Absinthe... discuss.

So, If I move to Almeda I can have an absinthe distillery and a world class tiki bar (Forbidden Island) within stomping distance.

I am living in the wrong place.

On 2007-12-04 09:01, martiki wrote:
The first new US-made absinthe will be on the market in a few weeks. And it is superb.

Do you know its wormwood content?

I do not. We're going to have the distiller over to FI for a Q&A in the near future, when his crazy schedule calms down- should be a good event.

Got a New York Times story on U.S. absinthe distilleries and the hoops they've hAd to jump to market their products:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/dining/05absi.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=da17104e230116ac&ex=1197522000&emc=eta1

I don't know how long this link will remain live, but here is a news video about St. George Spirits of Alameda and the absinthe they will be selling as of December 21.

http://video.nbc11.com/player/?id=192433

(You'll have to sit through a commercial. Sorry'bout that.)

• SV

The 21st?! I'll pick up a bottle at St. George on my way to see Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd.

Oh, so sweet.....

New York Times

December 5, 2007

A Liquor of Legend Makes a Comeback

By PETE WELLS
EARLIER this year, when Lance Winters heard that absinthe was being sold in the United States again for the first time since 1912, he shrugged it off. Then he reconsidered. He'd spent 11 years perfecting an absinthe at St. George Spirits, the distillery where he works in Alameda, Calif., and considered it one of the best things he'd ever made. Why not sell it?
Over the past few months, he must have wished he'd stuck to his first instinct.
The division of the Treasury Department that approves alcohol packaging sent back his label seven times, he said. They thought it looked too much like the British pound note. They wondered why it was called Absinthe Verte when their lab analysis said the liquid inside was amber. Mostly, it seemed to him, they didn't like the monkey.
"I had the image of a spider monkey beating on a skull with femur bones," Mr. Winters said. But he said that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau thought the label "implied that there are hallucinogenic, mind-altering or psychotropic qualities" to the product.
"I said, ŒYou get all that just from looking at a monkey?'"
His frustration came to a sudden end last Wednesday, when he learned the agency had finally granted approval to his St. George Absinthe Verte, the first American-made absinthe on the market in almost a century.
Since the start of the year, at least four absinthes, including two from Europe and one from South America, have been cleared for sale. At the same time, hundred-year-old legends about its ties to murder and madness have been discredited. For years, absinthe's chief appeal has been its shady reputation and contraband status. It was said to have caused artists like Van Gogh to hallucinate. Now that it is safe and legal, will anyone still drink it?
To find out, I tried the two absinthes on sale in New York along with an early sample of St. George Absinthe Verte. And I was astonished by how delicate, gentle and refreshing they were. Astonished in part because of my earlier run-ins with absinthe. There was the Portuguese stuff that looked like radiator fluid and tasted like a mouthful of copper. There was the Czech product that a friend smuggled past customs in a mouthwash bottle. I would have preferred the mouthwash.
Another European brand is "the color of reactor cooling fluid and there's nothing natural about that," said Mr. Winters, who would know. Before turning to alcohol as a full-time job, he worked as an engineer on a reactor on board a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
Absinthe aficionados agree that a lot of absinthe isn't very good.
"Before Hurricane Katrina destroyed a lot of my things, I had a very extensive collection of bad absinthe," said T. A. Breaux, a former resident of New Orleans who designed one of the new absinthes, Lucid. Most of Mr. Breaux's bad absinthe is modern, but the taste of absinthe has been problematic for centuries. The word comes from the Greek apsinthion, which means undrinkable. The essential ingredient in absinthe, a medicinal herb called grand wormwood, is profoundly bitter. How bitter?
"Ever take malaria pills?" Mr. Winters asked. "Ever bite into one?"
Mr. Winters had never tasted absinthe when he started making his own. Nor did he hope to sell it. He was just playing. "You know, give a boy a still," he said. He worked from a recipe in a back issue of Scientific American, then adjusted the formula. "It was just a manic obsession with the ingredients that drove me to tweak the formula."
After a few tries, Mr. Winters found that grand wormwood was best used in just the first step of absinthe making, when it is infused into grape brandy along with anise and fennel and then distilled, so its bitterness could be left behind in the still. In the second step, he infused a portion of what came out of the still with lemon balm, hyssop, tarragon and other botanicals, including a much less bitter cousin of grand wormwood. Finally this flavorful infusion is mixed back into the result of the first distillation.
Mr. Breaux, too, muffles the wormwood with fennel and anise. An environmental chemist with access to gas chromatography mass spectrometers, he had analyzed unopened samples of absinthe from before the ban.
"They are just beautiful pieces of craftsmanship," he said. "They were artisanally made with the best herbs and there's just no comparison between that and something that has green dye and absinthe' stamped on the bottle." The two kinds have as much in common, he said, as "a good Bordeaux and a bottle of cheap wine that one buys in a roadside convenience store."
That, more or less, is what I'd say about the difference between the absinthes I cut my teeth on and those produced by Mr. Breaux, Mr. Winters and the Kübler distillery in Switzerland.
I tried each straight (eye-opening, but not for everybody), and diluted with water. The sugar cube of legend is not needed with a skillfully made absinthe, which all of these were.
The Kübler Absinthe Supérieure ($56.99), at 53 percent alcohol, is the easiest to understand. Fans of Pernod and other absinthe substitutes will find the flavors familiar. But while Pernod speaks of anise, Kübler tastes like licorice. It says only one thing, but says it very pleasantly.
With Lucid ($67.99), things get more complicated. Mr. Breaux makes it in a French distillery based on his analysis of vintage absinthes. Besides a bracing dose of fresh anise and a back-of-the-tongue bitterness, on one tasting, I thought I detected asparagus. A second encounter was more minty. Both times, Lucid kept pulling me back in for a fourth, seventh, twelfth sip. It was alarmingly easy to imagine exploring it while a long afternoon slipped away.
St. George, which will cost around $75, is the most layered of the three. Mr. Winters has a history of capturing delicate aromas in a bottle (a vodka of his called Hangar One smells just like mandarin blossoms) and his Absinthe Verte is full of fresh green herbs. Anise and fennel make their scheduled appearance but hardly dominate.
While the United States may be in the throes of an absinthe renaissance, distillers suspect that new bottles will arrive slowly. Absinthe was banned in America in 1912 because of health concerns fanned by some of the same anti-alcohol forces who would later push through Prohibition. Due to a reorganization of the government's food-safety bureaucracy, the ban was effectively lifted before World War II, although it took decades before anybody realized it.
One absinthe that will try to brave the regulators next year is a spirit distilled by Markus Lion in Germany for the performer Marilyn Manson. Called Mansinthe, it is "designed to please newbies as well as long-term absinthe lovers," Mr. Lion said in an e-mail message.
Mr. Breaux has crafted several other absinthes that are sold in Europe, but he and his American importer, Viridian Spirits, are not ready to face the Tax and Trade Bureau again just yet.
"I'm trying to recover my sanity first," said Mr. Breaux. "There's this perception that we opened a door and now anybody can walk in. But it's not like that. It's like everything is still on probationary status."
Jared Gurfein, who founded Viridian, agreed. "There's no question they're watching us," he said. "I'm just not sure what they're watching for. I hope it's not for somebody to cut their ear off."

[ Edited by: tikibars 2007-12-06 13:34 ]

Because I live on the Kentucky/Tennessee border I run into the same problem trying to get Absinthe, Macadamia Nut Liquor, or even a simple Chardonnay.

Both Tennessee and Kentucky prohibited with felony penalties the shipping of Alcoholic beverages directly to consumers. So until the distributors start carrying Absinthe, it will still be way hard to find in my neck of the woods. If you live in a state with similar restrictions you'll have to start harassing your local liquor stores to carry it. Even then the demand I'm sure will surpass the supply, keeping the prices high. Leave it to the States to limit ones ability to shop around, drive down competitive pricing, and drive up prices.

To see a rundown of why you can't order Absinthe, Macadamia Nut Liquor, or even a simple Chardonnay. on-line in your State go here:
http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Features/0,1197,1059,00.html
http://www.wineinstitute.org/initiatives/stateshippinglaws

If you think it's ridicules that you can't order your favorate Macadamia Nut Liquor or a simple Chardonnay even with an age check at delivery, go here and support:
http://www.freethegrapes.org

Weasel

[ Edited by: weasel640 2007-12-06 15:07 ]

the sebor absinthe is great stuff, then probably mari mayans. actually they are both good for getting that buzz. got them from here http://alcopopsonline.co.uk/absinthe.htm

It appears that BevMo is selling Lucid. STICKER SHOCK!!

some links to articles my buddy posted on http://www.surfguitar101.com

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/05/MNQJTO9FM.DTL&hw=absinthe&sn=001&sc=1000

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/05/MN8STOAVS.DTL&hw=absinthe&sn=002&sc=590

I'm sure most of the info is already common knowledge here.
Jeff(bigtikidude)

On 2007-12-05 11:21, martiki wrote:
We're going to have the distiller over to FI for a Q&A in the near future, when his crazy schedule calms down- should be a good event.

I have a couple of questions if you don't mind passing them along when the time comes.

I just got my first bottle of Absinthe (Kubler) and now I need glasses. However I'd like to get glasses that are lead-free -- and many of the glasses seem to be crystal. Can anyone recommend lead-free absinthe glasses?

Here is a neat collection of old absinthe glasses that were made of Uranium glass.
http://www.oxygenee.com/absinthe/absinthiana3.html

Why are you looking specifically for glass without lead? Is it for safety reasons? If so, Absinthe and most other alcoholic beverages are not capable of extracting lead from a crystal glass in the short time it should be in it. I would avoid storing an acidic beverage like lemonade for a long time in a lead glass pitcher.

Soda-lime glass is far more common (and cheaper) then the lead glass is, so a suitable replacement glass should be inexpensive and easy to find. Look for a footed rocks glass from any glassware outlet and it should make a wonderful lead free absinthe glass.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Image:Rocks_Glass_(Footed).svg

[ Edited by: captnkirk 2007-12-12 04:33 ]

Coming soon...

St. George Absinthe Verte made a very small sneak peek guest appearance at FI last weekend.

No, don't ask- it's already gone. But it will be behind the bar and ready for action after next week.

You will not see green fairies, but you will love how it tastes.

Thanks CaptnKirk, I got some lead free crystal glasses from http://lamaisondabsinthe.com/

and looking forward to that St. George Absinthe later this month!

You seem to have done you research. If I had known, I would have recommended the La Rochère glasses to you because they are good modern copies of absinthe glasses. I didn't because I assumed they were lead glass like the orginals and you said you didn't want lead glass.

I did remember they use the word crystal in the description so I have always assumed they were lead glass. I own a few of their Pontarlier style glasses and I never realized they were not made from lead glass. They do only have about half the weight of one of my antique glasses, but until I had one of each in my hand I just never realized it.

Just returned from St. George. I got there at about 10:25 this morning and there was already approximately 150-200 people in line. Bu the time 11 rolled around, the line snaked back out of the parking gates and down the airstrip. I'd estimate there was close to 750, possibly 1000, people in line. With only 1800 bottle available (and many MANY people carrying full boxes (containing 6 bottles) out, I'm sure it'll all be gone before closing today.

The news choppers were flying all around us. A nice slice of popular culture...

From Craig's List:

TREASURE HUNT!

"I waited in front of the door to St. George Distillery at the defunct Alameda Naval Station for 4 (count 'em F-O-U-R) days in the freezing wind and cold, waiting for the HISTORIC moment to arrive: the first U.S. distilled absinthe since 1912 available for legal purchase. Alas, the much awaited 11:00AM hour tolled on the 21st of December of the year 2007. The distillery doors flung open, smashing my frozen nose, but I was not deterred! My frost bitten fingers were shaking as I handed over my plastic currency and stuttered "T t t twelve b b b bottles p p p please". At $75.00 USD a pop I could hardly afford this expenditure on my part-time clown income, but I was determined to chase the green fairy until I found doG, or, at least got laid. I hobbled through the warm tasting room past professional drinkers parading themselves as Grey Uniformed Green Fairy Guardians. Bursting through the back door I elbowed my way through throngs of green eyed monkeys hungrily eyeing my clinking cache of TRUTH ELIXER. Out on the desolate, weed choked former jet fighter runway I slammed the trunk of my convertible Falcon Futura closed on 11 bottles. Looking across the bay at the almost sinister skyline of Little Gotham West I slither into the back seat, frozen limbs tingling, heart audibly pounding my rib cage. I pop the cork and release the green fairy. Eschewing proper absinthe preparation I tip my head back and gulp straight from the bottle. Pungent aromas of anise and fennel assault my nostrils as the holy green liquid tumbles down my throat. I feel like I am simultaneously ascending and descending as distilled wormwood wriggles into my brain. I returned to this body 48 hours later and there are no words to explain that I now understand everything. You cannot revisit the revelation, thus I have no need to imbibe the remaining liquid doorway. I am dispensing the opened bottle to strangers, and have randomly scattered the remaining 11 bottles near fairy symbols throughout the Bay Area."

On 2007-12-28 08:52, martiki wrote:
"I waited in front of the door to St. George Distillery at the defunct Alameda Naval Station for 4 (count 'em F-O-U-R) days in the freezing wind and cold, ... The distillery doors flung open, smashing my frozen nose, but I was not deterred! My frost bitten fingers were shaking as I handed over my plastic currency and stuttered "T t t twelve b b b bottles p p p please".

Soft Californians. :|

You want cold? I gotcher cold right here.

Frostbite in Alameda, that I gotta see.

..sb

On 2007-12-28 08:58, Suffering Bastard in Maine wrote:

On 2007-12-28 08:52, martiki wrote:
"I waited in front of the door to St. George Distillery at the defunct Alameda Naval Station for 4 (count 'em F-O-U-R) days in the freezing wind and cold, ... The distillery doors flung open, smashing my frozen nose, but I was not deterred! My frost bitten fingers were shaking as I handed over my plastic currency and stuttered "T t t twelve b b b bottles p p p please".

Soft Californians. :|

You want cold? I gotcher cold right here.

Frostbite in Alameda, that I gotta see.

..sb

Yer right. But there is a "relative cold" factor when not dressing properly. You people on the East Coast and in the Mid West know how to dress appropriately for cold weather. This goofball in Alameda was probably dealing with temps in the low 40's but was only wearing a tube top and a thong.

How is it that Alameda has suddenly become the center of the drink universe?

Rum lectures at FI, Absinthe producers, Today Shows...

I think it has something to do with the jab. But I'm not sure what it is.

On 2007-12-28 09:22, Hakalugi wrote:

On 2007-12-28 08:58, Suffering Bastard in Maine wrote:

Soft Californians. :|

You want cold? I gotcher cold right here.

Frostbite in Alameda, that I gotta see.

..sb

Yer right. But there is a "relative cold" factor when not dressing properly. You people on the East Coast and in the Mid West know how to dress appropriately for cold weather. This goofball in Alameda was probably dealing with temps in the low 40's but was only wearing a tube top and a thong.

Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't mock you all out there.
poke poke.

..sb

More St. George Absinthe on Feb 3rd

While I was waiting in line, I think I remember seeing some guy with just a tube top and a thong. I though I recognized his face, too...

edited for spelling

[ Edited by: Haole'akamai 2008-01-24 09:55 ]

I've been experimenting with a bottle of Mr. Jekyll Absinthe that I bought when I was in Melbourne, Australia last week. I made a Zombie Punch with it last night, using the Sippin' Safari recipe, and it was simply incredible. Absinthe does NOT ruin tropical drinks when used in the correct proportions found in the original Beachcomber recipes. Here's my report on the Cocktailians weblog if you want to read more. Tonight, I'm using it in the Sippin' Safari Jet Pilot recipe.

I also had a phenomenal champagne cocktail called, Death In the Afternoon, at the Der Raum bar in Melbourne.

Marilyn Manson's Mansinthe was reviewed by Epicurious.

Another interesting pre-prohibition, pre-ban American cocktail which relied on absinthe was the Sherman.
When I first tasted this cocktail, something in the back of my mind said “root beer”.

Sherman

2 ounces sweet vermouth
1 ounce rye or bourbon whiskey
3 dashes absinthe
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash orange bitters

Stir with ice, strain.
Garnish with lemon twist.

Addendum:
This is a copy and paste.
I have not tried this drink.

[ Edited by: Unga Bunga 2008-04-17 22:41 ]

On 2008-01-26 10:51, MrBaliHai wrote:
... Absinthe does NOT ruin tropical drinks when used in the correct proportions found in the original Beachcomber recipes.

From another mixologist: Just wanted to doubly- and triply-agree with this. Hear, hear.

Me too agree on that..

Cheers!

On 2008-01-26 10:51, MrBaliHai wrote:
I've been experimenting with a bottle of Mr. Jekyll Absinthe that I bought when I was in Melbourne, Australia last week. I made a Zombie Punch with it last night, using the Sippin' Safari recipe, and it was simply incredible. Absinthe does NOT ruin tropical drinks when used in the correct proportions found in the original Beachcomber recipes. Here's my report on the Cocktailians weblog if you want to read more. Tonight, I'm using it in the Sippin' Safari Jet Pilot recipe.

I also had a phenomenal champagne cocktail called, Death In the Afternoon, at the Der Raum bar in Melbourne.

Bali,
I have been using Absinthe in tropical drinks for quite some time. Sebor Absinthe has a lower alcohol content, but higher thujon count, great flavor, and I have a zombie formula that i concocted with it. tastes great. This spirit is a great weapon in the flavor arsenal.

New Article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080429/sc_livescience/absinthesmindalteringmysterysolved

Barnaby Conrad is the author of a book called Absinthe:History in a bottle.
It is a nice read full of lots of stories about famous drunks and nice photos.
It is not a source for facts about absinthe (outside of historical ones).

It is a nice coffee table book or addition to any library of booze related books.

Amazon.com has it here.

[ Edited by: captnkirk 2008-05-02 07:42 ]

Gotta say, just be sure everyone is certain:

Most Czech absinthe is not very tasty. Hill's was the first, and is always rated the worst. The "history" of Hill's previous production, and the Czech absinth ritual (The Czech product, after Hill's is always spelled minus the 'e') of dipping sugar in the liquor, lighting it on fire, then stirring it in - as seen in the film XXX - is complete fiction, based loosely on the popularity of flaming Sambuca at the time. There is no Czech absinth tradition, there was no Czech absinth golden age correspojnding with that in France. As to the Hill's-invented preparation, you're taking something that already tastes horrible, and adding burnt sugar. Trust me, it isn't just carmelized, it's burnt.

Absinthe should not be extremely bitter. It SHOULD, however, be extremely potent. The Czech product boasts of the thujone content only because of the "hallucinogen" myth. Recent studies show that, not only does real Pernod Fils absinthe contain only trace amounts of wormwood and, thus, thujone, but... thujone isn't the horrible stuff claimed unless you take massive doses! Pernod Fils absinthe, the original French brand, was nearly 150 proof as well! Toulouse Latrec etc. were not hallucinating from the wormwood in absinthe - as other have noted, you'll start seeing things too if you, like they, drink 8+ glasses of 150-proof alcohol per day. Now, some absinthe WAS dangerous, as another poster noted with excellent detail: the producers, unable to attain Pernod Fils' natural chlorophyll green color, resored to adding copper chloride, et. al., to attain the same look. Some chemicals may also have been added in attempts to replicate the 'louche' or opalescent clouding during dilution. If you prepare absinthe properly, you still may not like it. But if you like licorice and it still tastes like s**t, you've got bad absinthe. I say this only because friends of mine who hate licorice despise it, good or bad - people who hate licorice usually HATE licorice.

Here's how to prepare it right - I know others have mentioned this or added links, but I might as well describe it. You need:
Absinthe, preferably French or Swiss. Absente will work.
Sugar cubes.
A slotted absinthe spoon. Two forks stuck tines-together or a mesh tea ball with a handle can sub.
Very cold ice water, preferably filtered - stuff without a lot of local mineral content.
A nice conical glass, about the size of a rocks/lowball.
A very steady hand and a pitcher, or (if you're lucky) ab absinthe fountain or a broilleur.

Fill glass with approx. 1 oz. absinthe.

Place spoon, forks or tea ball across the glass, with one or two cubes of sugar on/in it. The Frech often used two or more, they liked their anise drinks very sweet, and sugar cubes sold by absinthe websites are the size of two standard cubes.

As slowly as possible, drip ice-cold water over the sugar. I suggest soaking the cube(s), then giving them a moment to begin to dissolve and drip before conrtinuing. You want to end up with an approximately 1/5 absinthe-to-water ratio. Different botanicals precipitate out at different dilutions, which is one reason you go slowly. The other is the fascination of watching the louche slowly become the liquid, changing the color (unless you have Swiss la bleue) and forming a stunning opalescent tone. This careful preparation, almost raised to a high art, was one of the habituees' draws to absinthe - to further this idea, some bars and cafes employed an Absinthe Professor. If you felt a bit shaky about your method, you could hire this man who would instruct you in the fine, delicate art of preparing absinthe! I adore this idea of preparation as a high art, and as much as we tiki-philes love a bartender who really takes his drinks seriously, a cafe having fountains and spoons for customers' use at their tables takes that extra step by putting that feeling of being an artist directly in the hands of the customer.

Enjoy... and don't get too carried away. The heightened sense you feel is probably a combination of the potent alcohol and the various herbs' essential oils - not just wormwood.

An absinthe fountain is a glass urn atop a pedestal, for holding the ice water, with a tiny tap for dripping water over your sugar. A Broilleur is a glass flow-control device which sits over your glass and drips the already pre-mixed sugar water.

http://www.lamaisondabsinthe.com is a US site selling many products that won't cost you a fortune. A simple glass fountain with two spigots will cost you $48, glasses are in the $9-12 range, and spoons about the same, including a replica of the souvenir Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower) spoon, one of the few so rare that fake originals turn up. The little raised spot along the spoon's handle is for setting over the edge of your glass. But despite this (and other sites) selling one, I doubt that Toulouse Latrec had his own person, custom spoon. I could be wrong, though.

The only good absinthes I have had so far (though a close friend has had those authentic replicas of the Pernod Fils recipe, and loved it) are Lucid and Kubler 53%. My guy has Lucid, and it has a very herbal flavor compared to Kubler. Kubler and other Swiss "la bleue" absinthes are clear, but they still louche. Absente, as noted, uses a close cousin to true wormwood, and is closer to pastis, but is still quite tasty and will louche nicely. I have Absente and Kubler here, as well as a glass and a spoon, and it's quite fun to make a bit of a show out of preparing it at parties.

P.S. Those make-your-own-absinthe kits, such as are sold on eBay and the website listed above? What you get from those is most definately not absinthe - in fact, it's probably behind Hill's, as far as flavor goes. Absinthe must be distilled. Those, though, are at least more complete than some of the recipes online, which involve steeping wormwood in high-proof vodka or, worse (if you have a suicidal streak) adding oil of wormwood. That'd be like drinking oil of eucalyptus.

[ Edited by: TorchGuy 2008-05-30 07:10 ]

Whew...just finished reading this whole thread and it is certainly a wealth of information and worth a bump. Many of the links are broken, but the content of the posts is excellent. I have always been interested in Absynthe, but have never tried it. The mystery of the liquor and the ritual of sugar, spoon and glass is intriguing. Needless to say, I have some paraphernalia to purchase and then determine what options are available on today's market.

Any updates out there from the experts?

I hope you like the flavour of licorice because i think that is the predominate taste. I personally like the stuff but find the Czech style the least palatable. It really is an unusual spirit/liqueur that you either love or loathe.

P.S. Just read the other day that the reason it has such a high a.b.v is to keep the green colour. Apparently the chlorophyll that leaches from some of the herbs used will actually turn brown unless the alcohol content is high.

On 2008-05-02 07:41, captnkirk wrote:
Barnaby Conrad is the author of a book called Absinthe:History in a bottle.
It is a nice read full of lots of stories about famous drunks and nice photos.
It is not a source for facts about absinthe (outside of historical ones).

It is a nice coffee table book or addition to any library of booze related books.

Barnaby Conrad's book is the Book of Tiki of Absinth. Before it was published, Absinthe lingered in relative obscurity. The first years after its publication, the only Absinth available was Czech Hill's, which became a big hit in Britain, because no real comparison existed. :)

Conrad's book is a fun read, but it's woefully out of date (hard to believe it was published 13 years ago!). For a more up-to-date reference, I'd recommend the recently published book, A Taste for Absinthe, by Guthrie and Thompson. It's nominally a book of classic and modern cocktail recipes that use absinthe, but it's also quite a nice introduction to the spirit, with little of the usual misinformation and myth-mongering (absinthe is a drug, causes hallucinations, etc) one often finds in books on absinthe.

I'd also recommend that anyone interested in learning more about absinthe check out the Wormwood Society, which is the premiere website for absinthe information, product reviews, and more.

Finally, I'd point out that in the past 2-3 years, a number of genuine, high-quality American absinthes have entered the market, including Pacifique, Delaware Phoenix Walton Waters, Delaware Phoenix Meadow of Love, Marteau Absinthe de la Belle Epoque, Vieux Carre, Leopold Brothers, and Ridge Verte and Blanche. All of these are the equal of anything coming out of Europe today; most can be found through online retailers like Drink Up New York. Best of all, most work fabulously well in tiki drinks!

Whatever you do, take Torch Guy's advice and avoid Eastern European "absinth" like the plague. Not only is it outrageously expensive, most of it is vile dreck that's not even properly distilled--it's horribly bitter, artificially colored, and doesn't louche. Guaranteed to ruin your Zombie or Jet Pilot. A good rule of thumb to follow: if the brand you're considering hypes its "high thujone content," run in the other direction.

I agree about EASTERN European absinthe being of minor quality. But in Western Europe, you can find some nice brands. There are specialty Absinth stores in Berlin and Paris, and Barcelona has an old Absinthe Bar where they make their own stuff that is amazing to visit.

Out of date as it may be, Conrad's book is a feast of vintage imagery for the visually inclined consumer, and it was this vintage eye candy quality that helped to rekindle the romance with Absinthe here and abroad.

Yes, of course--I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. Western Europe (specifically the Val-de-Travers region in Switzerland) is the birthplace of absinthe and some of the best brands available today are distilled there, including Ted Breaux's Jade absinthes, the Duplais absinthes, the Emile Pernot absinthes, etc. Entirely different than the Eastern European (mostly Czech) swill I was trying to warn people away from. My only point was that one no longer has to order overseas to obtain good absinthe; it's available right here in the US.

It wasn't my intention to steer anyone away from the Conrad book, either; like I said, it's a good read. Just wanted to make clear that it's a bit outdated now and there are other more recent book on absinthe out there that would make good supplemental reading material.

Thanks. Maybe I should have put a "throwing up" smiley icon behind my mention of Hill's, to make clearer that I thought it was funny that the Brits were all swooning over that green cough syrup in lieu of other, truer alternatives. The lure of the "Forbidden" was clouding their taste buds. :D

My first experience with Absine was the very nasty Sebor that some friends brought in (before it was legal to sell here in the USA) for a party. They loved the "flaming sugar" trick.

Earilier this year I took a class from Gwydion Stone, the distiller of Marteau and one of the founders for the Wormwood Society. I just wanted to have a better understanding of what I was drinking (in general). The class was very informative and provided a lot of information on absinthe.

Absinthe got a bad rep for no good reason. It won't make you go crazy or hallucinate more than any other alcoholic beverage will if you drink enough. And if you enjoy a little black licorice, you will likely enjoy a glass of good absinthe and it works so nicely as an accent for so many great cocktails.

What are some opinions on using genuine Absinthe vs Pastis (Herbsaint, Ricard etc)in Tiki cocktails these days? I'm thinking specifically of the many Don The Beachcomber recipes that call for the use of these spirits.

Absinthe works very well in tiki drinks that call for pastis, IMO--though it does tend to have a bigger impact on the overall taste of those drinks, even the ones that call for a relatively small amount of it. Also, different brands of absinthe have different flavor profiles--spicy, floral, fruity, minty--and I've found that some work better than others in tropical drinks. I'm partial to Vieux Carre, Leopold Brothers, Duplais Verte, and Marteau just to name a few. On the other hand, I've also become very fond of using the new 100-proof Herbsaint Original in my tiki drinks; it's made according to the original 1930s formula for Herbsaint and is fantastic in Zombies, Jet Pilots, Dr. Funks, etc.

That is very pertinent information, Mr Moto, thank you!

On the subject of non-tropical Absinthe cocktails: JUST in case you find yourself in Paris anytime soon, Ex-pat Mixologist David West will begin pouring some interesting ones at LE FLOREAL, at the corner of Faubourg du Temple and rue Parmentiér 152, Wednesday thru Saturday

On 2010-11-02 05:43, Mr. Moto wrote:
Absinthe works very well in tiki drinks that call for pastis, IMO--though it does tend to have a bigger impact on the overall taste of those drinks, even the ones that call for a relatively small amount of it. Also, different brands of absinthe have different flavor profiles--spicy, floral, fruity, minty--and I've found that some work better than others in tropical drinks. I'm partial to Vieux Carre, Leopold Brothers, Duplais Verte, and Marteau just to name a few. On the other hand, I've also become very fond of using the new 100-proof Herbsaint Original in my tiki drinks; it's made according to the original 1930s formula for Herbsaint and is fantastic in Zombies, Jet Pilots, Dr. Funks, etc.

I've read great things about the new Herbsaint Legendre (original recipe), but it hasn't made it's way here to either Ohio or Kentucky yet, so I've not had a chance to tried it.

It's readily available online at DrinkUpNY:

http://www.drinkupny.com/Legendre_Herbsaint_Original_p/s0080.htm

They ship all over. You could pick up some absinthe while you're there too! I'm sure other online retailers carry it as well.

My local store has [La Clandestine Absinthe Superieure 750ml]. Wikipedia indicates La Clandestine Absinthe is a Swiss La Bleue, or clear, absinthe brand produced by Artemisia-Bugnon distilleries. It is an anise-flavored, distilled liquor containing the herb wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), and when prepared with cold water will louche.

Sorry for my stupidity (I've read this thread though & ordered a couple of books), but wonder if this would be a decent Absinthe?