Absinthe... discuss.

I've been told this is the best and closest you can get to the original "Czech Strong".
I haven't tried it yet. Anyways here is the site.

http://www.czechabsinth.com/m/distillery.html

On 2004-03-02 05:16, tikifish wrote:
My husband suggested we crack open the absinthe last night, but I chickened out and made us a vodka and soda instead, mumbling something about absinthe being 'too complicated... spoon thingy... sugar...' but truth was I'm a little chicken to unleash the fee vert at 10 pm on a monday night.

I wouldn't worry about it so much, Jane. It's just a very pleasant kick. What is nice is that it is not a "down drunk", but an "up", inspiring drunkeness, and the spoon and sugar on fire thing is just a nice meditational ritual in this day and age of fast consumption. There are no hallucinations, just a happy high, and good deep sleep afterwards. That's all.

I went to a pub last weekend and they had a sign welcoming the World Chapion Absinthe drinker. Sadly he wasn't in the pub at the time as I'd wanted to ask him about his brain cell count as well as the size of his liver.

Trader Woody

Interesting Trader Woody, I wonder how one would become a world champion absinthe drinker?
Is it all about the quantity?
Maybe he just carries around a bottle and has drank it in many different countries?

Does he bring a spoon, sugar, etc., or just drink it straight?(THAT would be impressive)

What is his life expectancy? Has he tried to cut off either of his ears yet? So many questions!! :wink:

On 2004-03-05 11:49, Tikiwahine wrote:
Interesting Trader Woody, I wonder how one would become a world champion absinthe drinker?
Is it all about the quantity?
Maybe he just carries around a bottle and has drank it in many different countries?

Does he bring a spoon, sugar, etc., or just drink it straight?(THAT would be impressive)

What is his life expectancy? Has he tried to cut off either of his ears yet? So many questions!! :wink:

Heh! I just wanted to take a look at the guy. I would guess the answer to most of my/your questions would have been etched all over his face...

Trader Woody

An article for you:

Swiss government supports end to absinthe ban

Well I finally got around to making a batch of absinthe from the EnjoyAbsinthe.com kit as mentioned above. I'm off work tomorrow so I've got a mini-rocks glass of it in front of me right now.

My God this stuff tastes like pure unadulterated evil. And that's with it cut 50% with sugar water.

Y'see, last time I made it I used 151 vodka and it was pretty bad. This time I used 151 pure grain and I cannot adequately describe how horrific it tastes. Maybe like eating burned up poisonous bushes covered in tar. But even worse than that.

It smells great though! Like a nice anisette with a hint of wormwood. Tastes like green death.

Before you judge me a wimp, I honestly like cheap Puerto Rican rum on the rocks. The stuff that really burns the palate and the gullet. But Ron Rico tastes like ice tea compared to this stuff. I doubt I'll be able to drink enough to get any "effect" but I'll give it a shot (or two)!

The elusive Lapu Rocker and I drank half a bottle of the stuff a couple of weeks ago. We set the mood in my new tiki lounge with colored lights and exotica and embarked on the journey. After straining the stuff over sugar cubes using an absinthe spoon, we drank it up. The stuff isn't undrinkable, but sure as hell doesn't taste good. About an hour into the process, we just started laughing uncontrollably. Crazy. Oh yeah, and we got wasted.

Sven's right, the stuff is very up. If I could get past the taste and the price, I'd drink the stuff all the time. I endorse it fully!

I've got an absinthe spoon but I'm using it to scrape the detached mucous membrane off the back of my throat. Bleh.

I'd love to try some real commercial euro absinthe. Gotta be better than this. At least my tongue's gone 90% numb. :D

Speaking of absinthe... I ordered a kit from the same guy that Kono ordered his kit from ("Dan" at enjoyabsinthe.com) and I've received nothing but a complete runaround from the guy. I paid for it more than a month ago, but, by his own admission, he screwed up the order and never sent it. Problem is, he STILL hasn't sent it, and now is no longer answering my e-mails. If you're thinking of ordering an absinthe kit, I'd say avoid this guy at all costs!

Any suggestions as to where to get another kit?

I found myself laughing at stupid things too. Mostly myself. It was wonderful. And I didn't find the taste too bad either! It was kinda tasty actually!

I've been known to go on an absinth bender from time to time, never tried a kit, sounds like it my not be the way to go. as buzzs (buzzis, buzes, buzzzess?) go its not a bad lot at all. kind of a very lucid drunk if ya ask me. I would suggest spliting a bottle wit a friend, and finish the damn thing too. what makes it fun for me is the ritual of the thing more than the buzz. it is a bit on the spendy side but a good buzz don't come cheap, and a cheap buzz has a mean sence of revenge. so drink up ya little green monsters, I think I'm gonna order up my own self seeing as how the topic came up. Personaly I don't use a special spoon just a teaspoon. I get a TSP of grainulated sugar and wick a bit of green into it and light the bad boy up. as it starts to carmelize I stir it onto the glass, (this flames the absinth)and qiuck like a bunny I dump a short water into it and it goes out. then I slam it and move on to the next fix. I use about 2 jiggers each time. this works out fine for me even if it is a bit off from tradition, but hey I'm from Cali and tradition is not my strong suite.

is this what they mean by the Green Party?
Wooooo Whooo, I'm joining!

http://www.seborabsinth.com, my fave. Best flavor, high Thujon count.
stay away from Hills Brothers.
4oz. Sebor
1/2 oz. Barenjager
shake with ice or stir and serve neat

Aloha kaua

[ Edited by: tikitanked on 2004-03-27 12:16 ]

I tried a bottle of absinthe from Germany a year or so ago. A bit on the heavy side. I can't remember the brand.
I recently ordered a bottle of La Fee Absinthe from France and got it here in CA within 4 days. This absinthe is very light with a mild but noticable high. My friends and just fill a shot glass halfway with absinthe and top it with 7-up. Add a small amount of sugar and just shoot it. Sounds like an odd mix but it goes down smooth with the absinthe layers your throat with that beautiful black jellybean taste.
try it.

OK, finally got it to work....

More when I can type.

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 ]

OK, I have been a fan of absinthe for 10 plus years, and I have to say that traditional French style absinthe is an amazingly delightful drink. It is nothing like the Czech stuff.

Absinthe can only be made by distillation. Any kits that you can buy are only going to make a bitter nasty concoction that is best used as window cleaner.

For the most accurate information on absinthe and its history, check out;

http://www.feeverte.net/

The FAQ there is very informative.

Quality absinthe is now being produced again in France. It isn't up to what it was in the past, but still very drinkable. The best site that I have found is;

http://www.absintheonline.com/

Great sites! And it dispells the myth of absinthe necessarily being nasty. Absinthe isn't nasty - people are nasty. (or somthing like that)

On 2004-05-07 22:11, Nepenthes wrote:

Any kits that you can buy are only going to make a bitter nasty concoction that is best used as window cleaner.

Actually, a couple kits out there are good, include all the esoteric ingredients, and insist on distillation to create true absinthe. The basement shamen sells one with a traditional recipe that's servicible, if not perfect.

I think you all missed the point, the best thing you can do with a nice bottle of absinthe is mix up some old school tiki drinks.

I know the original zombie and several other of Don's original creations were mixed with absinthe. By the time his imitators showed up real absinthe was getting hard to find so they probably didn't use it. You can still find some even in this country if your lucky. Several brands of real absinthe are finally being sold too.

I'm not a real big drinker of the stuff but I have collected the spoons for about 17 years now.

On 2004-05-23 23:14, captnkirk wrote:

I know the original zombie and several other of Don's original creations were mixed with absinthe.

Speaking from experience, I can tell you you don't really want to use the absinthe in a Zombie! I was going to use Don's Original recipe in the "Zombie Taste-off" at the Oasis this year, but after trying it out ahead of time (mixing it exactly to Don's specs), it came out tasting simply awful - I's got 5 ounces of rum in it already - I'm not sure what he was thinking when he added the absinthe to it! Absinthe is extremely dry, and after a sip of the Zombie, it felt like someone had wiped my tongue with a bar towel - plus the anise flavor (even in very small amounts) overpowers any fruit juices in the drink and renders it unpalatable.

On 2004-04-24 21:14, Scrimshaw wrote:
I recommend not mixing other alcohols with it, especially whiskeys/scotches/etc.

I disagree - being able to finally use absinthe in a Sazerac is a real treat - in this case, the anise compliments the rye and lemon very nicely, and when followed with a sip of ice water, leaves an aftertaste that is surprisingly smooth.

I have yet to do the "fire & water" ritual - waiting to get my hands on a real absinthe spoon (yeah - I know there's hundreds on eBay...)

Remember that the "fire & Water" ritual was an invention of Czech swill sellers from about 10 years ago. It doesn't have any history older then that.

Sugar cube on top of the spoon and a slow drip of water. Thats the way to go.

I'll officially be at the Hukilau this year, and unfortunately won't be doing a road trip down to southern CA this time.

(if it's legal)I'll be bringing a bottle of Absinthe with me, they're $50-$80 each so unfortunately one will have to do. I'd like to share it with any and all that would like a taste. I'm going to leave my vintage spoon at home, but I'll bring some reproductions with me.

This is one more reason to join in the fun, I hope to see many of you there!

I have been using absinthe in the Sazerac for quite some time, but was unaware that it (absinthe)was ever used in the Zombie. Thank you for posting that bit of information. By complete coincidence, I have a version of the Zombie, the Ona Zombie, that I developed to accompany the Ona Tiki Zombie mug, which uses absinthe as key ingredient.
it took many attempts to fine tune this cocktail; the recipe I have stayed with is smooth with a very complex flavor. I will have to post this recipe later.

Absinthes are hugely different than they used to be - there's a whole new set of 'thujon optimized' wormwood-based alcohol being made in the EU being called absinthe which do not taste like licorice at all. And if you want that special buzz - you get something Mata Hari - 35mg/litre thujon -
!pow!

Best place to find these without the intercontinental shipping time or the Customs risk would be http://www.absinthecity.com and you can't just click 'Buy It', you have to use a text box at the bottom of the page to contact someone. But after that everything goes well.

I picked up two bottles from Barcelona Spain on my recent trip. I just wrapped them up in newspaper and packed them along with my rum. Had no problems bringing them back. Also the price was very cheap, 10 Euros a bottle ($12).
The taste is a cross between Black Licorice and Peppermint. The Absinthe was made in Tarragona Spain.

You can buy it in supermarkets here, so if anyone would like me to send them a bottle, get in touch and I'll wing it to you at cost, though I wouldn't take responsibility for the customs in the 'land of the free' deciding that you're not free enough to drink it!

Trader Woody

It's definitly an aquired taste, and I find it compliments guinness well. I got the sabor shipped to nc a couple of times and have tried the make-your-own from a group in Florida. The first time I tried it things seemed to vibrate(I stared a sponge for 3 min). My Goddess said I was stoned. I took her word for it, I have not gotten high from anything other then the booze, so I have no standard for comparison. My word of advice enjoy in small doses, and when you do, enjoy it for what it is, not what is not (some people like onions). Usually it's almost akin to a really warm wine buzz, beware of the hangover. I keep a true distilled(sabor) version and a homemade bottle(in the purple munktiki xxx bottle) in my collection always. Boat-drinks ya mugs

[ Edited by: Mike the Headhunter on 2004-06-24 00:11 ]

......and an extra ear!

LOL i got it.

A bar here in London uses Absinthe instead of Pernod in their Mai-Tais(this is Dale Degroffs Version), the rest of the ingredients are the same as Don the Beachcombers recipe.
Personally its the best Mai-Tai I've ever tasted.

Absinthe in a Mai Tai?? BLECCCHH!! I'll bet Trader Vic is rolling over in his grave at the mere mention of it! With few exceptions, there's no quicker way to ruin a drink than to add absinthe to it, I tell ya... I've made Don the Beachcombers Zombie (the one from "Hawaii: Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuisine") that has both Pernod and absinthe in it, and I swear no fouler concoction has ever passed my lips... Don was really big on Pernod/absinthe for some reason, and indeed, his Mai Tai does call for it. But then again, Don's Mai Tai is a completely different drink than Vic's Mai Tai: in fact, they only have 3 things in common - lime, rum and the name! According to Dale DeGroff's "The Craft Of the Cocktail", the Mai Tai doesn't call for any Pernod/absinthe or most of the other ingredients in Don's recipe. DeGroff's recipe is nearly identical to Trader Vic's recipe.

Absinthe is great on its own (or in a Sazerac - MMMMMmmmm...), but keep it away from tropical drinks!! :)

I don't claim to be an expert by any means but it tasted good to me, they do serve both recipes and the bar that serves it is owned by the Match Bar group(Degroffs employers) and the Absinthe idea seems to be his if you read the european version of his book. Apparently the US version does't have his.
Doctor Z does your version of the book have the history of the Mai-Tai as well as he says he only found Dons Recipe when it was first published, Its an interesting read

On 2004-07-29 08:11, Doctor Z wrote:
Absinthe is great on its own (or in a Sazerac - MMMMMmmmm...), but keep it away from tropical drinks!! :)

I tend to highy agree.

I wonder what it would be like with salmon? Cooked over a BBQ on a cedar plank with all sorts of lemon and fennel is super tasty, I wonder if the absinth could be added to the marination? Hmmm...sounds like an experiment worth trying!

tikiwahine, yer getting me hungry for dinner and it's currently 8:00 am for me :)

On 2004-07-29 08:11, Doctor Z wrote:

Absinthe is great on its own, but keep it away from tropical drinks!!

...unless you have the recipe for a "Monkey's Gland", which was mixed for me by Ted Haigh aka Dr.Cocktail, a classic that was once offered as containing the name ingredient itself. Astoundingly, tropical flavours and Absinth harmonize delightfully. I hope he will publish it in his upcoming recipe book.

I quite agree about the Mai Tai...just can't picture it with Absinthe. Off course the members of Don's camp will still swear he invented it, but I rather trust Vic's affidavit in the BOT. Funny that even after Don's and Vic's death, myth and controversy surround the Mai Tai.

A vaguely Tiki drink involving absinthe is the Momisette:

2 Shots absinthe
Quarter shot of Orgeat
Pour into ice-filled glass and top up with mineral water & stir.

Trader Woody

Hey Trader Woody, that sounds good!
May have to try that one.

Absinthe legalized in Switzerland:

In January a new law takes effect in Switzerland aimed at rehabilitating the reputation of absinthe, whose distillation, distribution and sale were banned after an absinthe-besotted factory worker killed his wife and two children nearly a century ago.

The new law will allow Bugnon and dozens of other underground absinthe makers to "come out," as one Swiss newspaper put it, seek amnesty and produce absinthe legally.

full story:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/11/04/MNGQD9LM621.DTL

I had a taste of this stuff....WHEW!!, like pernod meets morphine. Which brand did you try/do you drink???.

I had this in Yokuska when I was in the Navy. Before we were given liberty from the ship, some local military police guy gave us a lecture and said absinthe was available in Japan but illegal for American military personnel and we were therefore forbidden to sample it, under penalty of torture, as they say on The Simpsons.

Natually, the first thing everyone looked for was absinthe.

Don't remember the brand. Tasted like licorice. Did nothing for me. Then it was on to boilermakers and beautiful hostesses.

For protecting you so well, fellow taxpayers, you're welcome!

First off the drink you probably found in Japan at that time was "Hermes Absinthe". It is/was 116 proof and is not really absinthe, it is what the French call a pastis. Literature put out by the Suntory distillery clearly states that "original Absinthe was made from wormwood, which was found to be dangerous, so Hermes Absinthe uses Anis instead" The flavor of real absinthe comes from wormwood, fennel and anis seed (and a handfull of other herbs in lesser quantities according the brand).

I like the stuff and I drink a brand called "Deva Absenta" from Spain which is realativly inexpensive. The best brand I have ever tasted is called Edouard 72. It is a recreation of now banned Edouard Pernod which I am told is very accurate.
It costs $100 a bottle and is available here: http:\www.bestabsinthe.com

P.S. Even though the first tiki drinks were mixed up after the ban on absinthe. Don the Beachcomber and maybe Trader Vic seemed to be able to obtain it and use it in some of their most famous drinks. Mix with it, it imparts a herbal quality to drinks with out the overwelming anis flavor that most of the absinthe substitutes have.

I have a bottle of La Fee absinthe which uses real wormword. From what I've read it's not the best one out there but it's what I found. I picked it up in London when I was visiting there in the spring of 2004. I still have about a quarter of the bottle left. No amazing psychedelic aspects to it. You do however get the buzz of alcohol without the drowsiness but your mileage may vary.

It has been theorized that you need to be a long term drinker of absinthe to get the purported effects you may have read about. The wormwood apparently builds up in your system and then one day...

The laws here regarding absinthe are a bit hazy. I have heard that it is illegal to sell it but not illegal to own it.

La Fee will even ship their product to the US. Check it out:
http://www.lafeeabsinthe.com/

I tried some new years a few years back. Illegal import into Oz. No idea what brand, the label wasnt in English. Only had half a teeny bit, and still blew me away.

I know a little about this topic. The laws in the US state that absinthe, in its proper form (made with wormwood), is illegal to sell or import. It may not be illegal to own, but that's why local liquor stores around here, including HiTime, carry the Pernod/pastis substitutes instead. The chemical thujone, which is present in wormwood is actually, if I remember my chemistry correctly, a neurotoxin, hence the strict laws about importation.
Supposedly, in properly distilled, high-end absinthe, the impurities such as thujone should be removed or only be present in very small amounts, but I'm sure the cheaper stuff could be relatively dangerous. I'm not sure how much it would take to actually cause serious harm, but as a fun trivia fact/urban legend here's a case in point: Vincent van Gogh was supposedly drunk/under the influence when he whacked off his ear. It may be that thujone works under a cumulative effect, and gets worse the longer you've been exposed to it. Makes sense to me. In any case, I think I'd rather not have chemicals in my drinks that might lead me to sever body parts. Fortunately, I've never had a MaiTai that made cutting off my ear seem like a good idea. Thank God there's no wormwood involved in producing rum.
But I digress. I've actually tried a brand called Absente, which is supposed to be more or less the same thing as real absinthe but without the wormwood. It's about $40 a bottle, which is still pretty steep. At least I think so. I actually like this stuff because it starts out with a green crystal color, and when you add the sugar water to it, it becomes opalescent like real absinthe should. You're supposed to put a sugar cube on a slotted spoon and pour cold water over the sugar to dissolve it, and the sugar water runs into the glass with the absinthe. Stir, and voila, your drink is no longer green. Plus it doesn't taste quite as bad. Most of these things are a little too bitter if you drink them straight, but again that's just my opinion.
I've actually tried another brand, I think that was called Pernod, in Paris, and it tasted pretty much the same as the Absente, but without the nifty color. This stuff was more grey. But hey, it's what they had at the bar on the Eiffel Tower. I had to drink something, and I wasn't sure I could communicate how to make a Mai Tai.

Absente, according to the information that comes with the bottle, is made from a different variety of wormwood that does not have the same levels of thujone as the more commonly used variety. it also uses less wormwood and more anise so that it is kind of a absinthe/pastis hybrid. Absente does contain thujone, but in levels low enough to be within legal limits. It tastes more like absinthe than pernod or herbsainte (pastis) but less bitter and more licorice-y than real absinthe.

Topics merged.

Ah, Absinthe…keep away from my Precious. I have the following bottles I brought back from Europe over the last few years. I have wasted tons of money on crapsinthe, as well, experimenting so don’t be a schmuck like me. Do some research, and DON”T fall for the way overpriced internet prices.
I have listed my current inventory by preference.
Nouvelle-Orléans (Fr)
Edouard 72 (Fr)
La Fée (Fr)
Cami Toulouse Lautrec (Cz)
La Bleue (Suisse)
Mari Mayans (Sp)
Tunel (Sp)
Extase (Portugal)
Sebor Absinth (Cz)
Hill's (Cz)
Absinth King (Cz)

I always stash my absinthe in my wine samples I bring back with me, and luckily I have never had a problem. US Customs will seize the bottles, and you’ll get the dreaded flag on future International travel. I met Ted Breaux when I was at Vinexpo last year, and he is the true absinthe master. He was an excellent source of advice on what and where to purchase. If anyone wants the address to order pure wormwood extract, please pm me and I will give it to you. A couple drops in some Pastis makes a nice substitute.
L'absinthe vous fait un dieu

Interesting that this topic should come up again, I got my two bottles of Absinth King of Spirits Gold yesterday. I took a sip to try it and it was bitter. I'm waiting for the right time to really try it out.

Davey, how much should this stuff have cost me? The cheapest I found was $150 per bottle shipped from Cz.

"Gogh's 'insanity,' long assumed to be schizophrenia, was in fact a psychological disorder resulting from a form of epilepsy."

Drinking too much of any alcohol will make you do crazy things. The banning of Absinthe is total propaganda in my opinion. It's a herb, man.

Just a little hint, don't be drinking it straight. Either put it in a mixed drink or do the proper 'louching' technique with the water and sugar. It really does need to be cut down to be palatable. And besides, you'll be able to drink more of it that way!

If you do drink it straight, you deserve a hearty 'hardcore!!' from me.

Up here it sells for between $65 and $100 CAD depending on the brand. 'Absente' is also available, but who would want that garbage when you can get the real thing(ok, so it is a little cheaper)