In a word, Absinthe. Often called “The Green Fairy”, (absinthe not Pete) is a highly alcoholic spirit (110 proof - and not a liquor, as it has no added sugar) that tastes like anise, or black licorice (think Sambuca). It’s a distillate made with several herbs, traditionally including the flowers and leaves of the (Grand) wormwood plant.

Absinthe was a popular drink among the bohemian culture of the late 19th and very early 20th century, especially in Paris. It was thought to be both psychoactive and addictive, although studies never bore that out very well, properties associated with the chemical thujone, coming into the mixture by way of the wormwood.

For a long time, you could only get it in Europe. Now, made sometimes with Southern Wormwood (bovine urine proteins) (just kidding) studies show that there supposedly isn’t enough thujone to worry about, so it’s legal in the United States and they’re making it again. Fancy that.

Absinthe always reminds me of this scene from Dracula, with Winona Ryder and Gary Oldman. Anyway, the way they portray it, with Winona’s seductive sugar cubing, isn’t the way it’s traditionally prepared. At least it’s not when the guys are hanging out.

According to custom, absinthe is poured into a glass and a slotted spoon rested across the mouth. A sugar cube is perched atop this, and ice cold water is poured or allowed to drip over the cube and into the glass diluting the absinthe to a ratio of 3-5 parts water to 1 part absinthe. The absinthe you can find in the liquor store even comes with a little slotted spoon for this purpose.

For the purists, the Wormwood Society reviews what’s available and classifies the different brands into what it regards as authentic and not. Here’s a link to DrinkUpNY, one online vendor - the Wormwood Society offers links to others.

Anyway, Pete had a bottle which he generously let us sample the other night. I found the experience to be interesting, and there’s little doubt about the mixture’s potency (nor about the need to add water, which is essential). We couldn’t adhere strictly to the custom, however, and thereby the title of this post.

Pete found it fairly easy to locate the Absinthe, but not a store within miles carried sugar cubes. Go figure!

This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 8:50 am and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.