In his New York Times coverage of the recent legalization of absinthe in the USA, our pal Pete Wells mentioned that the new, less napalm-esque formulations don't necessarily require the sugar drip louching technique formerly necessary to make the stuff at all palatable. We respect that, but when you're dealing with the less swank stuff, some of us with a li'l pomp & skeleton to us like a bit of ritual.
The standard louche entails propping a slotted spoon across a glass with a shot of absinthe in it, placing a sugar cube into top, and slowly dripping water over it until the sugar dissolves, and the absinthe and water solution turns a cloudy green. We like that.
We also like playing with fire -- another standard, but far more spectacular serving technique. (Forgive the slight blurriness of the photos -- we were short a tripod, and stuff was, well, on fire.)
(UPDATE 12/18 -- since writing this, I've been lucky enough to sample the St. George absinthe about to hit the market, and it's of such exquisite quality that it would be simply criminal to set it aflame. Save the blaze for the smuggled-in Czech stuff, and nab yourself some St. George the very moment it arrives at your local absintheteria.)
1. Pour a shot of absinthe into a glass. Fill an un-slotted absinthe spoon or teaspoon with sugar, and dip into absinthe just enough to dampen the sugar.
2. Light a match and touch it to the sugar.
3. Allow the sugar to bubble and caramelize.
4. Dip the flaming spoon into the absinthe and stir. This will likely cause the absinthe in the glass to catch fire.
5. Pour in an equal amount of cold water to extinguish the flame.
6. The water will cause the absinthe to turn cloudy. Stir if needed to dissolve the sugar further, and drink.
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