• To make the celery juice, start with a bunch of celery (organic, as non-organic can often be covered with pesticides). Chop off the bottoms of the stalks and compost them; chop off the tops—with leaves—and reserve. Chop the stalks into 2-inch-long pieces. In a juicer or high-powered blender, pulverize the chopped-up stalks. Celery is quite fibrous, so be prepared for this juicing phase to take longer than you might imagine. Often it’s good to feed in a piece of celery at a time. Adding up to a ½ cup of water can also help and not overly dilute the juice. Afterward, strain the juice into a jar where it can be stored.
• Rim your glasses before making the cocktail. In a shallow small bowl squeeze a bit of lemon juice (a few tablespoons); in a small dish pour a half tablespoon or so of celery salt. Take a double Old Fashioned glass and carefully dampen a quarter of its outer edge with the lemon juice. This is powerful stuff, so you want each drinker to have the opportunity to taste as much as she prefers. If you get any on the inside, wipe it clean. Then carefully, at a 45° angle, roll the outer, dampened edge of the glass in the celery salt. Clean again as necessary. Set aside (or even in the freezer).
• To make the cocktails, add the gin, celery juice, lemon juice, simple syrup and absinthe into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake to chill. Double strain into the rimmed glasses. Add 1 large ice cube to each. Garnish both with a celery leaf.

For the Celery Seed Simple Syrup

• In a small saucepan, bring all of the ingredients to a boil. Lower heat to simmer and stir so all of the sugar is dissolved. Heat for 5 minutes.
• Let cool, strain to remove celery seeds and pour into a small jar. Continue cooling to room temperature. Store in fridge. Will remain good for approximately a month.