Death in the Afternoon

1.5 oz Absinthe
4 oz Champagne

Pour absinthe in a Champagne glass. Fill with chilled Champagne.


Ingredient Profile

Details

Servings 1
Category Champagne
Family
Structure
Attributes Aperitif, Funny Name
Proof 55.6
Strength 2.6 standard drinks
Flavors Anise
Glass Champagne Flute
Temperature Cold

Notes

The Death in the Afternoon was invented by Ernest Hemingway, who entered the drink into a collection of celebrity drink recipes. His directions for making the drink:

Pour one jigger absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly.

This is quite a striking drink. Absinthe is very strong, and drinking three to five of these (even slowly) will quite likely knock you on your ass. Hemingway was one hell of a drinker. A modern (and inauthentic) version of this recipe usually has Pernod or some other pastis in place of absinthe. I say stick with the absinthe and just drinker fewer of them.

If you're somewhere where they have real absinthe, try it in this drink.