Absinthe rituals
On March 11, 2009 in Back to basic
Classic French Absinthe Ritual
1. Pour about one ounce (30ml) of absinthe into a glass. There are various types of glasses that can be used, some of antique or historical design and others of more modern design. French absinthe glasses, such as reservoir pontarlier glasses, are quite suitable for the French absinthe ritual. Different styles of reservoir glasses are available, but every style will have a distinct or bulbous bottom area that indicates the amount of absinthe that is to be initially poured.
2. Lay a flat, perforated absinthe spoon across the rim of the glass, and place a single cube of sugar on the perforated area of the spoon. This is customary but is not necessary. The sugar is traditionally used to balance the bitter taste of the wormwood.
3. Drip very pure ice cold water into the absinthe from a small pitcher. This very slow and gradual addition of the water forms the heart of the absinthe ritual, and is done with or without the sugar. When using sugar, the cold water is dripped over the sugar and into the drink, causing the sugar to slowly dissolve into the absinthe. Very high quality absinthe can be expertly experienced simply with the ice cold water.
• Three or four ounces of water are added per ounce of absinthe.
• Ice cubes can be added to the pitcher of water if desired, but be sure that they don’t fall into the glass of absinthe.
• As the water is added to the absinthe, the absinthe should gradually louche.
• Absinthe fountains were traditionally used to drip the ice cold water into absinthe drinks.
• Brouilleur devices can also be used to automtically drip the water into individual glasses. The brouilleur is placed over the glass, and water, ice cubes, or ice water (as well as sugar if desired) is added to it. The water will gradually drip through the brouilleur into the absinthe. The brouilleur is removed before drinking the prepared absinthe.
4. Stir the drink with the absinthe spoon after the water has been added. Two or three ice cubes can be added to the finished drink, but this practice may be frowned upon by absinthe purists.
“Glass in a Glass” Method
1. Drip or trickle the ice cold water into the small glass of absinthe so that it overflows into the larger glass. Place a small glass full of absinthe (containing one ounce of absinthe) inside a larger empty glass.
2. Drip the cold water into the small glass, causing the contents of the small glass to overflow into the larger glass. Once the three or four ounces of water have been added, the large glass will contain the absinthe and water mixture, while the small glass will just contain water.
3. Remove the small glass from the larger glass before drinking the absinthe from the larger glass.
Absinthe Neat
1. Drink absinthe straight (neat). It may be ideal to taste vintage absinthe neat, as this will enable one to evaluate some of the particular nuances of a particular sample of absinthe.
2. Keep in mind that this is not customary due to the very high alcohol content of traditional absinthe.
3. Remember that the louche effect is a very important quality of absinthe, however, and should therefore be experienced when preparing quality absinthe.
Czech or Modern Bohemian Method
1. Pour a dose of absinthe into a glass, then place a sugar cube on an absinthe spoon or teaspoon.
2. Soak the sugar in absinthe by dipping it into the absinthe with the spoon or pouring a little absinthe over it.
3. Light the absinthe-soaked sugar on fire for about one minute, allowing the sugar caramelize and melt. If an absinthe spoon is used, the burning, melted sugar should drip into the absinthe.
4. Dunk the still flaming spoon into the absinthe, which may then ignite.
5. Add ice cold water to the absinthe to quench the flames and produce the louche effect.
6. Use this method appropriately. Though frowned upon by some absinthe aficionados, this untraditional method has become popular in recent years. Absinthe with a high alcohol content will ignite more readily, but it is certainly not recommended that high-quality absinthe be set aflame.
How to drink absinthe
On March 11, 2009 in Back to basic
1. Select a quality bottle of absinthe. Absinthe is made using many different methods and ingredients. There are several standards that help one to determine if a particular brand of absinthe is authentic and of high quality. It is also possible to make absinthe, although this is dangerous and not recommended.
Different brands of absinthe will contain anywhere from negligible amounts of thujone up to about 35 mg/kg thujone. See the Tips below for more about the role of thujone in absinthe. International standards require that alcoholic beverages that contain greater than 25 percent alcohol by volume contain no more than 10 mg/kg thujone, while bitter spirits may contain up to 35 mg/kg thujone. If an absinthe is labeled as a bitter, it will probably contain 10 to 35 mg/kg thujone. Thujone is illegal as a food additive in the United States, but authentic absinthe containing negligible amounts of thujone can be legally sold. Vintage bottles of pre-ban absinthe can be obtained, and it is reputed that some of the lesser quality versions contained inordinately high levels of thujone and harmful adulterants such as copper salts, aniline dye and antimony trichloride, which led to its poor reputation.
Quality absinthe will usually show the louche effect. It is desirable for absinthe to gradually demonstrate increasing turbidity (opaqueness) or turn partially translucent as ice water is gradually added to it. This is known as the louche effect. The louched color should demonstrate complexity as well as nuance, and the absinthe should not turn opaque rapidly. However, it must be noted that not all quality absinthe will turn opaque, as the louche effect is primarily produced by the herbs anise and fennel. Absinthe typically tastes like liquorice due to the addition of such herbs. The louche effect is produced by the precipitation of the herbal essential oils.
The absinthe should be made from natural, whole herbal ingredients. The finest absinthe is made with whole, natural herbs and does not contain any artificial ingredients such as artificial colors and flavors. The herbs are merely ground up so that they can be efficiently used during the distillation and extraction processes. The pale-green color of typical high-quality absinthe is imparted by the chlorophyll that is extracted from whole, natural herbs. Absinthe that is bright green may be artificially colored. However, not all quality absinthe has a green color. Quality absinthe may also be clear, orange, or red, but the color should be imparted by natural herbal ingredients such as petite wormwood. Vintage absinthe may have an amber color, as the chlorophyll will have faded over time.
Quality absinthe has a high alcohol content. The best tasting absinthe falls into the range of 45-68 percent alcohol by volume. Absinthe has traditionally been about 136-proof. A very high alcohol content is not considered to be excessive because absinthe is traditionally diluted with water before drinking and it is meant to be sipped slowly over time, so as not to allow the effects of alcohol to overwhelm the subtle and pleasant effect of the herbs.
2. Prepare the absinthe for drinking. There are different traditional and non-traditional ways to prepare absinthe. The most popular method is referred to as the absinthe ritual, although there are slight variations on this method. When preparing absinthe, keep in mind that the green fairy is associated with creativity, and is not something to be conformed to.
Drink your absinthe. The prepared absinthe can be drunk as desired, perhaps sipped gradually while pondering creative ideas. Oscar Wilde described drinking absinthe as such: “After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.
About Absinthe - The Video
On June 30, 2008 in Back to basic
Nice video from Jade Liqueurs about how they made their superb absinthe.
Beware of homemade absinthe kits !
On June 20, 2008 in Absinthe news
All of them were created by people utterly ignorant of how to create absinthe.
Absinthe is a distilled product. You CANNOT make something approximating absinthe without distillation. Soaking barley in vodka won’t give you whisky. Soaking wormwood in Everclear won’t give you absinthe. It won’t taste like absinthe, and it won’t BE absinthe. All you’ll have done is turn a perfectly good bottle of neutral high proof alcohol into a disgustingly bitter, vile tasting mess.
Pastis isn’t absinthe without the wormwood. Adding wormwood essence to pastis won’t make it taste like absinthe. Undiluted wormwood oil is also a potentially dangerous substance, and can lead to severe renal failure if drunk neat. Stay away from it.
In short, unless you have access to a still, it is not physically or chemically possible to make anything remotely approximating absinthe.
The Green Fairy Returns To America
On June 20, 2008 in Absinthe news
Absinthe is a spirit of mythic proportions: it has been blamed for violence, insanity, and bizarre hallucinations–most notably the conjuring of little green fairies. Some even claim it helped drive Vincent van Gogh to suicide.
“Absinthe has always had this strange phenomenon where it’s the victim and the beneficiary of its mystique,” said Robert Lehrman, a lawyer who represents Kübler, a Swiss-based absinthe distiller. “There is something different about it that has helped and hurt it at the same time.”
Now, after nearly a century, Americans have the chance to sample the mischievous green liquor for themselves. Last spring, government officials finally agreed to allow the word “absinthe” on bottle labels, effectively ending a 95-year ban.
Absinthe enthusiasts from Seattle to Boston are thrilled that the spirit has returned to the United States. Most now realize that it does not cause violent rages or visions of green fairies, and while van Gogh did imbibe, the stuff didn’t kill him.
“Absinthe was an important ingredient in some of the earliest cocktails, and it’s been missing in our country since 1912,” said Gwydion Stone, founder of the Wormwood Society, a Seattle-based absinthe aficionados club. Not only are bartenders learning to recreate pre-ban absinthe cocktails, Stone added, but they are also mixing innovative new drinks using the licorice-flavored spirit.
Absinthe originated in Switzerland’s Val de Travers in the late 18th century. It contains a minimum of nine herbs, usually including wormwood, anise and fennel. The resulting pale, lime-green liquor is “a very perfumed spirit with the flavor of anise,” said Ted Breaux, an absinthe researcher and distiller who created Lucid, one brand of absinthe now available in the United States. “It’s slightly sweet, goes down easily and packs quite a punch.”
Though originally consumed as a medicinal stomach-soother, absinthe soon spread through Europe as a popular social lubricant. But the potent liquor was banned throughout much of Europe in the early 1900s amid rumors that it caused violence and insanity. The United States followed suit, outlawing absinthe in 1912. Later, the Food and Drug Administration kept absinthe off shelves by banning thujone, a chemical found in wormwood that is toxic in high doses.
There things stood until a few years ago, when several people who were determined to reintroduce the spirit to the United States petitioned the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. When they pointed out that products with less than 10 parts per million of thujone are considered “thujone-free” by the FDA, the government relented and agreed to allow the term “absinthe” back on bottle labels.
When it is not mixed into cocktails, absinthe is most popularly consumed with sugar cubes melted into it, a concoction dubbed the absinthe drip. The spirit is best consumed carefully, as the alcohol content of most brands hovers around a stinging 60 percent. Distributors say that absinthe is gaining popularity as more bars and liquor stores start to sell it, but it can still be tough to find a bottle, or even an absinthe cocktail, since only a handful of companies currently distribute in the United States.
New genuine Absinthe available !
On February 08, 2008 in Czech Absinthe
Zufanek distillery announced their new product, Absinthe St. Antoine ! Information on their site is currently in Czech language only, so let’s take a closer English look:
Legendary, mystical, sinful beverage of bohemians, artists and bar good-for-nothings prepared by the original French recipe. Absinthe St. Antoine was born by slow destilation of chosen plants including two kinds of wormwood which gave the absinthe neurotoxic thujon.
With reference to our 100% pure products motto we prepared the absinthe from natural ingredients only. The essence is made up by very fine ethanol in which chosen plants and spices are macerated for an exactly determined time. After maceration it comes to destilation during which almost a pure liquor originates. Into such liquor other plants are put which give the absinthe a specific colour and thus compound the powerful flavour.
According to the fact that we watchfully kept the original recipe and the character of the original French absinthe (as opposed to most of the commercial „happily coloured“ absinthes blended in coolness), Absinthe St. Antoine also comprises neurotoxic thujon in a maximum amount of 25mg/l.
Absinthe (also absinth, French L´Absinthe from the Latin absinthium) is a spirit manufactured predominantely from wormwood, anise and other plants (coriander, veronica, sweet balm, hyssop and other). Nowadays, production of absinthe is illegal in most of the European countries (except for the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal). Absinthe contains approximately 70% of alcohol, has halucinogenic effects caused by presence of neurotoxic thujon (latest labory tests declined it). In history, consumption of absinthe often caused schizophrenia. Today these side affects are reduced according to the modern way of preparation.
Modern world distinguishes two basic kinds of absinthe. The first of them is the French one, sometimes also called „genuine“. When mixed with water, it should make turbid and get milk-like colour. The second type is the east European absinthe often titled as Czech (bohemian style) which is usually blue-coloured. This type of absinthe is usually blended cool, coloured by dyestuff without anise component, which allegedly is not very popular among Czechs.
Absinthe is shrouded by many legends about its effects it was supposed to cause. We often encounter with drinkers who describe their halucinogenic experiences embodied by a green fairy or white mice. It´s interesting that most of the contemporary narrations can not come out of personal experience but are rather caused by extremely high volume of alcohol.
You can buy it at goodmood absinthe store.