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What is it? Absinthe is a strong, bitter, anise flavoured spirit, traditionally based on white grape brandy known as eau de vie, though cheaper absinthes were often made with vodka or grain alcohol. The principle ingredients are green anise, florence fennel and grand wormwood, however one of the most exciting things about absinthe is that distillers often include other herbs, commonly angelica, coriander, hyssop and peppermint. Because of this, there's a tremendous range of flavours under the absinthe umbrella. Are there different kinds? drat right there are. Absinthe is divided, most basically, into Verte, the green absinthe you probably picture Van Gogh getting trollied on, and la Bleue, a clear to-milky blue spirit. After redistillation, the mash of herbs can be added back into the absinthe for a short time to impart a green hue and add additional bitterness. This was the most popular style in France in absinthe's heyday. However, as demand for cheaper absinthe grew, it was common for artificial colouring to be used to create fake Vertes in order to reduce manufacturing time.  Verte and la Bleue There's also "Bohemian absinth" (note the lack of an 'e'), which is a horrendous Czech concoction, these contain little to no fennel or anise and are basically just wormwood bitters. They're bullshit, taste awful and no one should ever sully their pallet with such swill. I'll be talking more about the Czech's place in absinthe history later. How do I prepare it? Preparation is dependant both on style and personal taste, but generally you're adding approximately 2 measures of very cold water to a measure of absinthe. Vertes are traditionally prepared with a sugar cube, while la Bleues may be prepared with or without. As the water is (slowly) added to the absinthe, non-water soluble essential oils that were in solution with the alcohol leave solution and cloud the drink, creating the milky green drink you probably imagine when you think of absinthe. This process is called a louche. Another horrendous Czech abomination worth mentioning is the "fire ritual". Because Czech absinth doesn't louche, they decided that to make things interesting for tourists by pouring absinthe, not water, over the sugar cube and setting it on fire. This will leave you with a disgusting, burnt tasting drinking, some how making your already awful Czech absinth even worse. If you do this with good absinthe you deserve to be burnt at the stake after being doused in the cheapest Czech absinth. Why was it banned? In the early 1900s, the temperance movement (the same one that would lead to America's disastrous experiment with prohibition) was gaining steam. Absinthe became the target of massive moral panic in 1905 after Jean Lanfray, a Swiss farmer, drank two glasses of absinthe and killed his family (rarely mentioned was his rampant alcoholism and the amount of wine and brandy he had in addition to the absinthe). Three years later, the prohibition of absinthe was written into the Swiss constitution.  The Death of The Green Fairy How did it come back? This is one of my favourite parts of the story of Absinthe. In the 1990s, a bright spark at BBH Spirits realised that Britain had never actually banned Absinthe, though everyone had just kind of assumed they had. So they started importing Czech absinth. This sparked interesting in absinthe the UK, which gradually lead to the repeal of bans throughout Europe in the early 2000's. Bootlegger producers legitimised themselves, and old recipes were slowly revived. But it's not the real stuff, right? You're so very wrong, much of the absinthe produced today is produced to the specification of pre-ban absinthe. So I'll trip and see the green fairy? No. Absinthe is not currently and has never been a hallucinogen. Wormwood contains a compound called thujone, people used to think behaved similarly to THC based on a similar molecular shape. However, even pre-ban absinthe had this chemical in such minuscule amounts that in order to get enough of it in your system to start experiencing its effects, you'd have to drink enough absinthe to die of alcohol poisoning a couple times over. Even if you could take enough, you wouldn't want to, seeing as the main effect is epilepsy like convulsions. So now you know the basics, where does one start with absinthe? Well, buying a bottle is a good start, but there's a lot of crap masquerading as absinthe, especially in the US (much of which has sugar added, making it a liqueur, not a spirit). A good place to start is with the old classic, Pernod. Pernod was one of the first commercial scale producers of Absinthe and were a strong force in the market up until the ban. In fact, the bottles of Pernod you’ve probably seen in bars are adaptations of their original absinthe recipe, though without wormwood. Pernod have started reproducing absinthe to a similar formulation to their pre-ban spirit and it’s definitely a good introductory absinthe considering its (relatively) low price and fairly representative flavour. If you want something a little more interesting, I would highly recommend any of the absinthes from La Clandestine distillery. They’re somewhat expensive but they’re world class absinthes, and their eponymous La Clandestine Absinthe is one of the finest La Bleues currently available. La Clandestine’s Angélique is less traditional but it’s among my absolute favourite absinthes. This is the one I always keep around. It’s made with angelica which I feel adds a fantastic depth of flavour. If you’re interested in splashing out a bit more for a very, very fine Verte Suisse that’s as traditional as you can get, consider the Jade VS 1989. It’s a slavish recreation of a pre-ban spirit and one of the finest examples of a traditional Verte you can find. Absinthe is a bit pricy, I’ll readily admit, but do keep in mind, you’re cutting it with two parts water, a 75cl bottle will produce 225cl of prepared absinthe. With that in mind, it’s actually on the level of a bottle of Maker’s Mark or Famous Grouse. Cymbal Monkey fucked around with this message at 10:37 on Oct 19, 2015 |
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Oct 17, 2015 17:18
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 07:07 |
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Absinthe is amazing, and here's yet another way to serve it, called "Death in the Afternoon", or "The Hemingway". From Hemingway himself, "Pour one jigger absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly." I wouldn't recommend that last part, and the $9 big bottle of brut "sparkling wine" from Costco is totally fine as using a $20 bottle of champagne is kind of a waste (you won't taste the difference). Also, you have to be careful with your pour, as the Absinthe "louches", all that oil and flavorful compounds coming out of alcohol solution are wonderful sublimation points for the champagne bubbles, which results in a milky green explosion all over your counter top. Seems like it has mixed reviews but I really enjoyed the bottle of La Muse Verte I bought recently. It's made with organic wormwood  . Pernod and St. George are my usual go-to brands, though.
forbidden dialectics fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Oct 17, 2015 |
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Oct 17, 2015 18:50
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I've never really enjoyed absinthe all that much when served traditionally because there's just too much anise for my tastes. I do keep a bottle of St. George around though for mixing into cocktails and it is really good. I noticed that the St. George is quite different than the other types that I've tried with a lot of other flavors besides anise. Also used some to make absinthe bitters from the Employees Only recipe book and it is really good in small amounts.
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Oct 19, 2015 00:23
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You should at least warn people that it tastes like liquid licorice. It's loving gross but I don't like licorice.
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Oct 19, 2015 00:38
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Croatoan posted:You should at least warn people that it tastes like liquid licorice. It's loving gross but I don't like licorice. He says it's anise flavored a bunch of times though. I'm not much of an absinthe fan, but I've never had any but dirt cheap. What does Bleue taste like, compared to Verte? Should I start with one or the other, or does it much matter?
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Oct 19, 2015 00:50
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:I'm not much of an absinthe fan, but I've never had any but dirt cheap. What does Bleue taste like, compared to Verte? Should I start with one or the other, or does it much matter? la Bleue is quite a bit less bitter and "herbal tasting" and tends to go slightly heavier on anise and fennel. Generally if it's the bitter wormwood kick that puts you off, la Bleue might be more your speed. If you just don't like anise much, there's some less anise-y and more herbaceous Vertes. Chuck Biscuits posted:I've never really enjoyed absinthe all that much when served traditionally because there's just too much anise for my tastes. I do keep a bottle of St. George around though for mixing into cocktails and it is really good. I noticed that the St. George is quite different than the other types that I've tried with a lot of other flavors besides anise. Also used some to make absinthe bitters from the Employees Only recipe book and it is really good in small amounts. St. George has an extremely unusual botanical profit owing to the including of basil and tarragon and hints of lemon. For what it's worth I really don't like it, but that's not to say it's not worth experiencing. Cymbal Monkey fucked around with this message at 09:55 on Oct 19, 2015 |
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Oct 19, 2015 09:50
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Cymbal Monkey posted:How did it come back? Val de Travers is a nice place.  There's a small music festival there every year with a bar that has all the local stuff, you can waltz up to it all night, plop down five bucks, say a number from 1-15 and try yet another delicious creation. quote:So I'll trip and see the green fairy? quote:There's also "Bohemian absinth", which is a horrendous Czech concoction, these contain little to no fennel or anise and are basically just wormwood bitters. They're bullshit, taste awful and no one should ever sully their pallet with such swill. I'll be talking more about the Czech's place in absinthe history later. This is my favorite for keeping around the house, it's mellow and well-rounded and on the low end when it comes to alcohol content (still above 50%). 
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Oct 19, 2015 10:55
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Illinois Smith posted:This is my favorite for keeping around the house, it's mellow and well-rounded and on the low end when it comes to alcohol content (still above 50%). Similar label to another favourite of mine. 
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Oct 19, 2015 11:31
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Cymbal Monkey posted:la Bleue is quite a bit less bitter and "herbal tasting" and tends to go slightly heavier on anise and fennel. Generally if it's the bitter wormwood kick that puts you off, la Bleue might be more your speed. If you just don't like anise much, there's some less anise-y and more herbaceous Vertes. I love anise, but the bitterness is really what puts me off. I don't like most beer for the same reason, incidentally. Are there any reasonably priced Bleues you would recommend? They sound like my kind of drink.
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Oct 19, 2015 23:46
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:I love anise, but the bitterness is really what puts me off. I don't like most beer for the same reason, incidentally. Are there any reasonably priced Bleues you would recommend? They sound like my kind of drink. La Maison Fontaine or La Clandestine, though I'd recommend La Clandestine any day. The problem with La Bleues is they're far less common than vertes and thus the low-price availably of the style is basically non-existent. As absinthe is just starting to rebuild its market, people want verte, typically. Your Pernods and such are only going to be making the mid-price Vertes, while la Bleue is kind of a speciality item that's only being made by a handful of smaller "artisanal" stills. It's also worth shooting off an email The real rub, though, is I wouldn't spend less than £40 on a bottle. Absinthe has few legal definitions, and below that you're stepping into the murky waters of florescent green vodka that someone tossed a wormwood sprig and anise oil (if you're lucky) into. Alternately, Arak, abinsthe's older Arab cousin, is very much worth a try as it's flavoured just with anise. Pastis might also be for you, it was developed in France after the ban as a legal alternative. Cymbal Monkey fucked around with this message at 11:50 on Oct 20, 2015 |
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Oct 20, 2015 11:35
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