I hate the taste of the stuff but heck, I’ll try almost anything once.
Bernse, Try mixing it with orange juice. It’s still a bitter drink that makes you gag - but it gets you exceptionally drunk very quickly.
Well of course it would. Regular consumption of something that has up to a 70% alcohol content is bound to cause some odd behavior. It’s called alcoholism.
Sparc- I am curious as to which brands you have sampled… I’ve read a LOT of bad reports on the Eastern European Absinthes, in particular Sebor Strong. Sebor by itself, apparently isn’t that bad, but Sebor Strong is apparently a cruel joke to play on people.
Note- still saving. I hate my car.
i highly recommend reading “the history of absinthe”, which discusses its uses and misuses, by Robert N. Taylor. originally appeared in ‘seconds’ magazine, may be floating out on the web someplace. RN Taylor, member of the group Changes, also authored/compiled a highly informative history of the swastika, which is another thread entirely i am sure.
The best way to drink this stuff is not at all. It appears to have been made by taking raw alchohol and adding water and (unspecified) flavourings and colourings. Why would anyone want to drink this?
If you are lucky, it will make you ill and give you a murderous headache.
Absinthe should be made from brandy.
Brandy is not strong enough to extract the necessary thujone from the herbs that contain them. You need to use Vodka at the very least, and more likely something closer to Everclear.
However, home brewed is just that, usually distilled. I don’t know much about that process, and wouldn’t post it even if I did.
Blistering barnacles! Alcohol is bad for you? What now? A change of diet perhaps!
Only to be clear I should remark that my observation re the negative psychological effects of Absinthe that I think to have noticed were made in comparison to drinking similar amounts of non-thujone spirits in relatively moderate amounts, but on a somewhat regular base. I also tried the heavier variety of drinking myself into a stupor on the stuff to test Wilde’s saying; “One glass of absinthe will make you see the world the way you would like it to be. The second glass will make you see it as it should be. The third glass will let you see the world as it is, and that is terrible.” He was right, very strange experience, which I shall not attempt ever again.
Tried quite a few. You’re right about Sebor Strong. The regular Sebor is however one of the better bots on the market if you ask me. But, I should clarify my earlier remark. The upside with the Eastern European and Portuguese brands is that they usually have decent Thujone levels and are not hybrid Pastis concoctions made to fit the modern Absinthe trend. On that note I recommend Staroplensky, although it tastes pretty bitter and needs much sugar, but it knocks the wormwood right into you. Logan is OK as well. Stay away from Hill’s - tastes vile and has hardly any thujone in it.
There is some Portuguese stuff that you might enjoy, Neto Costa in particular.
However, there is a queen of all green fairies and she is from Ibiza these days, her name is Mari Mayans. Unlike the mainland Spanish and French brands she doesn’t pretend to be a Pastis, but still louches beautifully unlike many of the Eastern and Portuguese varieties. The wormwood oil dances like a green fairy inside the milk while louching and the taste is a balanced mint, anis and wormwood bitter. Perhaps it is not surprising that I recommend the 70% variety while this contains slightly more thujone.
UDS, it’s not like you think, as Tristan already pointed out. Absinthe is a macerated herbal spirit. Since the number of herbs involved are numerous ranging from menthol to wormwood passing through fennel and anis the stuff comes in wide variety of tastes. The ingredients are very much specified and the thujone level is usually given as a mg per kg content. Obviously each maker keeps the exact mix of ingredients their little special secret.
I personally like the taste of some of them (Mari Mayans in particular), but let’s be honest here; you drink it to get drunk and to get stoned. Thujone is two carbon bindings away from THC (the psychoactive substance in cannabis) in molecular structure. It passes the blood barrier and has a mild but detectable hallucinogenic effect.
The immediate impact is a soft calm feeling. If you continue to drink more you will first pass into an exuberant state marked by unusual mind activity for the drunken state you are in. If you over-consume, you might loose control of your emotions and end up on a roller coaster of mirth and sorrow, which vaguely resembles being on LSD, but drunk. This last stage entails so much drinking that you would be close to severe alcohol poisoning and I should point out that drinking to that level is a life threatening sport to be avoided at all costs.
Headache? Sure, but not more than from any other strong spirits. Reputedly you can go mad from the stuff in too large a dose though, then again you can from any other booze as well.
Classical absinthe has an alcohol content of 80 volume percent. Modern brands usually have 50-70 %.
No it shouldn’t. I should however point out that Brandy and Absinthe mix very well, however improbable that sounds. See my previous recipe for ‘The Lady’s Special’ or try a ‘Razzle Dazzle’ - 2 parts Absinthe and 3 parts Brandy.
Sparc