There is a trippy scene in “Moulin Rouge” involving an absinthe-induced hallucination of the Green Fairy, so I knew I had to make an absinthe cocktail to pair with this iconic musical.

Inspired by the color in the film’s title, I’m tweaking the standard Green Fairy cocktail recipe and making The Red Fairy.

This vegan, gluten-free and soy-free recipe makes 1 cocktail.

Ingredients
0.5 teaspoons absinthe
4 ounces sparkling rosé wine
1 tablespoon (or a splash of) grenadine

Instructions
Carefully swirl your teeny tiny amount of absinthe around your glass. Absinthe is considered a very dangerous liquor in high doses, so if you want to skip this booze and go straight for the wine and grenadine, I don’t blame you.

Pour in your sparkling rosé. Many non-alcoholic rosé options are on the market now if you want to skip the alcohol altogether, too.

Finish the cocktail (or mocktail) with a splash of grenadine.

Sip slowly as you slide into the sensational cinematic experience that is “Moulin Rouge!”

The Easy Route
This is probably the easiest way to go on this one and I imagine it might be downright impossible to find an establishment that will have this particular cocktail available for takeout or delivery.

If I’m wrong, please share those details in the comments.

The Pairing
I have adored “Moulin Rouge” since before it even came out. I was 15, starting to get into classic musicals, loved filmmaker Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet” and excited to see a modern musical on the big screen, so I bought the soundtrack before the movie even came out and had memorized the lyrics.

To be fair, it wasn’t too hard to memorize the lyrics, as many of the songs are covers or remixes of classic songs.

I rewatched “Moulin Rouge” probably for the millionth time last weekend, and I was still belting out every word alongside Christian (Ewan McGregor), Satine (Nicole Kidman) and the rest of the cast.

The film centers around Christian, a penniless writer, and Satine, a courtesan and performer at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, as they are thrown together to work on a musical at the renowned dance hall.

They fall in love, which is problematic since Satine has basically been sold to the Duke (a sniveling Richard Roxburgh at his best) by Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent in the most bombastic role of his career), the ringleader of the Moulin Rouge.

The chemistry between McGregor and Kidman is outstanding, and they both are magnificent to behold as they sing love songs for two hours.

“Moulin Rouge” is another gateway movie for me, as I started my deeper dive into musicals and foreign films after seeing Luhrmann’s dazzling spectacle.

I will say this spectacle is not for everyone, it is frenetic and fast-paced, which might be off-putting. I personally love that, as I think it serves the plot and the chaos of Christian being thrust into the madness of the Moulin Rouge.

Further, this musical rises above the rest for me with all the pop culture references and nods to other musicals, most notably “The Sound of Music” in some of the film’s early scenes.

Even though I just watched this a few days ago, writing about “Moulin Rouge” is making me want to fire up the blu-ray player and watch it again. I even burst into song, specifically “Come What May,” while writing this.

I still find this movie absolutely enthralling 23 years after it came out, and I will always recommend it to anyone.

If you decide to make this cocktail and/or watch “Moulin Rouge,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, threads, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes