If you love oranges, this gin cocktail is for you.

The Monkey Gland is a strangely named beverage, but delightful to drink nonetheless. It’s another fantastic Prohibition Era libation, this time from Paris. Perhaps you have heard of Harry’s New York Bar, which is actually in France. The owner, Harry MacElhone, created this drink in the 1920’s and I think it’s clear he’s more creative with the gin than naming things.

As always, use fresh ingredients and feel free to use your own grenadine. That you make yourself. Because it’s easy and takes two ingredients.

You may want to use a neutral gin to allow the absinthe and pomegranate flavors shine.

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The Monkey Gland Gin Cocktail

This bright and tart orange and pomegranate gin cocktail is from the Prohibition Era.

Ingredients

2 Oz. Gin Go basic here.
1 Oz. Orange juice Squeeze your own for bonus flavor
.5 Oz. Grenadine You can also make your own.
1 Dash Absinthe

Instructions

Chill your glass! This is always a good idea.
Add your absinthe in one of two ways. You can add absinthe to your martini glass, swirl it around, and then pour it out.
You could also add your absinthe to a shaker filled with glass, then strain it out. Use the absinthe rinsed shaker to mix the rest.
Mix up ice, your gin of choice, your grenadine in the shaker.
Strain into your Martini glass.
Garnish with orange. A slice or rind.

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Make your own grenadine for your Monkey themed and citrus cocktail.

This is basically simple syrup made from pomegranates. But instead of dissecting and squeezing and squashing pomegranates, just get some Pom juice.

Use equal parts pomegranate juice and sugar, and heat on the stove. When all of the sugar is dissolved, you have grenadine. That’s it. You are done.

Grenadine for gin cocktails and Orange Slice — Grenadine for gin cocktails. Make your own.

Mix up your cocktail.

Ok, that sounds weird. But you could do the following to make your version of the Monkey Gland a bit better. For you.

Add Cointreau instead of absinthe to get rid of the anise flavor and add more orange flavor.

Garnish with an orange slice if you want to soak and snack on your garnish. Add star anise to play up the licorice flavor. Or use orange peel to oil the rim of your martini glass.

For another orange themed gin cocktail, try the Orange Mint spritzer.