The Little Lady is a Drinking Hobby original that has a slight Martini feel.

And she has a lot going for her.

It is bright, light and floral and has all the makings of a drink to help bring spring on just a little quicker. It is a bit of a play off a Fifty Fifty Martini by using 1 part Lillet Blanc in place of white vermouth and splitting the base spirit between gin and aged rum.

I really enjoy sipping Martini style cocktails with lots of flavor, but what I’m not so into, is the stirred vodka with an olive that the old classic has become.

Not because I’m some sort of historical cocktail nerd, or think that I know it all, but because it just doesn’t taste good!

An extra dry vodka Martini served up, is just cold vodka with practically no flavor.

Try something tasty and sip on a Little Lady cocktail instead.

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What type of gin to use for cocktails?

For the gin, using something bright and floral, like “American” or “New World” style, or Plymouth gin will work in the Little Lady cocktail.

Hendricks, and Citadelle are two prime examples here, but I suggest Citadelle for mixing because it has awesome aromatics and tastes quite comparable to gins twice its’ price.

For some drinks you will want a stronger and more intense gin, but not for this recipe.

How to Absinthe rinse

Using an absinthe rinse is a nice way to add a touch of bright anise and fennel notes without it becoming a predominant flavor. ABSINTHE IS QUITE STRONG so you have to be careful when trying to balance it, and as a bonus your bottle will last you many times longer if you are only doing glass rinses.

Pour a teaspoon or so into your chilled cocktail glass and roll the liquid around the inside to coat it with a really thin layer.

To avoid wasting that little bit you used, pour it back into the bottle as long as your glassware is sparkling clean.

You can also use a tool called an atomizer* which is just a mini spray bottle that you can squirt one time into your glass.

Now we come to the aged rum…

The talk here could be entire blog posts (and hopefully will be someday), but for now we need to use the short and sweet.

For the Little Lady cocktail we are looking for something with nice vanilla and warm spice tones to give undertones of the drink.

Plantation Original Dark, or Plantation 5 Year are both solid options for mixing rums. To me, 5 year taste much nicer than its’ $20 price tag would suggest, if you can snag a bottle I really Recommend it.

Plantation bottles rum from many different countries and they tend to be solid and well priced options that are great for mixing cocktails.

Other solid options are Diplimatico Anejo, Havana Club 7, or Appleton Estate Reserve.

Peach Bitters add just a tiny hint of extra fruitiness to the drink but I realize they are PRETTY UNCOMMON. If you don’t have them laying around (and don’t see yourself buying any) use any other fruit bitters you might have, or try a dash of Peychaud’s instead.

*This post has an affiliate link, see the disclosures for more.

Cheers!

USEFUL LINKS: Stirring Cocktails, Lillet Blanc

Little Lady Cocktail Recipe

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Oz Lillet Blanc
• 3/4 Oz Gin
• 3/4 Oz Aged Rum
• 2 Dashes Peach Bitters
• 1/2 tsp Absinthe
• 1 Lemon Peel

Instructions

• Prepare a chilled cocktail glass be swirling around just enough Absinthe to coat the glass. If your glasses at home are really clean you can dump it back into your absinthe bottle, or use an atomizer.
• Add the Lillet, Rum, Gin, Bitters and Saline to a shaking tin or a chilled mixing glass.
• Add ice and stir until desired chill and dilution is reached .
• Strain into a chilled cocktail glass before expressing the oils of the lemon peel over the drink.

Tag me at @mydrinkinghobby when you make this!