The Opal — The Cocktail Ontologist

Family

Aromatic Cocktail Family — descendant

Variants (3)

Fancy Drinks and Popular Beverages by William Schmidt (1896, p.27) — Fancy Drinks and Popular Beverages 1896, No. 25

1 pony	Absinthe	base
2 dash	gum syrup — gum	base
little	creme de menthe — Poured in the centre to sink.	modifier
1 dash	Maraschino liqueur — maraschino	modifier

Stir gum, absinthe, maraschino, and ice well, strain into a cocktail glass, and pour a little creme de menthe in the centre.

Ice: Ice

Applegreen's Bar Book by John Applegreen (1904, p.60) — Applegreen 1904

1 pony	Absinthe — white absinthe	base
	Soda water — seltzer	dilution
1 dash	anisette — anisette	modifier
1 dash	yellow chartreuse — yellow Chartreuse	modifier
	ice — fine ice	other

Shake the white absinthe, anisette, and yellow Chartreuse with fine ice.
Strain into a Burgundy glass, add a little seltzer, and serve.

Ice: Fine ice

Nose: Intense anise and alpine-herbal aromas leap from the glass.
Palate: This is a strong example of the pre-modern-classic aperitif edge of the ontology, where a drink can be tiny, aromatic, absinthe-led, and still slightly lengthened.
Finish: The finish is cold, herbal, and lingeringly anisic.
Summary: A small absinthe-Chartreuse aperitif from the chilled aromatic fringe.

The Reminder by Jacob A. Didier (1909, p.131) — Didier 1909

1 pony	Absinthe — absinthe	base
	ice — cracked ice	base
	creme de menthe — creme de menthe	modifier
1 dash	Maraschino liqueur — Maraschino	modifier
2 dashes	gum syrup — gum syrup	sweetener

Stir the gum syrup, Maraschino, absinthe, and cracked ice well.
Strain into a cocktail glass, drop a little creme de menthe in the center, and serve.

Ice: Mixing glass full of cracked ice

This keeps another absinthe-led aromatic side branch visible at a moment when the pre-war aperitif field was still much wider than later classic lists suggest.

The center-drop of creme de menthe is the distinctive service point and should not be flattened away.

See also: Absinthe Cocktail, Suissesse