Land of The Green Fairy

crumbschief
crumbschief Posts: 3,399
edited November 2017 in The cake stop
Anyone on here had a touch?

Anyway besides that,i fancy some more Absinthe soon and wondered if anyone around here is a fan and if so what have you tried,experiences etc,cheers :mrgreen: .

Comments

  • capt_slog
    capt_slog Posts: 3,939
    Never tried it and never thought I've missed much.

    Isn't it made differently now, to what it used to be that is? Sort of a sanitised version?


    The older I get, the better I was.

  • mfin
    mfin Posts: 6,729
    I'm not sure that a lot of it wasn't myth, whatever is in the wormwood(?) that was supposed to give the wacky effects doesn't exist in much volume in the final drink to do anything, and people even question whether it could.

    I don't think you'll get any modern reports of drinking it doing anything but getting people drunk and giving them hangovers. You could save a few quid by having vodka accompanied with smoking banana skins.

    If you want a drink that has interesting effects there are a few that seem to do so if you're into mixing neat spirits and having a fair bit.
  • A friend of mine gets me a bottle occasionally when he goes to Switzerland. Recent ones have been commercial and around the 55% mark, which is enough for me. The really good stuff is the hooch made in the back of a cow shed, but the locals are often reluctant to part with it for some reason.
    I'll have to check the brand and ingredients, but I think wormwood was taken out a long time ago, when companies like Pernod moved to the brands they sell today.
    Ecrasez l’infame
  • earth
    earth Posts: 934
    Anyone on here had a touch?

    Anyway besides that,i fancy some more Absinthe soon and wondered if anyone around here is a fan and if so what have you tried,experiences etc,cheers :mrgreen: .

    I bought a bottle of it once as a present for someone and they didn't want it. I've thad a few shots of it before and the alcohol content is so high it mainly evaporates on the tongue unless you take big slug. I have a vague notion that it can be hallucinogenic.
  • You do know it's not meant to be drunk neat?
    Ecrasez l’infame
  • crumbschief
    crumbschief Posts: 3,399
    A friend of mine gets me a bottle occasionally when he goes to Switzerland. Recent ones have been commercial and around the 55% mark, which is enough for me. The really good stuff is the hooch made in the back of a cow shed, but the locals are often reluctant to part with it for some reason.
    I'll have to check the brand and ingredients, but I think wormwood was taken out a long time ago, when companies like Pernod moved to the brands they sell today.

    Often the case with the good stuff,Wormwood is interesting stuff and has lot's of properties but can have a few side effects depending on amount.
  • knedlicky
    knedlicky Posts: 3,097
    Anyone on here had a touch? ... if so what have you tried, experiences, etc
    The museum at Pontarlier has a permanent exhibition devoted to Absinthe, well worth visiting. Also at Pontarlier and just outside the town, there are about 4 distilleries at which one can get a guided tour to learn Absinthe's history, to see how it (and other local spirits) are now made, and to find out what ingredients (and in roughly what proportions) are now used.

    I went to the small family-run Pierre Guy distillery in Pontarlier and being the only visitor that morning, had basically a private one-to-one tour, followed by as many samples of their range as I felt like! (I also liked their pine-flavoured spirit).
    A larger distillery just outside Pontarlier is that of Emile Pernot. I have bottles of Absinthe from both Guy and Pernot (or rather had, as my Guy became empty).
    I also have an Absinthe from Germany, from Pabst & Richarz. I find it 'earthier' in taste than the French stuff.

    At the museum and distilleries at Pontarlier you learn that Absinthe was once dangerous as (a) if too much wormwood was used, the drink was hallucinogenic and resultant irrational behaviour sometimes violent, (b) much Absinthe of the past included toxic impurities, like methanol, hyssop (a plant with poisonous oils), or copper salts (added to get the greenish colour), and (c) the stuff was so cheap, some people just drank too much and got alcoholic-poisoning (in Absinthe's heyday, per capita alcohol consumption in France was almost twice what it is nowadays).
    I think wormwood was taken out a long time ago
    Not correct, wormwood is still used in Absinthe, hyssop too (but nots its dangerous oil).
    The guide at Pierre Guy told me that when the wormwood is ready to crop, the distillery goes into stand-by mode for a week and most of the workforce, office staff included, go out to the distillery's own wormwood fields, 4 kms SW of Pontarlier, to help with the harvest, that being about early August. I rather like that small family business approach.
    You do know it's not meant to be drunk neat?
    There is no hard and fast rule. I drink Absinthe, as well as Pastis (e.g. Pernod or Ricard) and also green Chartreuse (also 55%) all neat, I think the intensity is lost with water added, and it sacrilege to melt sugar into Absinthe. Just means I have to be careful how much and how quickly I drink them all.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 16,438
    modern absinthes don't have the same level of thujone believed to have been in the original, thujone is typically said to be behind the extra impact the drink had, but as above the addition of other, often toxic, things probably added to the experience

    full-on high proof absinthe isn't a fun drink, in ye olde days, it was unseemly to drink it neat, it was diluted 3-5x with water to taste and sugar

    sweet drinks were more popular then, if the additives made it bitter to contemporary taste that'd be another factor, but it may simply be that they liked it sweet

    it's become fashionable/trendy with umpteen producers knocking out all kinds of nonsense in fancy bottles, and vintage paraphernalia commanding insane prices, since pernod started making it again and claim it's based on the old recipe, i'd guess they're closer than many others

    i like it with chilled water but no sugar, it's a nice refreshing drink, add water sloooowly and test what ratio you prefer, too much water ruins it, just as with pastis, raki etc.
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • Well, I am pleased to report my latest bottle does contain wormwood. Made by Studer.
    I agree, a drop of water is all you need. Might have to do some quality control in a bit.
    Ecrasez l’infame
  • three memories of Absinthe... the first time I got drunk on it I didnt realise, from the waist up I was perfectly OK, my legs had a mind of there own though, I was fully sober mentally but my legs were being controlled by someone else.

    Second time I took a swig out of a hip flask and it gushed out, up my nose and into my eyes, oh joy, the pain and sneezing continuously for half an hour, I once gave some to friends that were visiting the Island for the TT, they didnt make the boat the next day and had to fork out over £200 each for accommodation and new ferry crossings
  • crumbschief
    crumbschief Posts: 3,399
    Ballanawin wrote:
    three memories of Absinthe... the first time I got drunk on it I didnt realise, from the waist up I was perfectly OK, my legs had a mind of there own though, I was fully sober mentally but my legs were being controlled by someone else.

    Second time I took a swig out of a hip flask and it gushed out, up my nose and into my eyes, oh joy, the pain and sneezing continuously for half an hour, I once gave some to friends that were visiting the Island for the TT, they didnt make the boat the next day and had to fork out over £200 each for accommodation and new ferry crossings

    Funny,never underestimate a fairie.