camera wouldn’t take a picture of the flames, and I couldn’t get it to flame up when I made it for my camera.? Thus I relied on MS Paint.

See? Fire!

Much better!

And here’s the recipe.? Rachel and I discussed the name and I took a bit of a liberty in its spelling.? Though now I’ve promised one named the Rachel, too, so we’ll see that later I bet…

The Gin-Gin-Ser
2 ounces gin (Martin Miller)
3/4 ounce abinsthe (Vieux Carre)
1 ounce lemon juice (more if you spill it on the floor)
1/2 ounce simple syrup (NOT agave!)
dash The Bitter Truth Repeal Day bitters
Shake with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into an UNchilled cocktail glass.? Top with a small measure of grain or absinthe (I used Mata Hari) and light on fire.? I’ve also thought about trying it with green Chartreuse – let me know if you do!

I’ve been pretty happy with this drink and I’m not a huge absinthe fan, so I’d love to see what other people think.

[Fourteenth in a series of drinks named after bloggers, mixologists, and random others who'll hopefully be at Tales.? The first post in the series is here.]