Absinthe
While there’s no canonical description, Absinthe is a high-proof spirit flavored with anise and similar botanicals, the most notable of which are the leaves of Artemisia absinthium, aka grand wormwood. Most anise is green in color, which gave rise to the iconic “green fairy,” which is said to be seen when one consumes the spirit. A psychoactive chemical known as thujone is present in wormwood, and this gave absinthe an awful reputation in the early 1900s, when a handful of drinkers went on criminal sprees (some murderous). By 1915 it was widely outlawed. By the late 1990s a better understanding of thujone (which is present in modern absinthe in only trace amounts) led to these bans being relaxed. In 2007, absinthe was once again legalized in the U.S., opening the door for a rush of hundreds of new brands. Absinthe is properly served by placing the spirit in a glass, then pouring cold water slowly over a sugar cube placed over the glass on a specific type of spoon. Prepared absinthe “louches” by turning a milky white color.
Top Absinthe Posts:
Does Absinthe Make You Hallucinate?
Absinthe Cocktails Featuring Lucid
La Fée Absinthe Parisienne
Today is Bastille Day, and in honor of the French Revolution, the folks at Pernod-Ricard sent us a bottle of Ricard Pastis (and a pétanque set) to help us celebrate. Pastis is an anise-flavored liqueur — not the same as absinthe (but it’s the closest category we have here) since it has no wormwood, but…
Every time a holiday rolls around, the spirits makers commission all manner of cocktails from their in-house mixologists and professionals in the field. Independence Day is no exception, and this post full of selected recipes is drawn from what is arguably the biggest bumper crop of cocktail ideas I’ve seen since starting this blog. Hope…
Absinthe is the subject that keeps on keeping on — some of the forum battles over the intricacies of the subject here are legendary — and in honor of Vieux Carré‘s fine showing, I thought it would be personally instructive to revisit some of my most highly rated absinthes — and a few I didn’t…
It is fortunately far easier to drink Vieux Carré Absinthe than it is to type Vieux Carré Absinthe. This absinthe is produced by Philadelphia Distilling (which also created the fine Bluecoat Gin) and is composed, as the bottle tells us, of “grain neutral spirits distilled with herbs with additional herbs added.” No mention of artificial…
Virgin America will be offering Le Tourment Vert absinthe for sale and consumption at 30,000 feet, starting in May. Via Boing Boing: Incidentally, Virgin America (which today started service to/from Orange County) is also expanding the number of craft in its fleet that offer in-flight WiFi. Absinthe + internet + idle time? Can’t wait to…
Admiral Imports, which is bringing the incredibly controversial (based on the comments on this review, at least) Koruna Absinthe to the U.S. market, isn’t just quitting with one. It’s also bringing these two absinthes — Djabel and Green Fairy, both also from the Czech Republic — to the States. I’m lumping these two reviews together…
I pity the bartender that sells both Koruna and Corona, but after a glass or two of this top-notch absinthe, I expect the drinker won’t have much of a problem making his requests known. Koruna, a “bohemian absinth” — using the alternate spelling — from the Czech Republic, makes its intentions well-known from the label,…
Part of the rare but growing segment of “blanche” (aka “la Bleue”) absinthe, La Clandestine is a Swiss absinthe with a recipe that dates back to 1935. The main difference: Blanches are clear, without the traditional yellow/green tint that has earned absinthe its noteriety and its famed “green fairy.” (The reasoning dates back to absinthe’s…
The folks that make the widely available Lucid are expanding their line of absinthes with two new bottlings. At the top of the line is Nouvelle Orleans,a 136-proof traditional absinthe with a yellow-green color straight from the bottle. Fragrant but not overpowering, uncut Nouvelle Orleans offers light, sweetish notes but is far too blazingly alcoholic…
What better gift is there than a bottle of booze? Not only will your giftee think you’re incredibly sophisticated, chances are he’ll let you drink a good amount of it before he realizes his terrible mistake. What’s the best booze to put under the tree this Christmas season? Of course you want to offer something…