The traditional way of serving Absinthe is by using a method
known as the Ritual and also to dilute it with water. Some individuals are bored of drinking Absinthe in this way and wish to know what to mix Absinthe with. Hopefully this information will motivate you to enjoy Absinthe all the more.
Absinthe is actually a strong liquor that is flavored with herbal plants such as grande wormwood (artemisia absinthium), aniseed and fennel. In addition, it sometimes consists of petite wormwood (artemisia pontica). The aniseed provides the drink its wonderful anise taste as well as the wormwood provides the Absinthe its characteristic bitter or slightly sour taste.
Grande wormwood consists of thujone, named 3 thujamone or 3 sabinone via the book The IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry. Thujone is a ketone and a monoterpene like the other terpenes, menthol and camphor. Additional names that thujone extracted from wormwood has been termed as are Absinthol, salvinol and tanacetone.
Thujone is why Absinthe was banned in many countries during the early 1900s. It was the thujone that has been blamed for the insanity and suicide of Van Gogh and lots of artists and writers reported that drinking Absinthe provided them their genius and motivation by means of dreams and hallucinations. The famous Absinthe drinker Oscar Wilde explained of Absinthe:
“After the first glass of Absinthe you see things as you wish they were. After the second you see them as they are not. Finally you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.” You will never know what could happen following a whole bottle?!
We now know that Absinthe is not any more dangerous than some other strong spirit such as vodka and whisky, even though it is double the strength. Research has revealed that Absinthe only contains traces of thujone and that it’s not possible to take in enough Absinthe for thujone to have any negative or side effects. It won’t trigger you to hallucinate or go insane and it’s now legal in the majority of countries. It’s still illegal in Ireland however the Irish can order it from abroad and have it shipped for personal consumption.
You can create your own personal bottled Absinthe by making use of Absinthe essences from AbsintheKit.com. These essences are produced by distilling standard Absinthe herbs and all you need to do is to mix them together with vodka or Everclear – a simple and economical strategy to make Absinthe.
What to Mix Absinthe With
Given that Absinthe is legal for most countries, we could experiment with utilizing it in cocktails or create classic Absinthe cocktails such as New Orleans Sazerac or Death in the Afternoon.
Sazerac Menu
1 teaspoon of a good quality Absinthe
Ice cubes
A sugar cube or 1 teaspoon of sugar.
1 ½ ounces of Rye whisky (not bourbon)
3 dashes of angostura bitters
1 Lemon peel twist
Freeze a glass inside your freezer.
Swirl the Absinthe surrounding the glass to coat the sides as well as bottom part of the glass. Discard (or drink!) the excess.
Put the additional ingredients in a cocktail shaker or mixer and shake for around ½ a minute.
Pour into the glass, incorporating the lemon peel.
Death in the Afternoon
5 ounces of cooled champagne mixed with 1 ounce of Absinthe – delicious!
Some people prefer to use mixers like lemonade, 7UP and cherryade with their Absinthe and I have even heard about Red Bull being blended with Absinthe! Be inventive when deciding what you should mix Absinthe with, use recipes from the Internet but let them have your personal twist or make-up your own. Have a good time.