The Monkey Gland is a cocktail of gin, orange juice, grenadine and absinthe. TheMonkey Gland is named after the pseudo-scientific idea that grafting monkey testicle tissue into humans would increase longevity, the idea developed by the French doctor Serge Voronoff. He first performed testicular transplants on animals, taking the testicles from young animals and implanting these older animals. Voronoff allegedly observed increases in vitality that encouraged him to apply this method to humans. Since the 1920s, and thus at the time when the Monkey Gland was born, he had transplanted monkey testicles into the scrotum of people who believed that the method would rejuvenate them.
INGREDIENTS
- 50 ml/ 1 ½ oz. Gin
- 30 ml/ 1 oz. orange juice
- 1 teaspoon Absinthe
- 2 teaspoons Grenadine
METHOD
- Swirl a dash of absinthe in a chilled cocktail glass to coat it, then dump out any excess liqueur.
- Add all other ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice.
- Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.
- Garnish with an orange slice or a burnt orange peel.
NOTES
At a time when Absinthe was not available in the USA, it was replaced by other aniseed drinks such as Pernod or Ricard.
SHOPPING LIST
- Gin (Old Tom) | USA | UK* | Germany*
- Absinthe | USA | UK* | Germany*
- Grenadine syrup | USA* | UK* | Germany*
- Glasses| USA* | UK* | Germany*
