Alabama-born LeNell Smothers defines herself first and foremost as a bartender, but she's been called many things -- most recently, the proprietress of LeNell's liquor store. She's owned her own whiskey label, called Red Hook Rye, and has been recognized by her home state as an honorary Colonel. Other interests include gin, sin and men.



When shopping for absinthe, take a close look at the bottle label. My advice is to avoid bottles admitting the addition of artificial color. Real absinthe may have a natural green tinge from the herbs used, but the good stuff has no need for fake neon green or other artificial color. I also suggest looking for a pure bottling with no added sugar. You can sweeten to your own taste. Absinthe was never meant to be a liqueur.

There are plenty of classic cocktails that include absinthe, such as the Sazerac, which calls for rye whiskey, sugar, Peychaud bitters and a rinse of absinthe. However, here are a few other traditional ways of drinking it from around the world.

FRENCH
Fill a large glass with a jigger of absinthe.

Place a slotted spoon with a sugar cube or two on it on top of the glass. Note that modern day cubes are smaller than in the heyday of absinthe drinking, so there's no shame in putting two cubes, if you desire.

Take a container of ice-cold water and very slowly pour it, drop by drop, over the sugar until the sugar is dissolved. I often pour five parts water to one part absinthe, depending on the alcohol content and strength of flavor of individual absinthes.

SWISS
The Swiss style of drinking absinthe typically does not involve a sugar cube but does call for as much water as desired.

ITALIAN
For a twist, try the Italian absinthe service by adding in a few tablespoons of anisette and a few dashes of maraschino liqueur (nothing to do with fake red cherry juice, by the way) and serve over cracked ice in a glass filled with water.

U.S.
And of course, in the land where the cocktail was made famous, tradition in the U.S. was to sweeten the diluted absinthe ... and shake it hard with ice. We like to shake things in America.

CZECH
Don't be fooled by outlandish stories. Nobody burned things in a spoon like a drug addict to drink their absinthe before the green fairy's head hit the chopping block. The Czech method of burning the sugar makes for a flashy display, but is a modern method used for an absinthe that does not louche.

Tell us how you like your absinthe in the comments.