Ikea absinthe glasses?

"Pokal" wine glasses caught my eye the other day and I grabbed a box-- good shape and size (7oz) for absinthe, right diameter for a spoon. Cheaper to buy these than to rent glasses for the party...

Getting Your Louche On

With so many people trying out absinthe for the first time, accessories for the ritual are in high demand. Even Hammacher Schlemmer is offering a nice kit, though you could assemble it for less from the specialty vendors.

The key, really, is having a comfortable setup so you can add as much or as little cold water and sugar as you would like-- folks aren't missing anything if all they have is a small glass and a little ice water. But paraphernalia and rituals are fun...

Absinthe glasses:

• Simon Pearce glasses and carafes at Liqueurs de France from ~$70 (that's my double bubble in the photo above...:),
• Cristalerias San Miguel, reproduction, and Jade promotional glasses and brouilleurs at Liqueurs de France from ~$10,
• An interesting assortment of glasses at Absinthe Suisse from ~$9,
• Glasses, drippers, and saucers at AbsintheSpoon.com from ~$14,
• Great deals on six reservoir or torsade glasses from Absinthe.de for only ~$38,

Absinthe spoons and substitutes (only if you're adding sugar):

• Maison d'Absinthe in New Orleans has an assortment of spoons starting at $9,
• Reproduction spoons at AbsintheSpoon.com starting at ~$9,
• Fine silver spoons, drippers, and tongs by Kirk Burkett at AbsintheSpoon.com starting at ~$130,
• The Tempus Fugit spoons and dripper at Liqueurs de France from ~$25, the spoon also available at Absinthe.de,
• Reproduction spoons and bruoilleurs at Liqueurs de France starting at only ~$5, most available (along with others) at Absinthe.de starting at ~$8, and at Absinthe Suisse too,
• The Lucid store has cheap pressed spoons for 6/$36 (not a great deal)...
• Anyway, a tea strainer like this will balance on a glass's edge and hold a sugar cube nicely-- probably $3 at your grocery store.

Absinthe fountains:

• The Lucid store has the best prices I've ever seen for 2- and 4-spigot Frenchman fountains-- $135 and $185
  Update 3/28/08: Heard on a forum that the fountains are out of stock, but they expect a shipment soon of non-Frenchman reproduction fountans,
• La Maison d'Absinthe has six fountains starting at $185,
  Update 3/25/08: They now stock a 2-spigot fountain for only $48-- might have to get one of those... though Spoon got one and says it's a little chintzy,
• Frenchman fountains are also available from AbsintheSpoon.com,
• Absinthe Suisse has a few glass fountains from ~$65, one also available from Absinthe.de for a bit more.

Makeshift absinthe fountains and supplies:

• (But... do you really need a fountain?! A carafe works great and is as "authentic" as using a fountain...:)
• Vodka infuser jars with spigots go for ~$50 or so and work great if your glasses are short enough or if you put it on a taller pedestal, plus you can have a glass shop drill holes for more spigots,
• Spigots from aftosa from ~$7.50,
• Spigots from InfusedVodka.com from $7,
• The infamous Lowe's Mouthwash Dispenser on a little pedestal-- $25,
• Make your own dripper with whatever's on hand-- I made a little MacGyver dripper ("green beret" survival skill...:) for kicks once with two yogurt cups and a length of wire,
• And if you're really desperate and want to drip, you can always use a sink, but you'll need some ice in the glass to keep it cool.

Now go drink up!

Update: I'll keep this post around and add to it when I find more vendors and prices change. PLEASE leave a comment if you hear of any new products or vendors!

St. George: Second Release of Absinthe Verte

Made it to St. George Spirits this morning with Spoon to pick up some of the second batch of Absinthe Verte. We arrived at around 11:30 and the line had tripled by noon, but it still took an hour to get in while the folks ahead made their buys and left-- few stayed to taste. Thankfully the rain came and went quickly!

After buying a few bottles (three max), I got a taste and was surprised by how much I liked it-- more balanced than the first run, a more prominent wormwood flavor, less anise and meadowsweet. Great to meet "Brit Geek Girl" and a few of her dedicated drinking buddies. Unfortunately, Lance Winters was nowhere to be found-- had hoped to have him sign the bottles and pose for a shot... which explains why he wasn't around...:)

Asking about the taste differences between the two batches, a few folks told me the wormwood was more mature for this batch-- that it had big flowers-- but was otherwise the same formula. With twice as much made as last time, they said they were just trying to satisfy demand before changing anything.