White Elephants Cocktail

When I was putting together this cocktail for NYC restaurant Trestle on Tenth, I wanted to use a white rum. After trying a few different ingredients to go with it, I settled on lime juice and the grapefruit twist — a combo of bright citrus notes. It's actually the grapefruit twist that is used when mixing the drink, not the juice itself. It adds a different level of acidity compared to the juice. The half-salted rim really complements the Kübler absinthe.

The name came from Ernest Hemingway, who was a major fan of absinthe. His short story "Hills like White Elephants" mentions absinthe. The cocktail comes out a nice cloudy white color, so it became "White Elephants."

White Elephants Cocktail
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Servings
1
cocktail
Ingredients
  • 2 ounces Bacardi white rum
  • 3/4 ounce simple syrup
  • 1/2 ounce lime juice
  • 1 large twist grapefruit
  • 2 bar spoons Kübler absinthe
Directions
  1. Half-salt the rim of a chilled martini glass.
  2. Combine all ingredients (including twist) in a mixing glass. 
  3. Hard shake for 20 seconds, pour into glass and discard the twist.
  4. Garnish with a fresh grapefruit twist.
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