Brightest Young Things

This drink is pretty much all booze. Wonderful booze, but this is strong. This is not to be confused with the Jack Depsey Cocktail, which uses white rum and gin. The Dempsey uses absinthe, gin and Calvados. Calvados is one of my favorite spirits, it is an apple brandy from the lower Normandy region of France. Calvados is generally thought of as the apex of apple brandy, much like Cognac for brandy made from grapes.

I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of absinthe, but it works well with the gin in this drink.

Dempsey Cocktail

• 1 tsp. absinthe
• 1/2 tsp. grenadine
• 1 oz gin
• 1 oz Calvados

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.