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- Poetry of Madness": La Fée Verte - Poetry of Madness is the first of a series from the Nepenthes Press showcasing unpublished or hard-to-find literature from the absinthe era.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.

Artemis reviews 1914 Pernod Fils

Fantastic review by Artemis of a taste of "the cache" of 76 bottles of 1914 Pernod Fils absinthe recovered "from the cellar of a descendant of a once substantial liquor distributor."

The cache appears to be depleted at this point [sniffle], but the glowing review leads one to wonder about so many points of technique... the coloring is pale-- are modern "correct" absinthes too colored/seasoned? So many questions, and a thrill to read.

Ted Breaux ~ Restaurant Guys interview (Aug. 2)

This interview with Ted Breaux is posted at The Restaurant Guys, via the Fee Verte Forums.

Interesting mention of Tuthilltown Spirits distillery producing a cider vodka. Is that a Bavarian-Holstein still?

Update: Nope, the still is by Christian Carl.

a fountain...

...can be a slippery slope on a sunny afternoon with not much to do... a lovely, inviting, soft green slope...

The newest Jade: "PF 1901"

The target was matching pre-ban, pre-fire Pernod Fils absinthe, and I'm predisposed to believe Ted Breaux's superlative claims:

Those who have been fortunate enough to have been able to taste these and have also tasted the pre-release Jade PF 1901, are unanimous in their remarks as to the striking similarities between the vintage bottles and the Jade clone.

Please: don't order any (before I do)...

2006 Absinthiades results

Just found these posted at AbsintheSuisse.com:

Sazerac

Sazerac Cocktail History at the What's Cooking America makes little notice of the absinthe, discussing the history involving Peychaud. As I read it, "patent medicine" usually involved some drug (opioid, coca extract) we can't accurately replicate:

The Sazerac cocktail is to New Orleans what the margarita is to the southwest. It is reported to be the first cocktail every invented (at least in the United States). Antoine Amadie Peychaud, a Creole apothecary, is given the credit for first inventing the Sazerac cocktail in the 1830s. In 1795, he immigrated to New Orleans from the West Indies and opened a drugstore called Pharmacie Peychaud. Like many "chemists" of his day, he sold his own patent medicine; Peychaud's Bitters, a proprietary mix of aromatic bitters said to relive his clients' ailments. His medical toddy soon became very popular and friends gathered regularly to sample his late-night drinks.

Also see Liqueurs de France's note on the Sazerac, specifically the "Cognac Sazerac-de-Forge."

Cuillère

I still can't find my old spoon from Lucullus (many, many thanks to Mr. Moody), but this one from eAbsinthe.com is lovely-- the photo doesn't do it justice...

Picasso's "Absinthe Drinker" (1903)

A.k.a. “Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto”-- sounds like Christie's can sell it. From The New York Times:

A federal judge refused yesterday to bar Christie’s in New York from auctioning a painting by Picasso that a German banker’s heir says was sold under duress in Nazi Germany.

Hmmm... would nullifying that pre-war sale be a precedent for judging other dubious sales throughout history? What about treaties?

Pontarlier Absinthiades 2006

Coverage of the "Absinthiades" in Pontarlier-- absinthe paraphernalia meet up in Pontarlier, Switzerland and the absinthe blog where it was posted-- "The Wheat of Virgin Spaces," the Oxygenee blog.

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)

"Absinthism" debunked

From an Italian addiction blog comes news of a study finding no detremental health effects from absinthe drinking other than those encountered in common alcoholism. The study will be published in Bio Med Central and was led by Stephan A Padosch (Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg), Dirk W Lachenmeier (Chemisches und Veterinäruntersuchungsamt CVUA Karlsruhe) and Lars U Kroener (Institut für Rechtsmedizin der Universität zu Köln). Say that ten times fast.

From the blog (not the report):

Based on the current available evidence, thujone concentrations of both pre-ban and modern absinthes may not have been able to cause detrimental health effects other than those encountered in common alcoholism.

Today, a questionable tendency of absinthe manufacturers can be ascertained that use the ancient theories of absinthism as a targeted marketing strategy to bring absinthe into the spheres of a legal drug-of-abuse. Misleading advertisements of aphrodisiac or psychotropic effects of absinthe try to re-establish absinthes former reputation.

Suckers....

In New Orleans recently, I wandered into a bar next to the cathedral, attracted by the large "WE HAVE ABSINTHE!" sign. When I asked what they had, I was poured a glass of Absente (ouch) in which a spoon was dipped and lit (double ouch) as I wheezed "wait". No point making a stink, and it was a delicious enough pastis, but I couldn't leave without explaing to the (very uninterested) bartender that it wasn't, in fact, absinthe.

Seems like folks get suckered a lot by "people in the know" who stand to gain from either deception or ignorance. It was interesting to read an article this morning about a bar in Orlando which appears as well to serve Absente as "absinthe," sans qualifiers or shame.

Appropriate (and timely) to see the new Absinthe Suckers tribe started by Alan.

Things called "absinthe"...

L'absinthe restaurant in New York,

Absinthe Brasserie & Bar in San Francisco,

Absinthe Bar in Amsterdam,

Absinthe Cafe Resto Bar in Ottowa, Canada,

Absinthe Films "Full Spectrum Snowboarding"

Absinthe show at the Spiegeltent

Absinthe Motor Yacht

Marilyn Manson Absinthe

It was only a matter of time-- Manson revealed in a Rolling Stone interview (covered here) that "We hope to have it out in time for parents to give it to their children for Christmas."

(RS 9/22/04 interview)

Louched Lounge

Louched Lounge contain some interesting info... new to me, but pretty very trashy.