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.

Report from Boveresse

Back from Europe for a week now, I finally posted a Flickr set and have time to comment on la Fête d'Absinthe in Boveresse. Short story: good times, new friends, great food and drink (oh the drinks!), and a bright future for absinthe's resurgence. A few observations in no particular order...

• Val de Travers is beautiful! With spectacular wild greenery in every direction-- any random square meter of weeds reveals a dozen or more wildflowers in bloom-- it's no mystery how a drink like absinthe originated in this special place. The hospitality and charm of the locals (except for one guy in a cow suit) made the Valley a pleasure to visit and ensured that I'll make the trip again.
• The "forum people" were a blast! I mean absinthe people, really-- connoisseurs, evangelists, artists, absintheurs, distributors-- everyone knew the history and traditions and had strong (generally shared) opinions, and I felt an instant camaraderie-- we're all working to bring it back the right way, and it was great to be surrounded by Swiss, French, Italian, German, English, Danish, Swedish, and American devotees of la fée.
• The selection of absinthes at the festival was a slight disappointment for many attendees, and while I had expected mostly blanches, I didn't realize that vertes' presence would be so rare. There is some effort to expand (back) into that area, specifically Claude-Alain Bugnon's announcement of his new Verte Suisse "Angélique" with a deep, natural green tint, and Absinthe La P'tite's "Absinthe la Valdetra Verte", a very light green absinthe, more a nod to the green tradition (and a clever play on words to boot). My favorite blanches were La P'tite, La Philosophe, and "Elixer du Pays des Fées", though I have to confess-- it got hard to tell them all apart after the first few tastes.
• Nico rocks. His bar rocks. I want an mp3 of "Ketchup"... did anybody record him?!
• Absinthe is Absinthes are coming to America! I heard mention that Kubler has already gotten approval to sell in the U.S. as well as another new absinthe (which I'm not sure has been announced) produced by a joint venture between an established expert and existing absinthe distillery. It would be great to see (and be involved with?!) an American-based producer-- it will happen sooner or later.
• It seemed like everybody who made the trip from the U.S. hailed from the San Francisco Bay Area-- makes sense given the tradition of Northern California foodies appreciating the best of the best in food and drink. Too bad I haven't been able to find Lucid on any Bay Area liquor store shelves.

More Festival notes to follow, but it's a beautiful Saturday so I'm pouring another glass... Santé!

"Mansinthe"? Hmmm...

Word is out that Marilyn Manson has unveiled his "Mansinthe" absinthe-like spirit, produced by Markus Lion. The drink apparently contains no (large) wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), but likely contains a good quantity of Roman wormwood (Artemisia pontica) to get around U.S. laws regarding the former herb... no matter that the latter contains that controvertial toxin as well...

Good to bet on this and other absinthe fans having to correct bloggers and journalists who will surely refer to it as an actual "absinthe"...:)

Update: Turns out they bailed on the "no large wormwood" plan and that Mansinthe is, in fact, proper absinthe. More info to come...

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!

Little city garden

Repotted, everything seems happy and healthy, waiting for a nice corner planter. With a windbreak on the balcony, I wonder what I could put out there that would do well in the cold.

2x wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)
Hyssop "Tutti Frutti" (???, Agasache cana?)
English Wedgewood thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)
Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) (not doing well),
Sage (Salvia officinalis)