There is something about the electric green shock of green Creme de Menthe that is horrifying and at the same time alluring. It offers the cocktail mixologist an opportunity to mix a drink with a definitive color, as opposed to the ambiguousness of many of our creations (and meanwhile it is less startling than Blue Curacao or Creme de Noyeaux). For all of its aesthetic appeal, the flavor of green Creme de Menthe doesn't deliver on the promise of the color, and makes me wonder if there is such a thing as a top shelf green Creme de Menthe that tastes less...medicinal.

Absinthe Suissesse according to DDG

Dale's version of this drink consists of Absinthe, anisette, green creme de menthe, egg white and orange flower water. The tasting panel liked this drink somewhat more than I did. I think I was expecting a slightly sweeter drink. The version from Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix 'Em (1937) has dry vermouth and a spoonful of sugar as well as charged water, but does not have orange flower water. As Stanley Clisby Arthur describes in his book, "Suissesse, a perfectly good French word meaning a Switzerland-born femail, lives up to the reputation earned by those hardy daughters dwelling among the rocks of their picturesque land."

During the recent Mixology Monday monthly online cocktail party, several bloggers chose to make the Absinthe Suissesse as their featured New Orleans cocktail. There seems to be a small debate over the propriety of Creme de Menthe in this cocktail, with Chuck Taggart leading the charge against it. Here is his recipe:

Absinthe Suissesse
1-1/2 to 2 ounces absinthe (to taste)
1/2 ounce orgeat
1 egg white
1 dash orange flower water (optional)
2 ounces heavy cream
1/2 cup crushed or cubed ice

Serve either shaken or blended; old traditional method is to shake vigorously for 15 seconds with crushed ice, or blend with cubed ice. Serve in an Old Fashioned glass.