RandyMarshCT

Thank you again to everyone for the advice. I had this tasting about 3 weeks ago and it went wonderfully (for a group of people who were all novices). We sampled all 8 bottles, but we made a day of it and spread it all out over 14 hours. I'm not crazy about the Lucid, but I believe that is due to the magnificent quality of all the bottles we sampled. The Jade N.O. stole the show... I am very fond of that bottle. I'd like to purchase another Jade. Drinkupny has the 1901, the Edouard, and the C.F. Berger all on sale for $99/bottle at the moment. I'm leaning toward the 1901, but I'd like to ask if anyone would advise one of the other 2 first. I'd truly love to buy them all, but finances permit only one at the moment. I'm very glad to have fallen for this spirit considering the amount of money I spent before trying it.

Just ordered a Balancier as well as the 4-leg brouilleur. Is there a "best" place to buy the glass ones from?

I'm new to the absinthe world and I'm quite interested in purchasing a brouilleur. However, I have no idea which type I should buy. I have glasses, spoons, and a fountain but I find that I like to have a glass when I get home from work and my wife doesn't share my interest in this spirit. For this reason, I'd like to have an alternative to setting up the fountain. I saw a video on youtube of a gentleman preparing a glass with a brouilleur and it has piqued my interest. Does anyone use one that they particularly like? Is there a "best" kind? The one I saw on the video had a little "see-saw" type component that seemed to work nicely. Is this something that I should avoid? I'm not opposed to spending some coin on something if it's worth the expense. Just hoping to get some insight from the pros. Thank you in advance!

Would the "La Clandestine" available from drinkupny.com be the correct bottle? I apologize for not posting a link, but I seem to be too stupid to do so properly. I'll try typing the URL out... http://www.drinkupny.com/La-Clandestine-Absinthe-Superieure-p/s0638.htm

Thank you all for the warm welcome and great advice! Alan, I think your idea is a better approach. It would be easy to add more water if need be. Also, I hadn't considered the fact that many people may choose to forego the sugar entirely. I, myself, would be interested in sampling each with and without sugar (side by side).

Hello all, I'm from southern RI. I'm interested in learning more about absinthe. I'm a home brewer and lover of all things spirits related. I was referred here by a member on another forum. I'm planning to do an absinthe sampling in about a month and have been collecting the proper materials and a (hopefully) very good assortment of absinthes for my tasting. I would very much appreciate any advice from the pros here. The attached picture shows what I have accumulated so far for this event. If it is too small, the bottles are: Villya Spirits Verte (formerly Ridge) Pernod Pacifique Jade Nouvelle Orleans Walton Waters & Meadow of Love by Deleware Phoenix Lucid (this is 1/3 of a bottle given to me) Besides the 1/3 bottle of free Lucid, the rest are new and unopened. I would like to include a blanche, but I am not certain which would be the best to seek. I have read a lot about drinking and making absinthe, but I have no real world experience with the spirit. My plan is to prepare each of these in the traditional method with sugar in a 4:1 ratio, for comparative purposes. Does this seem like a reasonable approach? Are there any other bottles that I should absolutely include in this sampling? Thank you for your help and for having me!