Greenback – Recipe from David Embury’s ‘The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks’

1 part Green Creme de Menthe 

2 parts Lime Juice 

8 parts Gin 

Strain the lime juice, as in the case of the Blue Moon, and stir with large ice cubes. As an occasional variation, add 3 dashes absinthe for each drink.

Greenback is the slang term for US currency and hasn’t always been a good one. When the US government was first looking at introducing a standard currency these new notes weren’t ‘backed’ by gold or silver and people were very mistrustful, and it wasn’t until the civil war, some 50 years later that the government managed to get all foreign and state only currency out of circulation.

Its crazy to think of a time when every US state had its own currency, currency that couldn’t be used in a neighbouring state, and wealth was moved state to state in gold and silver. Makes the whole idea of robbing stagecoaches a lot more attractive.

I’ve developed a rule where whenever a drink offers a variation of adding absinthe, I assume this really isn’t optional, and it works particularly well in this drink.

The Crème de Menthe I’m using is fairly natural and doesn’t have quite as much punch as one of the Colgate flavoured menthes that seemed to grace liqueur ranges not so long ago, which makes the absinthe work so well in tandem, giving a bitterness that helps push the mint forward making this a deliciously icy aperitif, it also seemed to be crying out to be shaken, and on the whole, I love this drink.