Post #88009 by Scrimshaw on Sat, Apr 24, 2004 9:14 PM

I've been making absinthe for a few years now, and found there are some things you can do to make it more palatable, without losing any delicious wormwood effect. I should bring some by the Foggy Grotto one of these days... IF I can ever find it.

First you want to use neutral wine spirits. Don't use vodka. Neutral wine spitits are hard to scome by, esp in CA, where the 180 proofage may be considered illegal. Make friends in the brandy business.

There are a couple ingredients that are quite nasty, and cutting down on them helps a lot (and you are then free to add more wormwood and a couple of the other ethnogenic items...). Email me for a thorough list. I did some individual trials with all the ingredients to test for taste, smell, color and opalescense, and adjusted accordingly. The current recipe is a beauty to behold, and a joy to drink. Mixed with water it's a perfect summer drink. But if you hate anise, I can't help you.

Also, distill carefully. Do not allow any of the faints into your finished product! Throw it away! And, yes you must distill. I sampled what was left behind after distilling. About 3 pin-heads' worth on the tip of my finger, and the bitter taste in my mouth lasted a day.

If you want opalescence when mixed with water (that nice opacque milky color) you'll need to use more of the woody ingredients than called for in many of the available recipes. Star Anise, licorice root...

The bright green absinthe from the Czech Republic & Bulgaria has wormwood, but is also really artificial, and will induce headache more readily than the natural stuff. The color should be a nice rich grassy green, not nuclear or bilious green. Unfortunately, I haven't had any commercial absinthe that's not cheap and nasty. That sebor looks good, though I worry that they left off the "e" at the end of "absinthe." Fee sounds interesting, too. Still looking for my Ron Anejo of the absinthe world...

As for effects... Most of it comes from its high alcohol content, but there definately is more to it. Visual acuity increases, dappled light is especially groovy, and a sort of observant mellow seeps in during the late afternoon, in which your chin gravitates toward your hand. In higher doses, mild insanity ensues.

The whole burning of the sugar thing is fun to look at, but the texture and flavor of burnt sugar is not entirely pleasant in a drink, and most drinkers back in the day wouldn't think of doing it. I usually take absinthe without sugar entirely, but you can also put a lump in the absinthe spoon and pour water over it to dissolve the sugar into the drink. Modern cubes are pretty solid, so pouring a thimblefull or 2 onto the cube and waiting a minute before proceeding helps get more sugar into your drink

(the reason for the spoon and water is that sugar won't dissolve into pure absinthe as its proof is far too high - it's best to pour sugar water in)

I recommend not mixing other alcohols with it, especially whiskeys/scotches/etc (at least with the proper grape-based absinthe). I and others have awoken with the tremons. I was going to call 911, but I preferred to avoid moving.

Absinthe spoons and glasses (antique & repros) can be bought at this one really groovy used kitchen store on Divis in SF, right next to where Candles and Curios used to be... (I forget the name)

~scrimshaw

[ Edited by: Scrimshaw on 2004-04-26 10:47 ]