Someone left a minibottle of absinthe at a friend of mine’s house, and she gave it to me. Though, I don’t remember how you’re supposed to serve it. I drank it once in London, and I remember sugar and fire.
With normal (or less) kitchen utensils, how can I serve myself some absinthe?
(I’m not drinking by myself, for those of you who might be thinking so)
Get a regular ol’ metal spoon (preferably not your fine china) and a shot glass. Also get some sugar - regular table sugar is fine.
Pour the absinthe into the shot glass.
Get a spoonfull of sugar.
Dip the spoonfull of sugar carefully into the absinthe so that the absinthe just soaks into the sugar. You’re looking for an absinthe-soaked mound of sugar. Remove the spoon.
Light the sugar/absinthe mound on fire. Let it burn for a while - look for some serious caramelization. It should turn brown.
When that results, blow out the fire (or let it burn till it goes out). Drop the sugar solution into the absinthe and stir.
Drink the absinthe quickly.
Repeat.
No fire, Otto? Tsk, tsk.
A small cube of sugar helps the absinthe go down…
No wonder it’s illegal in the US…it’s too complicated! 
Can’t you just slug a shot of it and chase it with a beer or something?
Sure you can. Some absinthe is shootble, assuming you like the liquorice flavour. However, there are some absinths that are so bitter they need to be served with the sugar.
I do think that the burning, dripping sugar is a new thing.
Are there two different drinks called absinthe? I’ve heard that it’s illegal in the US, but I’ve also seen it on the menu at bars. Is it something like the “truffles” you can buy in candy shops that are just chocolate, with no truffle in them?
There are some absinthe-like concoctions made without the thujone-containing species of wormwood, one of which markets itself under the name “Absente”, or “Ansinthe Refined”:
Without Artemisia absinthium, it’s legal, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a US bar simply sold it as “absinthe”. Note that that version actually uses a different species of wormwood, which presumably has no thujone in it. It’s debateable as to whether there’s enough thujone in absinthe to have any effect on you without your simply being drunk on your ass anyway, given that the stuff is usually around 60% alcohol.
Depending on how bitter you find it, you can omit the whole sugar and fire thing and just mix it with some ice water. If you’ve ever had anisette, it tastes like that.
I didn’t write the entry.
A group of people I know decided to try it. First the whole burning with sugar, then just sugar water, and finally diluting with ice water. Way to bitter each time. Finally, they decided on a shooter followed by a shot of straight lemon juice, to get rid of the taste.
I loathe anise flavor, so it’s not gonna taste good to me no matter how I mix it. I was wondering if it’s just “damn, that tastes bad” bad or if it’s “DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!!” bad.
It’s illegal to import it and to sell it here but not illegal to possess it and drink it.
A friend of mine whose parents lived in Germany for a few years used to send a bottle home once in a while. Perfectly legal to do. No time cite right now but if you look up the legality you’ll find out you can even purchase it online. (For personal consumption of course)
The two sections I bolded above don’t go together. First you say it’s illegal to import, and then you say it’s perfectly legal to import. I don’t understand.
The two sections I bolded above don’t go together. First you say it’s illegal to import, and then you say it’s perfectly legal to import. I don’t understand.
Actually, it sounds like he said it’s illegal to import but perfectly legal to export. Unless I missed something.
Maybe he means you can’t import with the intent to sell, but you can bring it in for personal consumption. I don’t much care…the flavor is such a turn-off that I’ll be taking a pass on this cocktail.
If the Wikipedia cite is incomplete, you should go modify it.
The fire thing is a fairly recent innovation – the traditional method was to just pour cold water over the sugar cube.