Angelique

[Zzz]

[Brian Robinson]

Very purdy.

[Jaded Prole]

Yeah, but it sux. Dr. O's blunder.

[hissykitties]

We tried this Saturday night. This is not the way absinthe should taste, IMHO. The A.a. used in the coloring step really overpowers the drink, but not in that yummy way that we like in other vertes.

[Zzz]

We tried this Saturday night. This is not the way absinthe should taste, IMHO. The A.a. used in the coloring step really overpowers the drink, but not in that yummy way that we like in other vertes.

 

 

I do highly recommend you use sugar. You don't taste the angelica? That is the strongest flavor to me...

[peridot]

If an absinthe needs sugar for me to enjoy it it will be happier in another home.

[Jaded Prole]

I love Angelica but this brew is a failure. An Amateur could do better and it shouldn't be on marketed by anyone who claimes to be a professional absinthe producer. The information on how to produce a decent absinthe is widely available.

[dakini_painter]

Citations plz.

 

 

 

 

(Sorry I couldn't resist.)

[hissykitties]

We tried this Saturday night. This is not the way absinthe should taste, IMHO. The A.a. used in the coloring step really overpowers the drink, but not in that yummy way that we like in other vertes.

 

 

I do highly recommend you use sugar. You don't taste the angelica? That is the strongest flavor to me...

I was tempted myself DP.

 

Like Prole, I love Angelica. I was not alone is my dissatisfaction with this drink. I was at a table with far more experienced absintheurs than myself and we were all of the same opinion. Maybe Prole would be willing to bring his bottle down in August so that we can have another sampling of it with sucre and sans sucre. We’ll have most of the same group that sampled it Saturday night along with many more folks.

 

BTW, please refrain from quoting the post directly above yours.

 

Oh and can you resize that image, please? Courtesy dictates a maximum image width of between 500 - 600 pixels wide. Some of us use laptops and others still have smaller monitors. Having browser windows pushed out and forcing others to scroll horizontally to read content is a real pain. That, and bandwidth issues. If you don’t have access to software where you can resize your images, Flickr is a nice backup. It offers different viewing sizes with the dimensions in the image tag that for the sake of privacy, can still be viewed with a direct link. Photobucket is another good site.

[Marc]

Having browser windows pushed out and forcing others to scroll horizontally to read content is a real pain

What she said.

[Absomphe]

If an absinthe needs sugar for me to enjoy it it will be happier in another home.

 

Your impeccable taste, and altruism are a real credit to you, Peridot.

[peridot]

Flatterer.

[Joe Legate]

My bottle of Angelique arrived today, dated 6/6/07.

Typical of Claude-Alain, a smooth mouth feel immediately reminds me of CLB. After that first hit of anise, the Angelica comes rolling in like a tidal wave. The Angelica is big, bold and spicy as can be. It's frickin' huge! After the Angelica subsides, the Wormwood is left lingering in the background and gently fades away. Not horribly bitter, lasting for hours but gently.

It is all about the Angelica. Yes, there is plenty of Wormwood bite but it's playing third string fiddle to the other herbs. My bottle is less than two months old. In a few months more, I'll look forward to what has happened. I think it's going to be very interesting.

 

I think there is room for different absinthes at WS. Personally, I still don't care for the cinnamon in the Montmartre but every time I taste the Helfrich, I like it more and more and I like the Angelica Bomb from Claude-Alain, too. I can't answer whether A.a. was used in the coloring but it is certainly not the steepsinthe bitterness some reported. Several members I respect claim A.a. was used in the coloring but I don't taste the bitterness they described. I taste the bitterness from an Angelica avalanche. Maybe that's the A.a. they were referring to?

[Gwydion Stone]

If an absinthe needs sugar for me to enjoy it it will be happier in another home.

It isn't the absinthe that needs the sugar, it's the drinker.

[baubel]

What T73 said.

[peridot]

It isn't the absinthe that needs the sugar, it's the drinker.

I'm sure you know what I meant. It wasn't a sugar/ no sugar debate thing.

[Zzz]

Then what were you saying?

 

You most likely drink your absinthe with water, because it is meant to be imbibed with water.

 

If it takes a little sugar to take the bitter edge off, so be it. Big deal. People have been drinking absinthe with sugar for a long time.

 

I can drink the Angelique with no sugar, no problem. Though, the sugar with the angelica is quite nice. Clandestine is fantastic with no sugar, but there is nothing wrong with making it a bit sweeter.....

[Jaded Prole]

I recall the Angelique causing Hissykitty to suck water directly from the fountain to dilute the taste which she though was horrible. I wish I had a picture of that to post.

[hissykitties]

I think there is room for different absinthes...

I couldn’t agree with you more. There is and should be room for exploration and I feel that it would be a shame to have the market flooded with cookie-cutter absinthe. There will be successes and failures, and there will be some that will be successful only to a niche crowd.

 

This particular absinthe was not for me, but as I stated earlier I am sending a request to Prole to bring his bottle down to HAN II for another sampling. I’m generally willing to give most things a second chance in the name of science.

 

Then again, this is just my opinion. And you know what they say about those…everyone has one.

[Joe Legate]

Absolutely, Hissy.

 

I recall the Angelique causing Hissykitty to suck water directly from the fountain to dilute the taste which she though was horrible. I wish I had a picture of that to post.

My reaction was similar to the Montmartre. I didn't suck a fountain but I sure as hell tried to

I don't like cinnamon in my absinthe but I'm intrigued by that wall of Angelica. I think it's going to be very interesting in a few months. 7 weeks is just too young to properly judge this or any absinthe but hell, JP. You know that already.

[hissykitties]

We'll have another 4 weeks on this bottle.

[peridot]

Then what were you saying?

An absinthe shouldn't be bitter enough for a person who doesn't use sugar to have to use it.

[Jaded Prole]

On tasting it further I will say that it's not that bad. The sweetness of the predominant star anise and angilica (a favorite flavor of mine) almost balance out the tongue grabbing AA in the coloration. If the maker had used less star anise, and pontica in the coloration, this would be a much better absinthe. Still, it's better than the Mater Luginbuhl by far.

 

 

I'll try to remember to bring it along with something better and I hope someone will bring a sample of the Marteau.

[Gwydion Stone]

That's quite the 180° from "sux" and "failure". Which Matter-Lughinbühl? They do at least six very different absinthes. As I recall, Shabba said he would be bringing some Marteau.

Then what were you saying?

An absinthe shouldn't be bitter enough for a person who doesn't use sugar to have to use it.

Fair enough. I didn't get that either.

[Jaded Prole]

Which Matter-Lughinbühl?

 

A label-less prototype, the band on the neck says "AG Mater-Lughinbühl" and it's a blanche.

 

 

Nasty stuff and I won't be changing my opinion on that. As for th Angelique, it still sux but it's not entirely horrid, just low grade with the Ordinaire's Blunder so only an 80°.

[Wild Bill Turkey]

I can't answer whether A.a. was used in the coloring

Claude-Alain has said that it was, and not as a "blunder", but as a conscious decision to do something different. It hasn't been a popular decision.

 

I drank many glasses of this in Boveresse where, after days of drowning in sweet la bleues, I was ready for 'something different'. It really hit the spot for me there, and I bought a bottle that I brought back with me, but I've been letting it age before opening it and trying it again. I'm anxious to see how I'll like it when it's standing on its own.

[hissykitties]

Shouldn't that be, "standing on her own"?

[Wild Bill Turkey]

I met "her". Angelique is Claude-Alain's daughter. The story of the label is that the devilish little character on the name banner is the daughter of the Fée Verte, which is the silhouette of the adult woman, from the blue-bottle label, shown again at the bottom of the Angelique label. So Angelique is "la Fille de la Fée".

[Brian Robinson]

As I recall, Shabba said he would be bringing some Marteau.

Be more than happy to!

[Oscar]

I think we are all entitled to our own opinion. If someone thinks it sucks then so be it. I found it to be a nice absinthe that was in my opinion ruined in the coloring step. Take from that what you will. For me I wouldn’t buy it because it doesn’t suite my tastes.

Edited July 26, 2007 by Oscar