Thread: Absinthe- The perfect drink for Straight Razor users

Absinthe falls into the same category as gin and Unicum Swack in Sailors trustworthy classification, based 100% on my own experiences.

For some reason i can't tell this thread made me want to listen this good ole song:



edit: Slivovitz of Kosovo goes into same category. I've had my share back then back there. I do not understand why did i have to drink poison to get myself into trouble while i could have drink some decent civilized drinks instead.

Originally Posted by Zephyr

I tried it "the classic" way mixed with water and sugar some years back when it returned to the marked, didn't care much for it then, maybe I should try again now that I've lived a few more years.

I like it, but never tried it the "classic" way. I see a Absinthe review session coming up!

I knew guys on SRP did drugs.
I've never come across a bottle of anything but crappy licorice booze imitation, but given the opportunity I wouldn't mind a bit of a green fang. James Joyce was also a big fan of it as well.

Originally Posted by bassguy

I knew guys on SRP did drugs.
I've never come across a bottle of anything but crappy licorice booze imitation, but given the opportunity I wouldn't mind a bit of a green fang. James Joyce was also a big fan of it as well.

I think in the old days that probably the 120-140 proof maybe had more to do with the effects than the Wormwood

I do like the stuff and while I was distilling the other day I should have made some more. Unfortunately I broke my 250 mL distilling flask and they are expensive. Maybe I'll be able to afford another before the next NW meet.
Oddly enough Glen, I haven't had a drop to drink since the spring meet at my house.

Don't much like it, myself. Never had it straight, but the traditional way isn't for me. I love it in a sazerac cocktail, however. I'm a whiskey/scotch drinker, and I feel that fits "us" as well. Old fashioned (though I prefer "classic"), bit of an acquired taste.

Back on topic, though- absinthe doesn't really require much of any wormwood to be absinthe. The newer methods really get rid of the wormwood issue completely. And the reason why it had such a bad rap in the old days was that it was high test and cheap. Many people couldn't afford other alcoholic beverages, and it stands to reason that some of those people were... unstable.

I have a bottle of absinthe made in Switzerland. Can't quite recall the name offhand.

I'm an all-around beverage fan. Coffee, tea, liquor. I end up not drinking much beer or wine though because something about them tends to give me terrible headaches, even in small quantity, but harder stuff is great.

I also got interested in absinthe because of it's convoluted history. The first one I had was actually before they were selling it legally in the US. I got it imported via courier from Spain. Versinthe, a blanche if memory serves. Pretty boring. Mostly anise with a sharp edge of undefined bitter. I'm pretty sure it was just made with oil.

Since then I've had a lot of different ones, everything from the Czech stuff that is more properly used to degrease marine diesel parts to pretty high-end micro-brew stuff. I am really fond of the St. George absinthe out of San Francisco, but it's intentionally weird, and I don't like it quite enough to buy a $70 bottle.

The verte that I have on-hand that I like best is Duplais Balance. For blanche, it's hard to beat the value of Kubler, which I can get in 1.75 liter size at the fancy liquor store a stone's throw from my house and which doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Though I've got most of the paraphernalia, I'm not really much of a ritual guy. I use the glasses because they make it easier to measure liquor to water, but the sugar part doesn't add anything particularly interesting to the varieties I like.

It is awfully fun to really slowly add ice water though, and watch the louche.

I've had it (don't remember the brand but it was over 70%v/v from memory), didn't mind it but I'm wary of drinking anything I could comfortably run my lawn mower on. I need to be able to drive at a moment's notice, so I have to be careful.

I have not tried it yet, but will at some point. I did try some green chartuese the other night. Great stuff, over 130 botanicals in it and has been distilled since 1605. Great in a brandy snifter. Couldn't pass up trying it after my bartender made the statement "it's like drinking bongwater."

Originally Posted by whavens

I have not tried it yet, but will at some point. I did try some green chartuese the other night. Great stuff, over 130 botanicals in it and has been distilled since 1605. Great in a brandy snifter. Couldn't pass up trying it after my bartender made the statement "it's like drinking bongwater."

Chartreuse is fantastic. Don't know about the whole bongwater comment, as I'm not a smoker, but there's some delicious spice in there.

I'd buy a bottle if I knew I'd drink it often, to justify the expense.