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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.
Will absinthe make me trip to the skies ?
On October 08, 2007 in Back to basic
No, it will not.
It’s easy to find, on the internet, descriptions of alleged absinthe “trips”. They were either written by idiots, or the substance upon which the describers tripped was something other than absinthe, or both. There are no psychoactive (in the sense of LSD, THC, etc.) ingredients in absinthe. Absinthe will not make you fail a drug test, either, unless the test is designed to find the ingredients in absinthe, all of which are legal substances. If absinthe makes you fail a drug test due to false positives for illegal substances, your problem is not absinthe, but an incompetent drug tester. Yes, you can find glorious descriptions of absinthe highs in 19th century literature. They’re largely so much flowery hot air, written by poets. Poets tend to exaggerate things. There are odes to the divine attributes of whisky and beer. There are thousands of poems about wine. You get the point.
Will Absinthe hurt me ?
On October 08, 2007 in Back to basic
It certainly will, if you drink a bottle of it and drive into a tree! But it won’t poison you or make you crazy. The dyes used by producers of old to turn the lesser-quality products green were sometimes little short of poisons themselves, but no commercial absinthe producer could stoop that low today even if he wanted to, due to food and drug regulations.
In addition, because absinthe followed back to its roots is a “home remedy”, it must be considered that every plant in it is there for a reason - they all have some effect on the human body. These effects, such as the reduction of fever, were obviously considered desirable by the writers of early herbals and pharmacopeias.
Just as the discerning consumer of herbal products from the health food store should inform himself as to the possible ramifications of ingesting these substances, the consumer of absinthe, especially if he is in poor health, should do his homework. Epileptics in particular should be wary, as some of the substances found in small quantities in absinthe are convulsants. A discussion of the effects on the human body of all the herbs that might be found in absinthe (none of them are illegal plants) is beyond the scope of this FAQ, but is covered in some of the other documents on this site.
Most importantly of all, 140-proof liquor is not a thing to be taken lightly, even by a completely healthy person.
Why is Absinthe green ?
On October 08, 2007 in Back to basic
The colorless product that runs out of the still was traditionally fortified with additional herbs to strengthen its fragrance. These herbs transfer chlorophyll to the clear liquor, turning it green. The original intent was probably not to create a green color – this was likely just a happy accident – although one that has certainly contributed over the years to absinthe’s popularity.
The chlorophyll in the absinthe degrades with time and turns brown, just as leaves do on trees - the French call the result “feuille morte”, and the process is considered desirable. Very old absinthe is usually amber-brown. Depending upon the herbs used for coloration and the method, absinthe freshly colored with herbs may range from pale yellow to dark green. A shade commonly compared to the gemstone peridot was apparently the color of the best absinthes of the Belle Epoque. We say apparently, because there was no color photography, and as noted previously, 100-year-old absinthe is no longer green. Therefore we must get our clues from period paintings and textual descriptions.
Absinthe producers who wanted to short-cut the delicate and tedious natural coloration process simply dyed the clear liquor green, which missed the point, but fooled the undiscerning or indifferent consumer.