655 replies to this topic

[MrGreenGenes]

Anyone care to share tips & experiences making your own absinthe fountain?

[Jack B]

After dropping a bottle on my Spigot Bigot™ and shattering it into 1 million pieces, I made my own plastic fountain. I took a 1.75 liter plastic Brandy bottle and cut the top off. Next, I wrapped some aluminum foil around a soldering iron and pierced a small hole into the bottom of the Brandy bottle. The aluminum foil keeps the melted plastic off of the soldering iron. Then I took apart one of the shine-y plastic spigots from the Spigot Bigot™ and put it through the hole and secured the spigot. I make sure to keep that spigot all clean and shine-y so it looks like real metal! I use a Hoegaarden Imperial Pint glass as the stand. It pretty much suxx.

[Absomphe]

At least you picked a decent Belgian ale glass to use as a stand.

[Jack B]

Now that I'm single, I'm too cheap to buy a proper fountain.

[Absomphe]

The settlement was THAT painful, and it was amicable?

Ouch.

[MrGreenGenes]

So far at home I've used bicycle water bottles (as seen in my avatar). They work well, but don't seem very classy when serving absinthe for other people.

Last week at a family event in California, I used a crystal pitcher when preparing Jade N.O. for family members, but a lot of the dribble ran down the side of the pitcher and made a mess on my mother-in-law's granite counter.

So it's time to move up, but I'm too cheap to spend 300 GBP on an imported fountain when I can buy glass vessals, glass drill bits and little spigots here.

Edited by MrGreenGenes, 22 November 2004 - 03:31 PM.

[Jack B]

The settlement was THAT painful, and it was amicable?

Ouch.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It really wasn't too bad, actually. I'm almost all paid up.

[Absomphe]

Then it MUST have been pretty amicable!

[Jack B]

Not too bad. We'll just have to wait and see what happens during the 90 day waiting period. I hope things stay civil.

[Skeeter]

Me too.

Check the local resources section of this site... it has some good places to buy spigots.

[Conju]

You might not have seen pictures or otherwise of hiram's or my fountains. If you want to create some work for yourself you could put together one of them numbers for yourself, they work great and when done properly, can last a lifetime.

Here's the basic premise for putting together your own fountain:
1)Find a container you like, bigger the better
2)Find a spigot you like, you can find something probably at home depot, there was also a link to some nice ones online posted a couple of times, maybe someone could repost them?
3)Find a stand (Optional)
4)See if you can put them together, if your container is glass, you'll have to get a glass drill bit, try and drill through a flat part in the glass, as the spigot if screwed on tight enough, can crack the glass. Also make sure the glass container is built sturdy. Even then you might find yourself going through a couple of glass containers.

Avoid purchasing a Spigot Bigot, they're crap. Come to think of it, every commercially available fountain right now is crap, with the possible exception of phil's fountain, but it costs a shitload of money.


Best of luck.

[Grim]

A porron isn't meant for absinthe but damn it works great, tried it out today.

Dis izza spigot.

[Gwydion Stone]

Those are the spigots I used for this fountain:


I made it for about $60 including drill bits. The stand and glass came from Fred Meyer: under $20.

[Grey Boy]

I can't remember the answer,
did you glue the glass to the base?

[Gwydion Stone]

Yes. I used silicone aquarium sealer. This model is a little top heavy - the base is kind of narrow - so I'm on the lookout for a nice round marble or granite base to put it on.

[MrGreenGenes]

My guess is that most home-made fountains will tend to be top-heavy. I think you'd want to mount the whole thing to a platter, or find a base with legs mounted so the legs are offset to the spigots.

I recall a photo posted at louchedlouge of a fountain on a round base that extended as far out as the spigots. Although its probably more stable, you'd have a hard time setting your glass underneith it! Maybe it was a homemade job someone decied to dump on e-Bay once they figured out it was useless.

I have a rectangular glass jar I'm planning to use a a fountain. I also have a cherry wood base I've thought of attaching it to, but I'm concerned about the stability issue.

Edited by MrGreenGenes, 23 November 2004 - 11:12 AM.

[Skeeter]

IIRC, that was from Petr, the Logan Fils fountain.

[Conju]

Which is shite.

[thegreenimp]

You might want to consider places that sell antique lamp restoration parts, I believe quite a few things could be adapted to make a base.

[TrainerAZ]

Why not build yourself a bar, and attach the fountain to that?

The vessel would have to be removable, of course.

[Conju]

No-no build the fountain, THEN build the bar around it.

Genius!

[ShaiHulud]

Hiram, that fountain looks very cool. I never thought of making my own. I use a chrystal decanter that allowes me to pour very slowly without dripping down the side. It works fine but a great looking fountain would be a nice thing to have.

BTW do most of you use pontarlier glasses? I suppose you can only find them online. Are they worth it?

[The Green Spirit]

I would say its very much worth it. But then again I don't have one.

I bought twelve of these "red wine glasses" in Ikea a while ago, and I've been using them for absinthe ever since.

Attached Files

•  Glass.jpg   22.16KB   11 downloads

Edited by The Green Spirit, 01 December 2004 - 09:46 AM.

[Conju]

Well, that just about answers hartsmar's immortal question.

[Jack B]

I only use the Swirl glass even though I own some Pontarliers.

[Grim]

I prefer my reservoir glass, but my repro swirls, perigords or pontarliers have a better chance of surviving my drunken clumsiness.

[G&C]

I use a 36oz beer mug.

I don't like to keep making trips to the kitchen.

[MrGreenGenes]

My favorite glass is the cut crystal La Fee glass, which was a gift with my first bottle of absinthe (the glass cost more than the 5ml "airplane" bottle of absinthe).

But it's a bit expensive & fragile feeling, so most of the time I use a 5 pound Pontliare glass from LdF or an Ikea glass just like The Green Spirit's.

Attached Files

•  glass_cut.jpg   7.04KB   3 downloads

Edited by MrGreenGenes, 03 December 2004 - 12:27 PM.

[Absomphe]

"I use a 36oz beer mug."



Wasn't that supposed to be MY line? :D

Actually, I almost always use my devil glass, which really isn't Absomphesized at all.

[Jack B]

Append a zero to the end of "36" and you could call it Absomphsized.