@KDemo I once took a ferry between islands in BVI. They handed out Dixie cups and passed around a bottle of coconut rum. When that was gone somebody broke out a bottle of Pusser’s (once the official Royal Navy’s ration).
Don’t remember much about the rest of that day…
@compunaut I sailed the BVI 3 times with 4-5 other guys. The drink of choice was a “painkiller”. Pusser’s Rum, coconut milk, pineapple and orange juice. Delicious and strong. Great times from what I remember.
@Stumpy91 - Don’t remember that, but it was long ago. IIRC, we were flying there on Black Monday. I do remember playing around and taking pictures from the roof.
@KDemo Which Black Monday? We were there in the early to mid-1990’s. They have frequent hurricanes move through the area so any minimal structure as I remember that bar needs to be rebuilt repeatedly.
@Stumpy91 - Monday, October 19, 1987. Barely aware of the crash until returning. Memory hazy indeed, but it seemed kind of run down, we may have been the only customers.
@eeterrific Back when I wanted a cheap drunk, it would probably be mass quantities of Beer-Beer (generic beer) or something cheap like that. Not bad if you kept it at 31 degrees & drank it fast.
@eeterrific - Dollar schnapps shots night. A different flavor each night of the week. Do the bars still do that? They would serve you as long as you could say schnapps shots.
@eeterrific
This one college party I went to had USA Gold or something along those lines. It was $5 a case (in 2002.) That shit was as smooth as battery acid.
@pitamuffin@f00l Mixed it with pre-sweetened Kool-Aid in 5gal buckets for occasional dorm parties in the early 80s. You had to alternate punch & beer (or water) in order to survive the night
Have had none in decades. Perhaps I ought to pick some up now that it’s legal. Way back when, it seemed to put people’s heads into a most interesting place.
When I drank it, we did it straight, no sugar, no water. Perhaps we had little in the way of cultivated manners? We agreed - absinthe put us into a strange and wonderful state of “altered inspired clarity”.
I knew someone who used to visit various Caribbean ports regularly each winter. A few bottles of Spanish absinthe would trickle back each time.
The spoons and the complex customs of absinthe drinking during the Belle Époque are fascinating to me. They put so much energy into manners and rituals of social behavior, dress, and the consumption of food and drink, commensurate with one’s social role. I guess the cafes and bars didn’t have wifi. People of that era would find us to be vulgarians - until they were handed their first smartphone or tablet.
@RiotDemon
I’m not wild about licorice. Absinthe didn’t taste like licorice that I recall. I might go pick some up today. Had forgotten they legalized it.
Don’t try it to get drunk. Try it for the headspace. Just a little. Get something decent. You’re not gonna swig it.
If any city can lay claim to being America’s most haunted, then it has to be New Orleans. Every aspect of the French Quarter seems designed to augment the town’s reputation as a hotbed of supernatural shenanigans. I mean, this is a town where real estate agents regularly list whether or not a house is reportedly haunted. There are few better places to follow up a visit to the grave of voodoo queen Madame Laveau than the French Quarter’s Old Absinthe House (240 Bourbon St.). In a building that is some two centuries old, the Old Absinthe House has had plenty of time to build up a healthy (for the dead) crowd of revenants and returners at the bar. In fact, Madame Laveau is reportedly among them, as are a number of notables from the city’s storied past, including celebrity pirate Jean Lafitte and scary US President Andrew Jackson (a drink with his ghost would be the equivalent of sitting down for a lovely meal at New York’s One if By Land restaurant only to discover the ghost of Aaron Burr is skulking about). A number of more anonymous ghosts haunt the bar as well, engaging in the time honored barroom ghost traditions of moving glasses around, slamming doors, and making a ruckus.
@f00l - I will definitely be looking for this next time I shop. Thing is, I’m usually home alone and drinking alone is no fun. The headspace comment makes it more intriguing though.
eta - Just checked Amazon. They have lots of absinthe-related products, but no actual absinthe.
@RiotDemon
To me, anise and licorice don’t taste the same.
If absinthe gives most people the effect I remember, it might be worth it even if you didn’t care for the taste.
In your shoes I might try to talk someone who would prob really like it into splitting a bottle w me. Then no waste if I hated it.
If you try it, get the real thing. With wormwood in it. During the years absinthe was banned, nice substitutes were on the market. These developed fans and still sell reasonably well. There are all shelves next to each other so read the labels.
I can’t recommend a brand. In the old days, it was whatever came off a ship, always Spanish, and I don’t remember the label. I’ve no way of knowing how much the labels vary.
@f00l they’re all different plants, but tend to taste the same. If you say it doesn’t taste like licorice, I’ll have to look at some reviews and try one. I just really really hate licorice, lol
I remember seeing the thing about the Mansinthe. I wonder if he got the idea from Trent. I think I’ll go watch that Perfect Drug video again. He looked really yummy in that one.
I will try to get you an answer - but - I’m not the best person to do a taste test. My tasting ability does not compare to what I could discern when I was young. Unfortunate side effect of not being young.
I’m also not very good at tasting side-by-sides - and I’m not absolutely certain I know what real licorice tastes like. The only such I’ve had in years would be in Jelly Bellies or similar. Is that even real licorice flavor, or some vaguely similar artificial substitute flavor?
I am terrible at describing flavors. If I were a wine critic, I’d just call everything “oaky and buttery with a hint of apples and spiced warmth” in order to finish a review - I’d have that phrase on speed-dial - I’d use that phrase on reds, whites, any grape combos, desert wines, fortified wines, boxed wine, rotgut. And then I’d sit still and wait for the cultivated lynch mobs to show up and take away my wines, or for everyone I know to shun me.
But … here goes …
first - open the bottle -
the smell of anise is really quite strong. If that would bother you, stop there. I bet they all smell strongly of anise when opened. The scent floats out toward you, calling … I like the smell of anise, so forward …
Next a tiny sip neat.
(Which is some sort of huge sacrilege according to the absinthe worshippers. Let them revile me).
What hits me is the anise bouquet. I don’t really sip enough to make sense of the taste, which is mostly overwhelmed by the lovely fragrance that hits me. The taste is complex with a tiny warm light complex burn somewhere under the fragrance.
So far so good. So I dribble cold water into it very slowly until it becomes cloudy. I’m serving it to myself in a very elegant antique (purchased 1 month ago!) black “plastic” Thermos cup/lid. Just like they do in the legendary bars and restaurants on the Left Bank in Paris.
Salut, Mr Wilde, Mr Rimbaud, Mr Picasso.
(I am a poster child for how not to do this. An aficionado who watched me would be in fits by now.)
Ok after a wait, the next sip. This time the liquid is clouded, as I believe it’s supposed to be. Once against, the scent of anise is strong and lovely (to me), but not so overpowering. The frangrance has become gentle. I can taste the liquid under the fragrance, and the taste is more subtle. The tiny burn is reduced, barely discernible. Yes, the mouth flavor has a lot of anise in it, and other stuff I can’t describe.
So there is my BS review of my first taste in decades. It has a lingering, not-unpleasant aftertaste. I am liking the aftertaste. If anise bothers you, best stay away.
We’ll see if the universe becomes a bit more magical or not.
Ok. 10-15 min? I can feel the tiny impact of a tiny dose of alcohol, since I am mostly unused to it. And perhaps there is a little extra magic? Perhaps? Can one ever be sure? Magic will rest lightly in the hand only so long as the hand is open.
@f00l big sigh
I wrote a really long reply and as I went to hit send my phone lost connection to Wi-Fi so the message got gobbled up. I’ll try to come back later to add in the missing stuff.
I think I’ll wait to test it unless I have an adventurous friend that already owns some, or I find a bar that serves it. I doubt I’ll find a mini airline size bottle of it like they sell vodka.
@RiotDemon
What I was thinking might work for someone like you, is this: go to a bar - a decent place where the vibe is warm and nice, and the place is about empty and they have absinthe.
Explain your problem about not liking licorice and so therefore thinking you might not like the taste of absinthe to the bartender. Ask them to open a bottle and let you smell it. It doesn’t have to be right under your nose. It will hit you from a few inches away if the bar’s bottle is like mine.
Far more of the sensory experience will come from the anise bouquet than the tasting. So if the smell doesn’t bother you - I am assuming that part is free - then perhaps it’s time to try a sip.
I opened my bottle a minute ago to give it another try. The fragrance was still obvious but much less strong than last night. I am taking tiny sips of it (slowly diluted w cold water until cloudy as the experts order) and it’s quite pleasant.
Incidentally, absinthe is usually shelved w the liquers, but it’s not a liqueur. No added sugar.
The best absinthe either come from Switzerland (the only country that regulates the process and guarantees that fakes can’t be labeled as absinthe; or from a source that makes a trustworthy claim of using traditional ingredients and methods.
There are a number of ways to do fake, cheap absinthe amd the results don’t compare, according to what I read this morning. The modern fakes are safe enough, just not very good. Some of the fake absinthes of the Belle Époque were known to use potentially poisonous methods or ingredients, and this may have helped absinthe get its reputation.
Every absinthe movie scene I could find in YouTube this morning was silly. The best one was prob the one from Coppola’s version of Dracula.
@f00l - Great tasting notes, really appreciate your thoughts. The post sent me scurrying to find more information. The Wormwood Society site seems thorough, they cover the active ingredients and the different choices available today. I linked to the reviews. There are so many choices, what brand did you test?
I asked an expert (someone close to me) and was told that it was popular when it gained all the attention ~2007, but is not really requested these days. That seems telling.
@RiotDemon - I lose maybe half of the posts I write. It’s my old computer. (Just looked it up, I bought it refurbished from sellout woot in 2011). You’d think I would remember to copy the posts before hitting “Say it”, but no. Lucky at least that I’m not prone to extended verbosity. SO frustrating.
@KDemo thanks for that link. Everything I had read yesterday pretty much said it will taste overwhelmingly like licorice, this site gave me a little more hope with the notes about what it should taste like:
Anise and fennel should definitely be in the forefront—absinthe is an anise drink—but they must be balanced with that of the wormwood and other herbs and not remind one of licorice candy. Star anise is the main culprit of this flaw.
Star anise is an inexpensive alternative to the better quality aniseed and fennel seed. Star anise oil is used as a flavoring in licorice confections and liqueurs such as sambuca and economy brands of ouzo and raki. Hence, it’s a very familiar—and very strong—flavor. Nearly all economy or mass-produced absinthes use star anise oil as a flavoring additive rather than being distilled from genuine aniseed and fennel seed.
As for me losing my posts, it’s not too often. But it’s often enough that I should really try to remember to copy the long ones. Typing a novel on a phone is annoying enough already, lol
I imagine sales took off in 2007 because it was newly available after being forbidden, and because of the legendary silliness you see in some books and films.
Drink absinthe, become a creative genius. Drink absinthe, commune with the muses. Drink absinthe, go mad.
Then sales fell back because none of that is true - if it is stimulating, it’s a slight effect; because no one appeared to go mad; because the novelty wore off; because there are plenty of other beautifully made drinking options in the alcohol world; because people are drinking less as they work harder and their lives get more digital; because current generations are at least aware of the drugs of the 60’s and since.
Absinthe will seem mild if you are looking for a an experience like acid or ecstasy or crack or even modern-dose THC plants.
The “danger” aura came in part from Van Gogh, Cezanne, Wilde, Rimbaud, Picasso and the like. But, according to one source I found someplace, more than 95% of the adult drinking population in Paris regularly consumed it around 1890-1900. Most of these people seem not to have become public geniuses, or to have engaged in spectacular self-harm or gone mad, or gone criminal.
But I am going to test it a bit more and see if I can find the sensibility my companions from those days all experienced. Local absinthes - properly made - still have local variations in composition.
I might try a Swiss one or a Spanish one. What I bought is
Absinthe Ordinaire
Distilleries et Domaines de Provence
04300 Forcalquier
France
How would I know if I’d gone mad? Don’t I have to establish a baseline first?
I’m having problems mentally designing a reasonable interval during which I am guaranteed “non-mad” as a prelude to my data collection re absinthe. Hmmm.
@f00l - Absinthe Ordinaire? Well, that explains it! You need Absinthe Supreme, or such.
I just looked back at the Absinthe Tasting Guide on the site I linked. They discuss color, flavor, qualities ad infinitum - but nothing about effects. Unfortunately. No shortcuts for you, I guess. I see researching absinthe’s mental effects as your life’s quest now.
@KDemo
Perhaps you are right about my life’s quest. There have been moments in the past during which my goals were far less sensible.
Absinthe Ordinaire is (according to the back of the bottle) named after Dr Pierre Ordinaire, who is said to have invented the original distillation process and recipe in 1792 or thereabouts in rural France.
Tho I have also read that absinthe was originally created in Switzerland.
Wikipedia:
Absinthe originated in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland in the late 18th century
Someone bought me a bottle of Captain Morgan 1671 a few years ago. I loved it. Went looking for more and it was already sold out - very bummed as it was a special edition and they aren’t making any more.
I was talking with a co-worker earlier this week about this and was idling Googling. Illinois liquor stores are advertising it! It’s even on sale! Don’t the good people of Illinois know how good this stuff is? I tried ordering it but the first store I landed on didn’t mail out of state. I found another one, filled out the form and waited for them to tell me I couldn’t get it. That email never came. What came was the FEDEX tracking - success! It arrived last night at 8:01.
Will there be a drunk post from me tonight?
/image captain morgan 1671
The nose on Captain Morgan 1671 is sweet with vanilla extract, cherry cola, clove, ginger bread, almond, molasses, chocolate, nutmeg, black pepper, and oak. It’s a nice collection of aromas that reminds us of a spirited Dr. Pepper.
The entry for Captain Morgan 1671 is sweet but not singular, and it manages to capture a lot of the aromas from the nose and present them on the palate with vanilla, ginger, dark cherry, cinnamon, black pepper, and oak. As you’d expect, the spice ramps up in the midpalate with clove, black pepper, ginger, and oak coming together with the support of vanilla extract and chocolate.
I love "as you’d expect . . . ". When drinking rum, I expect not to remember the midpalate spice, or much else.
@pitamuffin Binny’s was my first find but they don’t deliver outside the state. I persisted and found another that would. They actually shipping label says ‘Wine’.
Thx. I won’t purchase your precious rum. I just picked up the cheapest bottle of absinthe at the local nice wine palace and spent $25 for it. They had alternatives running up to $70. Geez.
Wouldn’t mind some internet pricing. I might get some decent scotch. I drink so rarely, will be a small expense, but cheaper never hurts.
@Barney It cost the same to ship the bottle as the bottle itself. I should have bought more than one. Did not think ahead. I will send you something as soon as I move.
@Barney We have to fight Chris Christie and FEMA before we can buy the house. We know it’s not in a flood zone but nobody believes us except the mayor. He’s helping us. So, no closing date.
@looseneck If I make an account apparently they will ship to me too although like you say the shipping is $17.50. Huh. There might be a disclaimer somewhere that says it’s my fault if it’s illegal. Anyway I’m leaving my bottle for you.
@compunaut - Hmmm. You could wait for the reviews to come back from the people here, if you’re on the fence. I will be checking it out next time I go shopping. Kind of expensive, though.
@sammydog01 I didn’t have a choice about paying the outrageous shipping. It was pay or get nothing. I didn’t want nothing.
I did read all the terms and nothing illegal about it.
So, I’m looking for some really simple 2-3 ingredient drinks.
I’ve got all the basic liquors- rum (regular & spiced), (Irish) whiskey, Irish cream, vodka (regular in samples, full size Peppermint), and a variety of other samples.
I’ve also got plenty of wine, beer, and coffee if you have any good drinks with those ingredients.
@dashcloud - One of my favorites is a Greyhound. Just fill a rocks glass with ice, pour in 2 ounces of vodka and 5 ounces of grapefruit juice. Stir well.
@dashcloud - Cuba Libre is rum and coke with lime.
Fill a rocks glass with ice, pour in 2 ounces of light or dark rum, and fill it with cold Coke. Squeeze in a little lime and stir gently.
@dashcloud - Found a drink to use your peppermint vodka that sounds delicious! Mint Mocha
4 ounces Peppermint Vodka
2 cups freshly brewed coffee
4 tablespoons hot chocolate mix
2 cups whole milk
In a small saucepan, heat the milk until gently simmering. Set aside and keep hot.
Combine ½ cup of hot coffee with 1 tablespoon hot chocolate mix in a mug.
Add ½ cup hot milk and 1 shot of vodka.
If desired, top with whipped cream and garnish with mint leaves and grated chocolate.
@dashcloud - The greyhound recipe will work with just about any juice (but it would no longer be called a greyhound). Cranberry juice and vodka with a little grapefruit and lime makes a seabreeze.
The mint mocha ingredients makes 4 drinks as listed.
calypso rum. 7 bucks for 1.5L and drinkable.
@Pantheist - I love rum. In my 30s I believe I accounted for most of Bacardi’s business.
@KDemo I think you had some help
@compunaut - I vacationed in the Virgin Islands once. They greet you at the airport with rum punch. It was hard to leave.
@KDemo I once took a ferry between islands in BVI. They handed out Dixie cups and passed around a bottle of coconut rum. When that was gone somebody broke out a bottle of Pusser’s (once the official Royal Navy’s ration).
Don’t remember much about the rest of that day…
@KDemo I really prefer whiskey- especially bulleit rye or jameson, but those are way out of my price range right now.
@compunaut - Fun!
We took a ferry over to Tortola and trekked up to the restaurant at the top of the mountain for . . . rum!
@Pantheist - If we ask nicely, do you think meh might come up with some at a discount?
@KDemo only one way to find out
@compunaut I sailed the BVI 3 times with 4-5 other guys. The drink of choice was a “painkiller”. Pusser’s Rum, coconut milk, pineapple and orange juice. Delicious and strong. Great times from what I remember.
@KDemo Is that the bar that had undergarments hanging from the rafters? Had a big ol’ Cadillac parked out front when I was there.
@Stumpy91 - Don’t remember that, but it was long ago. IIRC, we were flying there on Black Monday. I do remember playing around and taking pictures from the roof.
@KDemo Which Black Monday? We were there in the early to mid-1990’s. They have frequent hurricanes move through the area so any minimal structure as I remember that bar needs to be rebuilt repeatedly.
@Stumpy91 ‘Painkiller’ - that sounds familiar. But everything is pretty hazy…
@Stumpy91 - Monday, October 19, 1987. Barely aware of the crash until returning. Memory hazy indeed, but it seemed kind of run down, we may have been the only customers.
@thismyusername - Sober is fine in moderation.
Delicious beer.
@ELUNO - Inquiring minds want to know - ?
@ELUNO I’m not much of a beer drinker, even though my son has a beer place in SF.
@KDemo Blue Moon from my kegerator.
dammit! for a second there, you made me thinking i started two threads when i was drunk last week.
@carl669 - Seeing double? Maybe that will save on the vodka stash, if you think you’re drunker than you are.
Hope it’s okay that I borrowed your meme.
@KDemo i have had a fewr, i betr @carl669 isn’t far behindr
I’m drinking vodka. I have a ton of beer in the fridge, but none if it is talking to me.
@conandlibrarian - Drink enough vodka, and maybe the beer will start talking?
Beer.
@daveinwarsh
That. Looks. Delicious.
Ok everybody…what’s your cheapest drunk??
@eeterrific Back when I wanted a cheap drunk, it would probably be mass quantities of Beer-Beer (generic beer) or something cheap like that. Not bad if you kept it at 31 degrees & drank it fast.
@eeterrific - Dollar schnapps shots night. A different flavor each night of the week. Do the bars still do that? They would serve you as long as you could say schnapps shots.
@eeterrific Starter fluid
@eeterrific one time, I lived on an island once. beer was $53/case; rum was $7/1L FTW.
@eeterrific
This one college party I went to had USA Gold or something along those lines. It was $5 a case (in 2002.) That shit was as smooth as battery acid.
@eeterrific Everclear punch while in college. Worst hangover (not to mention blacking out) I’ve ever experienced. Lesson was learned.
@pitamuffin
Yes this. This Natural Sciences Dept had this in their budget. About once every two months …
Unspoken dept approval, it was assumed.
Never blacked out or had a hangover. Perhaps I just wasn’t that much fun then. Or perhaps alcohol was not the most popular consumable on weekends.
@pitamuffin @f00l Mixed it with pre-sweetened Kool-Aid in 5gal buckets for occasional dorm parties in the early 80s. You had to alternate punch & beer (or water) in order to survive the night
@eeterrific going to my brother’s house and drinking his booze
@Yoda_Daenerys gotta admit, that’s the cheapest. Unless, of course, your brother goes to your place and drinks your booze…
I really miss Drinking Terrible with Meh.
@KDemo That’s horrifyingly appealing.
@KDemo I still have banana liquour left over from Drinking Terrible.
@sammydog01 - Ugh! I guess you don’t miss Drinking Terrible then?
Any absinthe drinkers about?
Have had none in decades. Perhaps I ought to pick some up now that it’s legal. Way back when, it seemed to put people’s heads into a most interesting place.
Would totally purchase Meh-branded absinthe.
PS not hallucinogenic. That’s just a BS legend.
@f00l - Haven’t tried it, but curious. I would drink it just for the fancy little spoons.
@KDemo
When I drank it, we did it straight, no sugar, no water. Perhaps we had little in the way of cultivated manners? We agreed - absinthe put us into a strange and wonderful state of “altered inspired clarity”.
I knew someone who used to visit various Caribbean ports regularly each winter. A few bottles of Spanish absinthe would trickle back each time.
The spoons and the complex customs of absinthe drinking during the Belle Époque are fascinating to me. They put so much energy into manners and rituals of social behavior, dress, and the consumption of food and drink, commensurate with one’s social role. I guess the cafes and bars didn’t have wifi. People of that era would find us to be vulgarians - until they were handed their first smartphone or tablet.
They called absinthe “the green fairy”.
@f00l I don’t like licorice flavoring so I’ll pass… Even though this video always made me want to try it.
/youtube Nine Inch Nails perfect drug
@RiotDemon
I’m not wild about licorice. Absinthe didn’t taste like licorice that I recall. I might go pick some up today. Had forgotten they legalized it.
Don’t try it to get drunk. Try it for the headspace. Just a little. Get something decent. You’re not gonna swig it.
@RiotDemon
Re Trent and NIN:
Winter always makes me long for New Orleans.
From
https://www.alcoholprofessor.com/blog/2014/10/28/son-of-booooozy-tales-haunted-bars-go-international/
@f00l - I will definitely be looking for this next time I shop. Thing is, I’m usually home alone and drinking alone is no fun. The headspace comment makes it more intriguing though.
eta - Just checked Amazon. They have lots of absinthe-related products, but no actual absinthe.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41OlYnMtdnL.AC_US174.jpg
Dammit. Missed edit window. Absinthe socks.
@f00l let me know what you try and if it tastes like licorice. I thought I had read that all absinthe was made with anise.
@RiotDemon
To me, anise and licorice don’t taste the same.
If absinthe gives most people the effect I remember, it might be worth it even if you didn’t care for the taste.
In your shoes I might try to talk someone who would prob really like it into splitting a bottle w me. Then no waste if I hated it.
If you try it, get the real thing. With wormwood in it. During the years absinthe was banned, nice substitutes were on the market. These developed fans and still sell reasonably well. There are all shelves next to each other so read the labels.
I can’t recommend a brand. In the old days, it was whatever came off a ship, always Spanish, and I don’t remember the label. I’ve no way of knowing how much the labels vary.
@RiotDemon
According to google, anise, licorice. fennel, are all diff plants.
Licorice
http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Glyc_gla.html
Anise
http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Pimp_ani.html
@RiotDemon
@KDemo
Apparently Marilyn Manson has his own label of absinthe, made in Switzerland.
Mansinthe
http://www.totalwine.com/spirits/liqueurs-cordials-schnapps/herbal-spice/absinthe/mansinthe-by-marilyn-manson/p/106172750
@f00l they’re all different plants, but tend to taste the same. If you say it doesn’t taste like licorice, I’ll have to look at some reviews and try one. I just really really hate licorice, lol
I remember seeing the thing about the Mansinthe. I wonder if he got the idea from Trent. I think I’ll go watch that Perfect Drug video again. He looked really yummy in that one.
@KDemo i have to disagree
@f00l what’s that old saying? absinthe makes the heart grow fonder…
/youtube speaking with a lisp
http://www.absente.com/about-absente/absinthe-faq/
seems readily available in my neighborhood in MI
@RiotDemon
I will try to get you an answer - but - I’m not the best person to do a taste test. My tasting ability does not compare to what I could discern when I was young. Unfortunate side effect of not being young.
I’m also not very good at tasting side-by-sides - and I’m not absolutely certain I know what real licorice tastes like. The only such I’ve had in years would be in Jelly Bellies or similar. Is that even real licorice flavor, or some vaguely similar artificial substitute flavor?
I am terrible at describing flavors. If I were a wine critic, I’d just call everything “oaky and buttery with a hint of apples and spiced warmth” in order to finish a review - I’d have that phrase on speed-dial - I’d use that phrase on reds, whites, any grape combos, desert wines, fortified wines, boxed wine, rotgut. And then I’d sit still and wait for the cultivated lynch mobs to show up and take away my wines, or for everyone I know to shun me.
But … here goes …
first - open the bottle -
the smell of anise is really quite strong. If that would bother you, stop there. I bet they all smell strongly of anise when opened. The scent floats out toward you, calling … I like the smell of anise, so forward …
Next a tiny sip neat.
(Which is some sort of huge sacrilege according to the absinthe worshippers. Let them revile me).
What hits me is the anise bouquet. I don’t really sip enough to make sense of the taste, which is mostly overwhelmed by the lovely fragrance that hits me. The taste is complex with a tiny warm light complex burn somewhere under the fragrance.
So far so good. So I dribble cold water into it very slowly until it becomes cloudy. I’m serving it to myself in a very elegant antique (purchased 1 month ago!) black “plastic” Thermos cup/lid. Just like they do in the legendary bars and restaurants on the Left Bank in Paris.
Salut, Mr Wilde, Mr Rimbaud, Mr Picasso.
(I am a poster child for how not to do this. An aficionado who watched me would be in fits by now.)
Ok after a wait, the next sip. This time the liquid is clouded, as I believe it’s supposed to be. Once against, the scent of anise is strong and lovely (to me), but not so overpowering. The frangrance has become gentle. I can taste the liquid under the fragrance, and the taste is more subtle. The tiny burn is reduced, barely discernible. Yes, the mouth flavor has a lot of anise in it, and other stuff I can’t describe.
So there is my BS review of my first taste in decades. It has a lingering, not-unpleasant aftertaste. I am liking the aftertaste. If anise bothers you, best stay away.
We’ll see if the universe becomes a bit more magical or not.
Ok. 10-15 min? I can feel the tiny impact of a tiny dose of alcohol, since I am mostly unused to it. And perhaps there is a little extra magic? Perhaps? Can one ever be sure? Magic will rest lightly in the hand only so long as the hand is open.
@f00l
big sigh
I wrote a really long reply and as I went to hit send my phone lost connection to Wi-Fi so the message got gobbled up. I’ll try to come back later to add in the missing stuff.
I think I’ll wait to test it unless I have an adventurous friend that already owns some, or I find a bar that serves it. I doubt I’ll find a mini airline size bottle of it like they sell vodka.
@RiotDemon
What I was thinking might work for someone like you, is this: go to a bar - a decent place where the vibe is warm and nice, and the place is about empty and they have absinthe.
Explain your problem about not liking licorice and so therefore thinking you might not like the taste of absinthe to the bartender. Ask them to open a bottle and let you smell it. It doesn’t have to be right under your nose. It will hit you from a few inches away if the bar’s bottle is like mine.
Far more of the sensory experience will come from the anise bouquet than the tasting. So if the smell doesn’t bother you - I am assuming that part is free - then perhaps it’s time to try a sip.
I opened my bottle a minute ago to give it another try. The fragrance was still obvious but much less strong than last night. I am taking tiny sips of it (slowly diluted w cold water until cloudy as the experts order) and it’s quite pleasant.
Incidentally, absinthe is usually shelved w the liquers, but it’s not a liqueur. No added sugar.
The best absinthe either come from Switzerland (the only country that regulates the process and guarantees that fakes can’t be labeled as absinthe; or from a source that makes a trustworthy claim of using traditional ingredients and methods.
There are a number of ways to do fake, cheap absinthe amd the results don’t compare, according to what I read this morning. The modern fakes are safe enough, just not very good. Some of the fake absinthes of the Belle Époque were known to use potentially poisonous methods or ingredients, and this may have helped absinthe get its reputation.
Every absinthe movie scene I could find in YouTube this morning was silly. The best one was prob the one from Coppola’s version of Dracula.
@f00l - Great tasting notes, really appreciate your thoughts. The post sent me scurrying to find more information. The Wormwood Society site seems thorough, they cover the active ingredients and the different choices available today. I linked to the reviews. There are so many choices, what brand did you test?
I asked an expert (someone close to me) and was told that it was popular when it gained all the attention ~2007, but is not really requested these days. That seems telling.
@RiotDemon - I lose maybe half of the posts I write. It’s my old computer. (Just looked it up, I bought it refurbished from sellout woot in 2011). You’d think I would remember to copy the posts before hitting “Say it”, but no. Lucky at least that I’m not prone to extended verbosity. SO frustrating.
@KDemo thanks for that link. Everything I had read yesterday pretty much said it will taste overwhelmingly like licorice, this site gave me a little more hope with the notes about what it should taste like:
Anise and fennel should definitely be in the forefront—absinthe is an anise drink—but they must be balanced with that of the wormwood and other herbs and not remind one of licorice candy. Star anise is the main culprit of this flaw.
Star anise is an inexpensive alternative to the better quality aniseed and fennel seed. Star anise oil is used as a flavoring in licorice confections and liqueurs such as sambuca and economy brands of ouzo and raki. Hence, it’s a very familiar—and very strong—flavor. Nearly all economy or mass-produced absinthes use star anise oil as a flavoring additive rather than being distilled from genuine aniseed and fennel seed.
As for me losing my posts, it’s not too often. But it’s often enough that I should really try to remember to copy the long ones. Typing a novel on a phone is annoying enough already, lol
@KDemo
I imagine sales took off in 2007 because it was newly available after being forbidden, and because of the legendary silliness you see in some books and films.
Drink absinthe, become a creative genius. Drink absinthe, commune with the muses. Drink absinthe, go mad.
Then sales fell back because none of that is true - if it is stimulating, it’s a slight effect; because no one appeared to go mad; because the novelty wore off; because there are plenty of other beautifully made drinking options in the alcohol world; because people are drinking less as they work harder and their lives get more digital; because current generations are at least aware of the drugs of the 60’s and since.
Absinthe will seem mild if you are looking for a an experience like acid or ecstasy or crack or even modern-dose THC plants.
The “danger” aura came in part from Van Gogh, Cezanne, Wilde, Rimbaud, Picasso and the like. But, according to one source I found someplace, more than 95% of the adult drinking population in Paris regularly consumed it around 1890-1900. Most of these people seem not to have become public geniuses, or to have engaged in spectacular self-harm or gone mad, or gone criminal.
But I am going to test it a bit more and see if I can find the sensibility my companions from those days all experienced. Local absinthes - properly made - still have local variations in composition.
I might try a Swiss one or a Spanish one. What I bought is
Absinthe Ordinaire
Distilleries et Domaines de Provence
04300 Forcalquier
France
@f00l Keep us informed…
@compunaut
How would I know if I’d gone mad? Don’t I have to establish a baseline first?
I’m having problems mentally designing a reasonable interval during which I am guaranteed “non-mad” as a prelude to my data collection re absinthe. Hmmm.
@f00l - Absinthe Ordinaire? Well, that explains it! You need Absinthe Supreme, or such.
I just looked back at the Absinthe Tasting Guide on the site I linked. They discuss color, flavor, qualities ad infinitum - but nothing about effects. Unfortunately. No shortcuts for you, I guess. I see researching absinthe’s mental effects as your life’s quest now.
@KDemo
Perhaps you are right about my life’s quest. There have been moments in the past during which my goals were far less sensible.
Absinthe Ordinaire is (according to the back of the bottle) named after Dr Pierre Ordinaire, who is said to have invented the original distillation process and recipe in 1792 or thereabouts in rural France.
Tho I have also read that absinthe was originally created in Switzerland.
Wikipedia:
So dunno.
More investigation is needed.
Or
Someone bought me a bottle of Captain Morgan 1671 a few years ago. I loved it. Went looking for more and it was already sold out - very bummed as it was a special edition and they aren’t making any more.
I was talking with a co-worker earlier this week about this and was idling Googling. Illinois liquor stores are advertising it! It’s even on sale! Don’t the good people of Illinois know how good this stuff is? I tried ordering it but the first store I landed on didn’t mail out of state. I found another one, filled out the form and waited for them to tell me I couldn’t get it. That email never came. What came was the FEDEX tracking - success! It arrived last night at 8:01.
Will there be a drunk post from me tonight?
/image captain morgan 1671
@looseneck Hmmm, I’m in Illinois and I drink the Captain. I must go look for this one now.
Edit: Just checked - it’s in stock at my Binny’s!
@looseneck - Hope so! Are you a fun drunk like @carl669? Guess we might find out.
@looseneck - Just looked up a review -
I love "as you’d expect . . . ". When drinking rum, I expect not to remember the midpalate spice, or much else.
@pitamuffin Binny’s was my first find but they don’t deliver outside the state. I persisted and found another that would. They actually shipping label says ‘Wine’.
Don’t buy it all - I might need to send for more.
@KDemo I don’t normally sip my alcohol - I’m a sissy and need a mixer - but this only needs a glass and maybe an ice cube.
@looseneck
What store in Il?
Anyone got fav internet places to buy spirits?
@f00l theliquorbarn.com Now that I gave away my secret, there won’t be any more left for me.
@KDemo Sometimes. Other times I can be mean or get on a crying jag. I never know which one will show up.
@looseneck
Thx. I won’t purchase your precious rum. I just picked up the cheapest bottle of absinthe at the local nice wine palace and spent $25 for it. They had alternatives running up to $70. Geez.
Wouldn’t mind some internet pricing. I might get some decent scotch. I drink so rarely, will be a small expense, but cheaper never hurts.
@looseneck It appears our state owned liquor stores make too much money for out of state shipments. Drink one for me.
@sammydog01 I was very surprised liquor can be shipped to consumers, especially my state. We just got a law passed recently for wine to be shipped.
@looseneck This sounds pretty good. I could use some ho, ho, ho and a bottle of rum. You have my address.
@looseneck - I like to say I get Witty and Charming (parts 1 and 2).
.
The Ten Stages of Drunkeness
according to Jimmy Buffett
@KDemo
Barney’s stages of drunkeness
1. One drink and it’s “Goodnight Barney”.
@Barney It cost the same to ship the bottle as the bottle itself. I should have bought more than one. Did not think ahead. I will send you something as soon as I move.
@looseneck Nah, just teasing you about the bottle. When is the big move?
@Barney We have to fight Chris Christie and FEMA before we can buy the house. We know it’s not in a flood zone but nobody believes us except the mayor. He’s helping us. So, no closing date.
@looseneck Maybe the Guv could use a full bottle of rum.
Anyway, good luck.
@looseneck If I make an account apparently they will ship to me too although like you say the shipping is $17.50. Huh. There might be a disclaimer somewhere that says it’s my fault if it’s illegal. Anyway I’m leaving my bottle for you.
@looseneck Available in N Tx @ Total Wine & Goody Goody (at least). About $17-18 for 750ml bottle. Should I buy some?
@compunaut - Hmmm. You could wait for the reviews to come back from the people here, if you’re on the fence. I will be checking it out next time I go shopping. Kind of expensive, though.
@sammydog01, did you make it illegal? Was there a problem with Captain Morgan?
@KDemo Did I do something illegal with Captain Morgan? Maybe, depending on state decency laws?
@sammydog01
Pix!
@sammydog01 I didn’t have a choice about paying the outrageous shipping. It was pay or get nothing. I didn’t want nothing.
I did read all the terms and nothing illegal about it.
@compunaut I can’t believe there is so much still out there! Buy it - you won’t regret it.
/giphy no regrets
i’m just here for the cake and booze. meh, you’ve sold me my booze, now where’s my damn cake?!
@carl669 - Oops, you wanted some?
@KDemo damn cake hogs! all of yous!
@carl669
Here’s what I had with a burger for lunch (but it was on tap)
So, I’m looking for some really simple 2-3 ingredient drinks.
I’ve got all the basic liquors- rum (regular & spiced), (Irish) whiskey, Irish cream, vodka (regular in samples, full size Peppermint), and a variety of other samples.
I’ve also got plenty of wine, beer, and coffee if you have any good drinks with those ingredients.
@dashcloud - I just want an invitation to your party!
@dashcloud - One of my favorites is a Greyhound. Just fill a rocks glass with ice, pour in 2 ounces of vodka and 5 ounces of grapefruit juice. Stir well.
@dashcloud - Cuba Libre is rum and coke with lime.
Fill a rocks glass with ice, pour in 2 ounces of light or dark rum, and fill it with cold Coke. Squeeze in a little lime and stir gently.
@dashcloud - Found a drink to use your peppermint vodka that sounds delicious!
Mint Mocha
4 ounces Peppermint Vodka
2 cups freshly brewed coffee
4 tablespoons hot chocolate mix
2 cups whole milk
@KDemo Thanks for this, and all your ideas so far!
Hope to try several of them this weekend!
@dashcloud - The greyhound recipe will work with just about any juice (but it would no longer be called a greyhound). Cranberry juice and vodka with a little grapefruit and lime makes a seabreeze.
The mint mocha ingredients makes 4 drinks as listed.