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A dear friend who loves his absinthe fully deserved my splurge on a 1910 sample of pre-Prohibition absinthe as the perfect way to celebrate his birthday. Older absinthes made without the use of fake coloring often show off what the French call "feuille morte" (or "dead leaf"), simply meaning the green hue has turned more golden. This old sample had stood the test of time and proudly displayed a golden-green hue.
We tasted it on its own, then enjoyed a nice glass in traditional French style, diluted with ice-cold water, enjoying the slow milky color that appeared. The French call this precipitation of essential oils out of the absinthe the "louche." Other methods of serving might include the addition of anisette, maraschino or sugar syrup. The pure pleasure of tasting an old sample was enough for us to savor simply with sugar and water.
True absinthe is back on the retail shelves again in the U.S., but sad to say this delightful beverage is still grossly misunderstood. Yes, the real product contains wormwood. No, you will not hallucinate and kill people by having a glass of it.
Modern science has revealed that true distilled absinthe even made with wormwood contains very little thujone, the ingredient in artemisia absinthium that our government officials claimed to be so worried about. Funny thing is that the herb sage has more thujone than wormwood, but the FDA never banned it. The truth is absinthe was not "legalized" again in the U.S. -- it just took 75 years for someone to work through all the bureaucratic red tape to clarify thujone limitations.
We tasted it on its own, then enjoyed a nice glass in traditional French style, diluted with ice-cold water, enjoying the slow milky color that appeared. The French call this precipitation of essential oils out of the absinthe the "louche." Other methods of serving might include the addition of anisette, maraschino or sugar syrup. The pure pleasure of tasting an old sample was enough for us to savor simply with sugar and water.
True absinthe is back on the retail shelves again in the U.S., but sad to say this delightful beverage is still grossly misunderstood. Yes, the real product contains wormwood. No, you will not hallucinate and kill people by having a glass of it.
Modern science has revealed that true distilled absinthe even made with wormwood contains very little thujone, the ingredient in artemisia absinthium that our government officials claimed to be so worried about. Funny thing is that the herb sage has more thujone than wormwood, but the FDA never banned it. The truth is absinthe was not "legalized" again in the U.S. -- it just took 75 years for someone to work through all the bureaucratic red tape to clarify thujone limitations.
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.
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10-29-2009 @7:48AM Will Butler said... Great, great article, LeNell. It's wonderful to see an article on absinthe that doesn't perpetuate a lot of the misinformation about the wonderful beverage. As for me, I like mine French style, in a fairly stout mix of two parts water to one part absinthe, or in a Sazerac or a Matt Helm Cocktail. Do you have a favorite brand available in the US? Of those I've tried, I'm very partial to the Kubler, which I find compares well with its European version. Again, thanks for the article.
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10-29-2009 @12:40PM Colby said... My favorite way to drink my absinthe is in a classic cocktail. Created, and favored, by Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon is a simple yet elegant cocktail.
Fill a champagne flute with a jigger of absinthe. Fill the rest of the way with chilled champagne, or perseco.
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