Absinthe on the Way!

So much happening for absinthe! Lull in posting notwithstanding, more is on the way, but I'll premention:

• Mansinthe,
• Oxy's recent publication: "Systematic Misinformation about Thujone in Pre-ban Absinthe",
• press...,

But for now, "Tree That Owns Itself" (wiki)!

Hangar One Absinthe?

Via the Fee Verte Forums, a video from The Daily Geek of St. George Spirits, producers of Hangar One vodka. About 2/3 of the way through, master distiller Lance Winters shows a batch of absinthe he's working on...

Wired on Lucid Absinthe: "Barely Legal"

The Lucid media machine keeps rolling forward, with Wired publishing an article today comparing Lucid to Jade Liquor's Verte Suisse as well as Absente and two Czech brands. The always, uh, lucid Ted Breaux explains some history and chemistry, making sure to take a swipe at the foul Czech products which consistently misrepresent both.

Though retailers sold out of their first cases quickly, drinkupny.com (free shipping ftw!) accepts pre-orders of Lucid, expecting to receive their next shipment in the last week of July. You can find a list of other vendors along with bars, restaurants, and clubs serving Lucid at DrinkLucid.com.

Update: Got my Lucid... and I like it! Tastes like a Jade but with less flavor, very balanced recipe... much better than I'd expected!

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!

La Fete...:)

The festival Saturday was a blast-- a pleasure to finally meet some other absinthe people face-to-face. Photos, play-by-plays (with discretion) and more to come... but not for a few days; I'm still traveling around Donnie Rumsfeld's favorite "Old" continent.
xo
-salsa

Visit to Combier

Oxy and a few folks stopped by the Combier Distillery in Saumur, checking out the ancient works and visiting with Jade Absinthe creator Ted Breaux. Hopefully more dispatches from the Kallistifest trail to follow...

ABSINTHE LEGAL in the USA

Trying to figure out the impact of Lucid's approval is tough. Hopefully we'll know more after next weekend, as the only coherent information I've found so far is Oxy's summary of the situation on the Fee Verte Forum, linked on his blog and quoted by Alan on his blog and the Wormwood Society Forum.

Searches for government documents on the submission or approval came up with nothing. [Still searching...] Regarding editing the Fee Verte FAQ about absinthe's legality in the US, Oxy writes:

1. Absinthes with less than (approximately) 10mg/l thujone are now potentially legal in the US.
2. Two others (apart from Lucid) have already been approved, and dozens will follow in due course.

Read the rest...

Absinthe Festival Program

Le programme de la 10ème fête has been posted-- looking forward to meeting other fans and putting some faces to names... and, of course, tasting great absinthe in the place where it all began.

Lucid Absinthe Supérieure... for the U.S. market?!

Somehow, Viridian Spirits of Manhasset, N.Y. has managed to get US approval for what appears to be an actual "absinthe" with apparently significant consulation with Mr. Ted Breaux. The New York Times reported this last week (Times Select) (Lucid article pdf) and while I haven't had time to do much research and the marketing sort of rubs me the wrong way (unlike, for instance, the Jade designs), I'd like to hear more about how it tastes; one account here by Darko is pretty complimentary. Still scratching my head...

Update: Donnie Darko posted the first official Lucid review on the Fee Verte Forums, scoring it 80/100.

Drab Mayko Absinthe Photos

Lovely absinthe photo set on Flickr by "Drab Makyo" includes Jades, Eichelbergers, both Fougerolles(es?), and a Duplais. They're a nice contrast to all the burning absinthe shot photos on Flickr.

"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...

State of the Industry

"Oxygenee" posted "An unsentimental look at the absinthe industry" in the Fée Verte Absinthe Forum-- interesting reading, esp. the replies. I don't understand the pessimistic tone of many of his points; I prefer to see the markets as just starting to bud, and while nobody expects absinthe to regain its original popularity, high quality absinthe will gradually become easier to find and less expensive.

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.