Boveresse 2007: dixième fête...

I wonder-- how does one participate in tastings at a fête de l'absinthe? The official site still doesn't list the programme...

Absinthiades '06 Tasting

Louisa Chu posted a report with some great photos about her experience as a jurist tasting ten different absinthes at the 2006 Absinthiades in Pontarlier. Via Chow.com's "The Grinder".

LiquorSnob Absinthe Reviews

The folks over at Liquor Snob have posted astute reviews of two Artemisias (La Clandestine and La Capricieuse) and three Duplais' (Blanche, Balance, and Verte). They preferred La Clandestine over La Capricieuse (as do I-- coriander?), and the Blanche was their favorite of the Duplais' for "day to day" drinking.

Curious how they'd compare the Duplais Verte to La Clandestine, but I'm psyched that that they picked the Duplais Blanche over the vertes for, well, political reasons: I think absinthe can only enter the U.S. market if people grow to think of it as more related to gin (martini==cool) than to Everclear (purple punch==ambulance). In addition to colored absinthes being more strongly flavored, demanding green absinthe makes the market too susceptible to the new horrible Czech "absinth tradition" since the concentrations needed for properly colored absinthe to enter the U.S. market (~68%?) won't fly, so to be green, it would have to be artificially colored. Tough pickle...

Absinthe Party Bust: No Charges!?!

Wow! From Paul himself, here's the latest on the legal proceedings after the busted absinthe party on December 29, 2006. From Paul's blog entry:

We were never actually charged with anything. The police confiscated my absinthe and wrote tickets to several of my servers and to myself. The tickets where notices to appear in court. We showed up in court this morning and no charges had been filed. The DA decided not to pursue the matter at all. So we have not been charged with anything. We didn't even walk into a court room.

Via Alan's Real Absinthe Blog

The USB Absinthe Spoon?

+

+

?!

Why a USB absinthe spoon? To keep recipes, designs, photos, translations, etc., (encrypted, of course)! There are a few replies along those lines. Not sure why this is newsworthy, and it sure doesn't look like a real product, but people sent it to me, so here you go!

ROTFLMAO on Tribe! (or, "What Not To Do")

Hilarious thread on the Absinthe "tribe" started by Kurt about his "DIY batch #3." I (thought I) was politely guiding him to Oxy's FAQ when he got huffy and insulting-- this is what makes the internets so rich! My favorite parts:

"...your opinion is wrong. I neither acknowledge nor respect your authority."

"simulacrum" [really? wow!]

"If I want your opinions, I'll ask for them."

"Expressing an opinion [...] is orthogonal to the intentions of this thread. Such expressions are distractions."

"I'm sorry you are confused."

I can't help bursting out in laughter when he says "simulacrum" and "orthogonal"-- makes milk shoot out of my nose!

More lousy absinthe

"Hapsburg" Absinthe Premium Reserve at 89.9% abv, part of the idiotic absinthe line at Wine and Spirits International, Inc., (weak) branding by Pemberton & Whitefoord.

It seems like fluorescent blue-green absinthe (on fire!) is here to stay, gauging by Flickr's absinthe photos.

Duplais on Liquor Snob

Liquor snob post about Duplais winning a gold medal at the 2006 IWSC, but no actual review... strange for them! They probably thought it best to keep themselves legit with "we'd really like to get our hands on a bottle" and "from what we're hearing..." They do link to Absinthe-Distribution.com, of course...;)

Update: Yep, they ordered it, and they got their shipment of the 3-pack; looking forward to reading their reviews. I bet they prefer the blanche.

"Auto Verseur" Dripper

Antique style see-saw dripper (brouilleur) at The Absinthe Spoon (part of the Oxy megasite) hinges back and forth as the water dribbles out of the reservoir.

"Flirting with the Forbidden"

Travel + Leisure Magazine article on "forbidden" delicacies and the way they got that way: ortolan (crazy eating ritual! See image), beluga caviar, foie gras, rare hamburgers, raw dairy, ibérico ham, trans fats, no live lobsters at Whole Foods (sheer idiocy)... and, of course, absinthe. From the article:

The problem with legislating eating habits isn’t just that the rules are often arbitrary. It’s that there’s no obvious place to stop. Food is intrinsically dangerous—for God’s sake, you put it in your mouth. This is the risk one assumes with the blessing and burden of having an appetite.

Via Alan at the Wormwood Society forums.

Q: Does absinthe really cause hallucinations?

A: NO! Check out this concise article at "howstuffworks" with the right words in bold face: 110 to 144 proof, wormwood, distilled, thujone, chlorophyll, and they put the thujone in its place:

By the end of the distillation process, there is very little thujone left in the product. Modern science has estimated that a person drinking absinthe would die from alcohol poisoning long before he or she were affected by the thujone. And there is no evidence at all that thujone can cause hallucinations, even in high doses.

Via Selmac on the Wormwood Society Forums.

Absinthe Antiquities

mthuilli has offered up a few antique hand-blown glasses and other paraphernalia at the Wormwood Society forums, though I was too late and someone else scored this incredible (perfect?!) example. The cordon glass may still be available.

Perique Liqueur de Tabac

While not absinthe, Perique Liqueur de Tabac is a Perique tobacco-based liqueur, the newest product from Jade Liqueurs and another exploration of rare flavors by Ted Breaux, available now from Absinthe Online. Read what Mr. Breaux has to say about it in the Wormwood Society forums.

New York Times article

"Trying to Clear Absinthe’s Reputation" is an informative fluff piece on absinthe and champagne in the form of a "cocktail profile," the cocktail being Hemingway's absinthe+champagne concoction mentioned in “Death in the Afternoon”.

I'm not sure how Hemingway's recipe could help shake absinthe's bad rep, but the article is well researched and has a good all-inclusive paragraph on history and "dangers" suitable for cutting-n-pasting-n-mailing:

Absinthe became tremendously popular throughout Europe in the 19th century. It was blamed for causing hallucinations, mental instability and criminal behavior, which medical authorities attributed to thujone. This belief helped get absinthe banned. But according to the new study, by Dirk W. Lachenmeier and colleagues, the modern medical consensus is that absinthism was either simple alcohol poisoning — some absinthes were 70 percent alcohol, nearly double the strength of most distilled drinks — or caused by methanol and other toxic adulterants found in some cheap absinthes.

Modern Marvels covers Absinthe

The Discovery Channel replayed the Modern Marvels "Distilleries 2" episode a few days ago, covering whisk(e)ys, tequila, and a few other spirits, including a nice segment on absinthe. Lots of footage of Mr. Breaux-- Jade Liqueurs PR is doing a great job of getting the ambassador in front of the cameras. Watch it on YouTube.

MacGyver's Homemade Dripper?

Ever find yourself with the good stuff but no appropriate watering rig? I got dripping in a few minutes using this setup...

Here it is set up and dripping. The drip is hidden in the inverted, chopped cup with the yellow stripe.

The key is the intersecting conical sections-- the yogurt containers act as dripping reservoir (purple stripe), a stand (yellow stripe), and a spoon for the sugar (lid). Most glass-top drippers do not have a place for the sugar.

Parts in top-to-bottom order-- reservoir/dripper, stand, sugar, lid, wire, glass.

Yes, this is "ghetto."

Absinthe party tonight...

Busted...:(

Update: The raid witnessed from the inside by Doc Pop, via the Fée Verte Forums.

Burning absinthe in Paris

It doesn't appear to be a crime, sadly. Scott Joseph, restaurant critic for the Orlando Sentinel, compares the Absinthe Bistro in Orlando to L'Absinthe Cafe in Paris:

He brought to the table a glass, a carafe containing the liquor, a special silver-plated spoon, a sugar cube and a device called an absinthe fountain. He rested the spoon, which is flat and slotted and resembles a cake cutter, over the lip of the glass and put the sugar cube on the spoon. Then he poured the absinthe from the carafe over the sugar cube and into the glass. Then he set the sugar cube on fire, the blue flames licking into the glass.

The fire part of the ceremony, it should be noted, is more theatrics than necessary. In fact, aficionados say setting the sugar cube on fire ruins the flavor. But I was in no position to argue with the man.

Interesting to see how the "ritual" has been bastardized by Czechsinth.

Nepenthes Press absinthe series

Two beautiful short volumes lovingly produced by hand by book artist Michael Waltz offered for sale at The Virtual Absinthe Museum:

Ernest Tisserand's 1922 "Éloge de la très précieuse liqueur d’Absinthe", or "Eulogy of the very precious liqueur absinthe", a slim, 8-page volume produced in a series of 100 numbered and signed copies: a wonderfully elegiac memoir of the absinthe era that contains one of the very few contemporary references to the use of an absinthe fountain, and the first reference to home-distilled absinthe in the post-ban period. This is the first published English translation.

Also produced in a signed, numbered series of 100 copies "La Fée Verte - Poetry of Madness": La Fée Verte - Poetry of Madness is the first of a series from the Nepenthes Press showcasing unpublished or hard-to-find literature from the absinthe era. This first volume features absinthe-related poetry by Verlaine, Rimbaud, Charles Cross, Raoul Ponchon, Gustave Kahn, Victor Hugo and August Strindberg (all in English translation), together with poetry by Marie Corelli, Ernest Dowson and Glen MacDonough.

Absinthe blogging for 1 year...

...wow that went fast! Goals for the blog for the coming year:

* Visit local distilleries and interview stillmasters: Distillery 209 (San Francisco Pier 50), Anchor (San Francisco), St. George Spirits (Alameda), Domaine Charbay (St. Helena), Essential Spirits (Mountain View), Sweetwater Distillers (Petaluma), Sarticious Spirits (Santa Cruz)...

* Visit other foreign and domestic distilleries: Pontarlier, Saumur, quelles autres? Liqueurs de France has assembled a great list of distilleries.

* Interview local herb cultivators (not of the Mendocino variety)

* Build an interactive "history of..." timeline.

* Get this thing off Blogger.

Update:
* MUST attend 2007 Absinthiades.
Update:
* AND/OR attend the 2007 Fete d'Absinthe in Boveresse.