OT - Absinthe

I tried it in Prague. The waitress insisted it was genuine (i.e.,contained wormwood), but I didn't feel anything other than alcohol. Fairly unpleasant stuff (I'd take a Ricard instead any time.).

True absinthe can not be sold in most countries anymore because of the wormwood content. However, at least in the US, you can buy pure grain alcohol, the required seeds and herbs including anis, star anise, and wormwood. The wormwood must be the untreated type - there are wormwoods sold that have been extracted to remove the active ingredient. Wormwood often is sold in natural and health food shops. Also the seeds can be bought if you want to grow your own. Absinthe tastes much like Pernod, but is much more bitter. I have tasted it and did not care for it. A few dashes in a mixed drink might not be so bad. Some of the old New Orleans mixed drinks called for a few dashes of Absinthe. Pernod, Herbsaint, etc usually are substituted these days. To me, Absinthe is not worth the effort to find in another country or all of the fuss required to brew a batch at home.

Reply to snipped-for-privacy@cwdjr.net .

it do make the heart grow fonder.......

Oh, the dangerously mythical Absinthe!

That's slightly misleading. It is legal again in the EU and IIRC never was illegal in the UK or Portugal. The amount of Thujone (the active substance in Wormwood) however is regulated. Recent research shows that widely available brands of Absinthe in its heyday would be perfectly legal today, since they never contained that much Thujone anyway. In short: you would've (and still will) succumb to alcohol poisioning before you will have any substantial effect from the Thujone.

This is a bit of a generalisation. There's a bar in Leipzig that sells abou 90 different Absinthes. When I was there a few years ago with some friends we managed to taste about 30 different brands between us and the differences between them were rather astounding. Some were rather sublime, some very powerful, some simply awful.

Furthermore, Absinthe is not designed to be drunk neat, but instead always diluted with water (cold for French style, hot for Czech style) and depending on the bitterness and your tastes you dip a more or less substantial piece of sugar in the Absinthe, set it on fire and let it drip into your glass, before you pour in the water.

If you forget about the myths around it and the slightly dramatic way it is served, Absinthe is just another hard liquor. Some people like it, some people don't.

Markus

You can buy Absinthe in a number of countries (UK, Czech Repub., etc). I have purchased from this site and know it to be reputable:

You cannot buy real absinthe in US or Canada because of the thujone content, so anything you see in a store that looks like absinthe is simply an anise based liquor.

I've had a few different kinds, ranging from cheap oil mix to high quality distilled. The distilled is much better. Stay away from anything czech made. It's all swill and tastes like nyquil. If you can afford it, the Swiss Le Bleue is, IMO, by far the best. One that is high quality without getting too expensive is Un Emile 68 (but it's still not cheap).

Absinthe is way too expensive for what it is because of the mystery surrounding it. You will get roughly the same effect by drinking your alcohol of choice and a pep drink (red bull). If you like the anise taste like licorice, you'll like absinthe as that's the most dominate ingredient. I, personally, like the taste a good deal but don't drink it very often as there are so many other alcohols that are better and much less expensive.

Some people like to put a sugar cube on a spoon and drip water over it to disolve into the absinthe but every absinthe I've tried has been so sweet already, I like it just as it is. I've tried it on a couple of different ones though and it's just too sweet for me to stomache. I usually just pour a couple ounces in an absinthe glass and about 6 ounces of water.

Anyway, it's something to try and I'd suggest doing so, but I doubt it'll become your drink of choice.

It's legal within the EU and Switzerland.

M.

"joseph b. rosenberg" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com...

I tested that theory once, pouring Pernod to two girlfriends of mine. And very right, eventually the one said "Do you want to sleep with me?". "Yes!" the other said, and then they both left... Anders :-(

I had some bootleg absinthe about 10 years ago and found it to be quite interesting- a hypnotic tranqilizer very unlike alcohol in it's effect. At first I tried mixing it with sweet wine but didn't like the alcohol feeling, I then mixed it with 7-up and found it much better. It made me feel mellow with a capital MELL- I found I could REALLY concentrate on the music I was listening to.

I have heard it said that a particularly dumb lover fed his girlfriend absinthe in the hope that it would make her heart grow fonder.

Timothy Hartley

Same joke twice on this thread...

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link