The Miracle of Absinthe

[John in Covina]

The Louche, or clouding when water is added, is from the oils in the anise coming out of suspension when water is added.

*******

If you have ever had Ouzo, the Greek liquor with water, it also does the clouding thing! First in the drink then to the mind in suficient quantities!

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Aniseed based liquors (Arak, Ouzo, Pastis, Herbsaint, Absinthe, etc.)all will louche, or turn cloudy with water.

Basically, the anethol in the anise, either green aniseed, or star anise, is responsible for the louche action when combined with water.

 

[Harry Pierpont]

There was a History Channel show on "distilleries" that had quite an interesting part on Absinthe, about the myth and the correct ingredients. It's been on several times.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

There was also a similar program on the Food Network called "The Thirsty Traveller" that did a good show on absinthe.

 

[VaderSS]

I've never had absinthe so I don't know the effects it would have on me. I've been interested in it since I first read of it. The ritual aspects appeal to me.

I do know that different alcohol blends have different effects on me when taken in large amounts. Maybe it's all phycological, but the best alcoholic beverage for me is Captain Morgan spiced rum. I tend to get very talkative and become the life of the party.

Annisette, one of the absinthe substitutes, tended to get me down and acting stupid. Back in my wild days when I drank enough to kill most people, my favorite bartender refused to serve it to me. Maybe it was just the mood I was in when I started drinking.

 

[Grnidwitch]

Hello all, lurker finally coming out of the corner.

There is a very nice liquor store in my area that sells Absinthe. I am going there tonight for a wine tasting. I'll make the effort to look for it again and report back with the name and distiller.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

I seriously doubt any liquor store in the USA is selling any real absinthe openly, since the FDA has not approved it for sale in the USA.

You'll likely discover that what you have seen was an absinthe substitute like Absente, (Don't waste your money) Versinthe, (Again don't waste your money) or Perhaps Muse Verte Pastis. (That one is not too bad as a substitute)

There is the modern version of Herbsaint, produced by the Sazerac Co. which is a very inexpensive introductory substitute, and good in Sazerac cocktail.

 

[Grnidwitch]

Absenthe 1900

Yes, my dear, you are correct. What I found was, Distilleries et Domaines de Provance, Absent' Refind. The box had a Van Gogh painting on it with the sugar spoon attached.

I was under the impression that started making Absenthe again but with out the issues caused by the original recipe. I might be thinking of the stuff you warned about.

 

[Mike K.]

Okay, I'm resurrecting an older thread...

My boss recently introduced me to absinthe (a gift brought to him from overseas) and I discovered a fondness for the drink. Needless to say, I've been reading old lounge postings and searching the net for retailers & reviews. It looks like there are a couple of retailers that regularly ship to the U.S. without problems. My question to all you veteran absinthe drinkers is which brands are better. I want something with a healthy, yet balanced, amount of anise and thujone. Are any of these recommended?

Absinthe La Clandestine 53
Absinthe 72 Amer
Trul Absinthium 1792
Alandia’s Moulin Vert
Absinthe Ulex Strong

It sounds like Clandestine made it to the QM Event, so I take it this might be a good one. I wouldn't mind purchasing one blue/clear and one green.

 

[Flora]

I hear it's quite popular to mix with drugs.

But we won't get into that lol. And no I don't do drugs, but is it true it's good to mix with them?

 

[HungaryTom]

Absinth&Arts

several artists are known to have drank absinthe or featured it in their work...Degas*, Manet, Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec, Rimbaud.... Again, the connection to artists is just more myth making. artists DRANK, and absinthe was a popular drink before its ban after 1905. so yes, artists drank absinthe, but not exclusivley. there were a number of reported violent crimes commited under the influence of absinthe that lead eventually to it's banning. it was said to turn men into raging monsters. take that 'delirium' rumour and mix it with the artistic genius/madman idea and you have the start of a very profitable urban myth.



*perhaps the most famous absinthe painting, Degas' "L'absinthe" sometimes called "absinthe drinkers", far from being a study of delirium, shows two people in a bar looking very BORED.

Yes I drank absinth w. friends, celebrating the old fashioned sugar cube ceremony stuff in Budapest. But that was a socializing event for me.
I got from Prague the King of Spirits Absinthe with Van Gogh. www.absinth.cz

I like to paint. But never get drunk or drug abused when I'm doing so. It needs namely all of my concentration and also some rest before and a sorrow free state of mind and -most important- the right feel to paint. Painting a portrait goes as same difficult for me as conference interpreting.
When I re-work or 're-edit' my paintings the anis flavor and the high alcohol contents aren't the stuff either to get an attention to detail. If I have the mood for painting, than it goes quite quickly: I never count the hours I get carried away by the flow.
So drinking absinth was NOT what got me in the mood. I have visions when I am half awaken and half in dreams - but also not from hung-over. It simply gets just a terrible headache.
Inspiration doesn't come from absinth.

Rather from listening to music while painting, smelling the stench of turpentine and oil, getting your hands dirty with the paint and finally sometimes finishing once or twice w. hands not w. brushes-even if my skin got burned down from the turpentine!

Naturally this is only my personal case - and I am far from comparing myself with great artists, who were also like others some drug abusing some alcoholic and some not.

I can also explain the ‘paradox’: those great painters gave their utmost in their paintings. Got very tired and worked like monks for their active periods. When they finished a certain amount of paintings and the gallerist paid they got some money: that called for celebration! They met each others. Most of them were on low-budgets: the painting raw material did cost also a lots of money back then too. So these ascetics celebrated life together once their paintings were successful or accepted: than they let themselves go and consumed absinth! But not all the time.

Otherwise it is not understandable why many of them lived 80+ years (Monet, Renoir, Chagall, Picasso etc.) if they would have been just drinking day in day out. My master also turned 79, he likes to drink - unlike me, I drink rather socially- but he never lied in coma or delirium and in his excrements and was always conscious and under control. A true bohéme - not an alcoholic.

Tom

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Go for the Clandestine. In general, stay away from the Czech ones and most of the German stuff.

Concerning mixing it with drugs - I never did drugs either, but absinthe, even good one, is a bit prone to cause headaches, so I'd stay away from that.

The "special" absinthe effect on top of alcohol is a placebo thing. If you like to reenact it, any bathtub gin or bootleg vodka will do. It was a matter of badly made absinthe, and lots of it, not of anything particular to absinthe as opposed to other booze.

And search this forum - there were some threads some time ago.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

My question to all you veteran absinthe drinkers is which brands are better. I want something with a healthy, yet balanced, amount of anise and thujone. Are any of these recommended?

Absinthe 72 Amer
Trul Absinthium 1792
Alandia’s Moulin Vert
Absinthe Ulex Strong

The Clandestine is a nice blanche, the others you listed are "sink worthy" and not worth buying.

Within the last few months, the first U.S. legal absinthe has made an appearance, with three others due to be released soon. (And several more as they gain govt. approval.)

If you want to try the first one available in the USA:

http://drinklucid.com/

A very reliable online international seller, the brands they carry are better than Trul & Ulex :eusa_doh: :

http://www.absintheonline.com/

Thujone is a non issue, you body can't tell what level of thujone is in a properly distilled bottle of absinthe. (The actual levels are quite low, if properly distilled)

 

[Mike K.]

Thanks! With a user name like yours, I figured you'd have some good advice. So far I've heard good things about the Clandestine, but mixed reviews on most other absinthes. Some brands sound best used as bathroom disinfectant. I'll look into the Lucid brand.

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Thanks! With a user name like yours, I figured you'd have some good advice.

So I could've saved my words, huh?

Some brands sound best used as bathroom disinfectant.

The problem is rather that this kind of syrop might attract all sorts of unwanted creatures to the bathroom…

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Thanks! With a user name like yours, I figured you'd have some good advice. So far I've heard good things about the Clandestine, but mixed reviews on most other absinthes. Some brands sound best used as bathroom disinfectant. I'll look into the Lucid brand.

I don't know an awful lot about absinthe, but I've got about 5 bottles in my fridge, one of which is Clandestine. I like it, it seems to be smoother than the other brands I've had. Besides after a few sips, you won't be tasting much of anything!! (JK)

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Yes I drank absinth w. friends, celebrating the old fashioned sugar cube ceremony stuff in Budapest. But that was a socializing event for me.

I got from Prague the King of Spirits Absinthe with Van Gogh. www.absinth.cz
Tom

Yikes! my sympathy for you having to endure :rage: Absinth King of Spirits,:rage: which bears no resemblance to anything remotely like absinthe.

:rage: King of Spirits :rage: is a particularly noxious bottle of cheap herbs, soaking in a poorly rectified vodka, which makes a horribly bitter undrinkable mess. (When absinthe is properly distilled, the distillation process removes the bitterness from the wormwood)

The mythic stories of the Belle Epoch artists and absinthe are somewhat over blown, millions of average people enjoyed absinthe during the period, with no major problems, much of what was called absinthism, was in reality alcoholism, which goes quite a way toward explaining the behavior of some historical figures from the era.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

I don't know an awful lot about absinthe, but I've got about 5 bottles in my fridge, one of which is Clandestine. I like it, it seems to be smoother than the other brands I've had. Besides after a few sips, you won't be tasting much of anything!! (JK)

Putting absinthe in the fridge will ruin it.:eusa_doh:

Keep it around room temperature, and if it's a verte, keep it in the dark as well.

 

[Mike K.]

I've got about 5 bottles in my fridge, one of which is Clandestine.

I'll be on the next flight to Boston!

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Putting absinthe in the fridge will ruin it.:eusa_doh:

Keep it around room temperature, and if it's a verte, keep it in the dark as well.

Great information, it is out of the fridge right now!! Thanks so very much!! I would hate to ruin something so expensive as well as difficult to get. I wish the company I had purchased it from had given me such directions. They actually told me to keep it chilled[huh] Damn them!!! But I do appreciate it and I'm hoping that nothing has been ruined. Actually, only 2 of the five bottles were chilled, so at least I'll still have three bottles safe
Thanks so much! Whew, what a disaster


Mike, my door is always open, that is if you want to take such a long flight for a bunch of worthless absinthe!!!!