Dempsey

It does. Apple brandy is loud and faintly sweet, and a soft contemporary gin simply disappears underneath it. A London dry at 43 percent or higher keeps its shape in the glass, and the pine note gives the absinthe something to hang on to.

Less than you would expect. Anise and orchard fruit share a sweet, slightly perfumed register, so the two dashes read as one aroma rather than two. What the absinthe really works against is the grenadine, keeping the sugar from settling on the finish.

Grenadine, almost certainly. Eight milliliters is the ceiling rather than a starting point, and bottled supermarket grenadine is sweeter still. Cut it to 5 ml. If the drink then tastes hollow, add a second dash of absinthe instead of more syrup.

Then it stops being this drink. Ninety milliliters of spirit with no juice is the whole idea, and the grenadine is there for body rather than tartness. A lemon version already exists under a different name: applejack, lemon and grenadine makes a Jack Rose.

A classic Dempsey calls for 45 ml (1.5 oz) Gin, 45 ml (1.5 oz) Apple brandy, 8 ml (0.25 oz) Grenadine, 2 dashes absinthe Absinthe. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

A standard Dempsey is roughly 38% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it spirit-forward — closer to a Martini than to a beer, so sip it slowly.

A Dempsey is shaken. About 13 seconds with plenty of ice chills and dilutes it correctly.