Check your local laws allow you to drink this stuff before trying to buy it:
http://www.lafeeabsinthe.com/index.php
If you have trouble finding it, you can order it by mail. Remember to add iced water; don't drink it 'raw' or it'll take the skin off your throat! I prefer Parisian absinthe but if you're not a fan of Pernod remember this stuff is twice as strong and with more aniseed flavour. Yes, it does contain wormwood, so control your intake!
Right. That's enough corruption spread for one night...
4 comments:
When my son visited Scotland, he looked high and low for a bottle of Loch Dhu, an extinct scotch from the area. Do you know of it? He finally found a bottle, but everyone he asked on his search became real squirrelly, as if he were prying into state secrets.
There is another drink they are in love with over there, he told me.....absinthe! Super alcoholic, as your ad said, but the effects may also come from the ingredient absynth....is it chemically similar to marijuana? The drink enjoys almost cult status, as it was banned by papal decree in the early 1900s. (since lifted, apparently) It has enjoyed a resurgence even in the States. Singer Trent Reznor is seen drinking it, I guess on one of his CDs. Reznor is in black tophat, the drink is its distinctive green color.
I've never come across Loch Dhu. I'll look out for it.
Absinthe is meant to be diluted before drinking. It was invented because of a tax system that taxed the volume poroduced, not the alcohol content. That resulted in the production of super-alcoholic drinks, intended for dilution back to 'normal' levels before consumption. Invented by Mr. Pernod, which is why it's very like Pernod in taste (and goes cloudy when you add water).
The alleged problem with absinthe was wormwood (the plant, not the star in Revelations ;)). Wormwood gives a touch of bitterness to the drink and is responsible for the colour.
An appallingly badly designed experiment, in which animals were exposed to pure wormwood oil and died (not surprising!), convinced the medical establishment that the wormwood content of absinthe made it deadly. Well, most plant oils are deadly in concentrated form.
There was also the small matter of long-term drinkers going blind. As I said, it's meant to be diluted. Drinking it 'raw' will cause severe damage over time. A regular intake of 68% ethanol will kill you pretty quick.
I saw from your blog that JW's don't have to abstain entirely, so you're allowed to try it - but beware. It tastes of aniseed, it doesn't taste of alcohol once diluted, but even diluting it one in six leaves it at strong-wine strength. It can affect you before you know it!
As for drinking it raw, well, try a sip. You'd need to be a hardened drinker to try a second!
Well, I guess I'm allowed, but I'm not sure if I'm brave enough. :)
Since it costs an arm and a leg, any truth to the rumor that poor people used to get stuck with a counterfeit version that used copper salts? (which would also produce the required green color) That really would make one go nuts and it would do so permanently.
It looks expensive, but remember you dilute it 4-6 times. On the other hand, best try it before buying a whole bottle. It's not to everyone's taste.
There were some dodgy absinthes that used copper to produce the green colour, and also antimony to make it cloudy when added to water (the anise should do that). Both copper and antimony are highly toxic.
They'd be prosecuted these days, of course. There's a good summary-history of it here:
http://www.absinthe.se/default.asp?load=http://www.absinthe.se/facts/
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