The web's best source for information about absinthe created by and for absinthe professionals. Here you will find everything you need to know about absinthe in the world today.
The focus of this site is on information specifically for bartenders, cocktail servers, or anyone who sells absinthe. Here you will learn how to prepare, and serve absinthe as well as get answers to the questions customers ask.
Absinthe ranges drastically in quality, flavor, and price. Rebecca Dietz takes you on a tour of flavors. Saint Monday offers hands on behind the bar experience for fellow service industry professionals. Delechaux takes us on a tour of art and music in contemporary absinthe culture, and Paul Nathan answers the questions about all things absinthe.
The Properly Improper Absinthe
The Properly Improper Absinthe
(Or How To Drink Like A Bohemian)
In the late 1800’s the “Absinthe Hour” properly began at 5 pm. The phrase paints a picture of Parisian culture at the century’s end: artists, poets and bohemians gathered at cafe tables to sip an absinthe served by graceful waiters with long, white aprons or watering their absinthe from lavish outdoor fountains designed solely for that purpose. It is a genteel picture of light and enlightened conversation at the days end, followed by dinner and a stroll along the boulevard.
The absinthe hour began at 5 pm, but in certain darker corners of the city lasted far into the night, or even into the next morning. For while absinthe’s pedigree includes a Swiss birthright and a Parisian inheritance, it rode into prominence on the shoulders of a workingman.
Louche is not a common word in America. My British friends often tell me I live in a louche neighborhood; meaning a neighborhood that is disreputable. Red-light districts are louche neighborhoods. Louche neighborhoods have shady characters lounging against the walls selling goods and services of an illicit nature. So I guess I do live in a louche neighborhood; even if most of the louche comes from me.
For an absinthe drinker Louche is the opaque quality that the drink takes on after water is added. Louche also means the process of changing from clear to opaque as the water is added.
When it comes to drinking absinthe the louche is a magical thing. It is a physical manifestation of the magic of absinthe. An experienced absinthe drinker can spot a brand from across the room just by looking at the louche. For instance I can tell you easily whether someone is drinking a French, Swiss or Czech absinthe just by looking at the louche. After reading this and seeing the videos here you will be able to as well.
The salutation “What’s your poison?” is thought to reference the trial of Dr. William Palmer, the infamous doctor/murderer of Staffordshire in the mid 1800’s. The good doctor allegedly poisoned his mother-in-law, wife, several of his children (legitimate and not) and a few other folks who got in his way. His crimes were so notorious that thirty thousand folks attended the hanging, many stood all night in the pouring rain to assure front row spot. Souvenir ballads and pieces of rope sold quickly to the crowd.
In reference to the first four brands of absinthe available in the US, we paraphrase “What’s your potion?” Four lovely ladies of taste are lined up for your pleasure. Each one offers her own charms, from delicate, sweet flavors to exotic and intense. Read on to find your potion.
If wormwood is a star, absinthe is certainly a constellation; a constellation of herbs and flavors, of history, tradition, and application.
The history of wormwood dates back thousands of years. It appeared in ancient Egyptian and Syrian texts. According the Old Testament, wormwood sprang from the ground to mark the serpent’s path of exile from the Garden of Eden. The Greeks drank wine or spirits infused with wormwood to cure ailments such as rheumatism, anemia and menstrual pains. In Roman times, victors of chariot races drank absinthe leaves soaked in wine as a reminder that glory has a bitter side as well. The name wormwood dates back to Middle English “"wormwode" or "wermode", referencing its use in folk medicine to dispel worms internally and vermin externally. In Shakespeare’s time wormwood was used to wean infants from the breast. It truly is the bitterest herb of all.
Paul Nathan takes us on a tour of the Guy Absinthe Distillery in Pontarlier
Paul takes us on a tour of the distillery where you can see these 100 year old stills in producing Francious Guy Absinthe - the most award winning Absinthe on the market today.
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In the late 1800’s the “Absinthe Hour” properly began at 5 pm. The phrase paints a picture of Parisian culture at the century’s end: artists, poets and bohemians gathered at cafe tables to sip an absinthe served by graceful waiters with long, white aprons or watering their absinthe from lavish outdoor fountains designed solely for that purpose. It is a genteel picture of light and enlightened conversation at the days end, followed by dinner and a stroll along the boulevard.
Star Wormwood