The method
How to make it
Rinse a chilled coupe with the absinthe: pour in a barspoon, roll it around the walls, dump the excess. That whisper of anise is the signature.
Squeeze the orange juice fresh, it separates fast, so juice it last.
Shake vodka, orange juice, orange liqueur, simple syrup and the egg white without ice first, 15 hard seconds to build the silk.
Add ice and shake again until the tin frosts.
Double strain into the rinsed coupe and let the foam settle.
Dust the top with the faintest pinch of cinnamon and lay a dried orange wheel on the foam.
The serve
How to present it
Coupe, pale gold with a white cap, orange wheel like a harvest moon. It smells like the holidays before it touches a lip, that is the absinthe rinse working. Pour it for the Thanksgiving crowd instead of a second bottle of pinot.
Make it yours
Swaps & variations
Gin instead of vodka adds a second layer of botanicals that plays beautifully with the anise. No absinthe? A drop of vanilla and extra cinnamon leans it toward an orange creamsicle. Skip the egg white for a lighter, clearer glass, or use aquafaba and tell no one.
Keep pouring
