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With four different brands authorized for sale in the States, absinthe is poised to be the big spirit of the year. We've written about Lucid absinthe before, and we were able to get our hands on a bottle of Kübler, a Swiss absinthe now being sold locally.
In addition to being a neutral nation during both world wars and making one hell of a pocket tool, Switzerland also originated absinthe. We figured that, for interested readers, we'd show you how absinthe looks when properly prepared. The process by which absinthe transforms from its translucent green to dreamy opalescent white is known as "louching" (loosh-ing). Louching brings out the menthol aromas attributed to Grande Wormwood, as well as diluting the alcohol concentration; Kü weighs in at 106 Proof. Here's how to louche.
Step 1: Pour 1-½ ounces of absinthe into a glass.
Step 2: Place a sugar cube into a slotted spoon.
Step 3: Slowly pour ice water over the sugar cube, allowing it to dissolve into the absinthe. Continue this process until cube has dissolved (you should have used 3-4 ounces of water for the process).
Step 4: Stir the undissolved sugar with the spoon.
Step 5: Sip. Get light-headed. Repeat.
In an informal direct taste test, we preferred Lucid to Kübler. But we don't think anyone else will really care about the taste. The curiosity factor is the spirit itself. Lucid distiller T. A. "Ted" Breaux told us that much of the myth behind absinthe is hogwash. Breaux is a trained chemist, and his tests on thujone levels in 100-year-old absinthes determined that levels then and now are similar. Both Breaux and Nacional 27 General Manager Adam Seger told us that many absinthes back in the day contained copper leachings, mild poisons and other congeners which probably contributed more to Van Gogh lopping off his ear and Hemingway throwing knives around the house than thujone.
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"In addition to being a neutral nation during both world wars and making one hell of a pocket tool, absinthe also originated in Switzerland."
I had no idea absinthe was a nation and a maker of pocket tools. The things you learn!
The absinthe thing is irritating. I've decided the entire craze is caused by irritating theater geeks who are way too into the Moulin Rouge movie
Chuck be honest, people give you free booze right?
That picture was taken in your kitchen and the bottle was free for you to "review" on Chicagoist!
I'm not hate'n, But hook a Spook up! How much would that bottle have cost if you had pay for it?
"Lucid distiller T. A. "Ted" Breaux told us that much of the myth behind absinthe is hogwash. Breaux is a trained chemist, and his tests on thujone levels in 100-year-old absinthes determined that levels then and now are similar"
I would like to know more about Ted's qualifications please - ask him for me.
What an amazing stroke of luck to discover that old absinthe had virtually no thujone and therefore was OK to sell mass market in the US. The FDA currently ban thujone in alcoholic drinks - it must test thujone free.
Well done that "trained chemist" / Lucid distiller! We can all slurp on his lovely drink safe in the knowledge that we are drinking the same thing as what them there poets drank ;-) Thanks Professor Breaux! An amazing and timely discovery I am sure.
I was interested in Absinthe a few years ago just for the hell of it -- I have tried many different kinds, Swiss, Czech, Home-Brewed. I never had any noticeable effects other than a little bit of added lucidity which was very pleasant, and oh yeah, drunkenness.
Spook, Lucid costs about $60 from specialty liquor stores around here. Unless you really really like the taste of licorice, I'd just save the money for two bottles of something you really like.
The FDA bans all artemnisia as a food additive, which technically means that even tarragon is illegal. However, they do allow it to be sold as a dietary supplement (talk about your mixed messages). You could go to Mertz Apothecary or GNC and get wormwood.
The ATF, which governs the safe sale and taxation of alcohol, allows thujone levels in absinthe sold in the States under 10 parts per million. A small number, to be certain. But there is thujone in it. It isn't absente. On that point, Piggy, you're wrong.
What Breaux, who started out as an environmental chemist and has been studying the history and production of absinthe for over twenty years, and Seger told me jibe with regards to copper leachings, congeners, and high alcohol contents.
You can read that here.
Didn't there used to be an opiate in this stuff? Thus, The Fall of the House of Usher?
Also, there is no way to comment on it, but Joe Jackson's "Rain" is pretty good. No "Live in Central Park" but still solid.
Chuck Sudo is correct that there is no thujone in Absente - as it is made with Southern Wormwood.
There is thujone in Lucid? No there is not. Breaux uses castrated chemotypes of artemsia absinthium with the thujone removed via carbon extraction / or another proprietary chemical process.
He did this so that he could get Lucid through the door before Kubler did. The FDA / TTB rubber stamped him as he had ZERO thujone in this Lucid product. Kubler has thujone, but at levels below 10ppm, and therefore took longer to pass.
"Professor" Breaux says many things depending on which way the wind is blowing. You've been had I am afraid - and are part of the great "pretend" to quote a genuine Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Kansas.
This is all spin designed to sell a product as absinthe which isn't. Absinthe contains thujone - a naturally occuring terpene in Grande Wormwood. The FDA are calling the tune and the absinthe salesmen are crawling through the gaps with their "absinthe hygenique"
FWIW, sugar isn't needed to create a proper louche in good absinthe. Use sugar to make bad absinthe palatable, to indulge a sweet tooth and/or if you have a swanky absinthe spoon and can't bear to leave it in the silverware drawer.
Here's a nice chunk of the Modern Marvels program featuring Ted Breaux making and discussing absinthe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wqW1IgSKmI
The "proper" way to serve absinthe is demonstrated at 9:30.
thanks, kvit. as much as i love a good absinthe spoon, sugar with lucid doesn't suit me too well. makes it unpalatable for me. cold water does just fine for a louche.