Experiencing The Green Fairy

I didn’t know what to expect, frankly.
I’ve just always wanted to try it.
Absinthe.
For years, the anise-flavored spirit was banned in the United States. The spirit, which is made from herbs – most notably the flowers and stems of the wormwood plant – originated in Switzerland.
It gained its reputation in the late-19th Century and early 20th Century France with the bohemian culture (watch Moulin Rouge! sometime; the drink is at the heart of that film). The spirit in its natural state is this funky amethyst green.
Absinthe contains small amounts of the chemical thujone, which apparently is a powerful psychotropic drug. But there’s not enough thujone in Absinthe to do any harm.
The cool thing is there’s a ritual to drink it. Start with an “appropriate glass” (we used Martini glasses) and pour 1.5 ounces of Absinthe into the glass. Next, take a slotted spoon (we used an egg slicer) and put a cube of sugar on it and rest it on the rim of the glass. Next, drip 4-5 ounces of cold water over the sugar cube and into the Absinthe.
When the water and sugar meets the spirit, its clouds up, or “louches” and makes the drink blossom. There are other flavors that come out that supposedly are over-powered by the prevailing anise flavor.
OK, so I had three (I was drinking diet 7Up up to that point) and can report that I did not go schizo.
But I didn’t feel like writing the Great American Novel, either (sadly).
It was an interesting taste, probably an acquired taste, but interesting nonetheless.
Some who tried it with me reported Sunday that they were tired – I know I was – but no ill affects were reported.
All-in-all, it is a fun alternative drink.
And I still have a whole, un-opened bottle with which to experiment.

Comments

Anonymous said…
What is the name of the unopened bottle? I had some Century Absinthe with 100mg thujone once....strong stuff.
It's Lucid and it's 62 percent alcohol by volume.
Anonymous said…
I just returned from a vacation in Amsterdam, where I was told (by an American ex-pat who now owns a psychedelic mushroom store) that the Absinthe available in the US is not the same as the product sold there - the European Absinthe is illegal to import into the US as it contains wormwood (or perhaps more wormwood than the US version) and is considered a hallucinogenic.
Anonymous said…
WTF is goin on said

Yikes, u gotta be kidding me.

Guess not, happy 45th birthday?

s.
fuzzballdaddy said…
My Dad had a friend in the Bay area named Stanley Owsley who used to mix up some profoundly mind alterating cocktails. I wonder if that had anything to do with Absinthe?
Anonymous said…
My brother had some when he went to florida the other day. It might be illegal, but he's not 21, anyway.
I only got out of bed on Sunday to feed the dog and pee and I had a headache that lasted until this morning. Maybe it was mixing champagne with the absinthe.
I'm making it known publicly here and now that this Queen is officially putting absinthe on the same "Not Allowed To Drink" list as tequila.
Actually, I checked it out and Lucid is the real deal, for an American Absinthe. Hey, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?
Large Marge said…
It made me want to dance... Next time, it'll be an Absinthe RAVE.
Large Marge said…
P.S. All Hail the Queen! However, the Queen is blaming the "Absinthe mixed with champagne" for her "tiredness" and "headache"????? Alas, I must disagree with the Queen's assessment of her "Absinthe-induced headache." ;-)

Popular Posts